Prior to the war the Madison Baptist Church in Georgia, like many other congregations in the Deep South, had almost as many black members as white members. Most, if not all, black members were slaves, their presence forced by their masters and policed by white church members. In 1859 a new church sanctuary was constructed.…
While all the armies of the Confederacy have surrendered by now, another small force of soldiers surrenders this day in Shreveport, Caddo Parish, Louisiana. Shreveport served as the Confederate capital of Louisiana following the Union capture of Baton Rouge on May 29, 1862. Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C. the Calvary Baptist Church is in the news.…
Some six weeks following the assassination of former president Abraham Lincoln, today has been set aside by president Andrew Johnson as a memorial to Lincoln, a “Day of Humiliation and Prayer.” Hundreds of sermons are delivered this day, many in Baptist churches. In the nation’s capital of Washington, the Calvary Baptist and E Street Baptist…