Today the U.S. War Department gives black abolitionist Frederick Douglass, a friend of Northern Baptists, permission to travel to Vicksburg and recruit “colored troops” in the Union-controlled Southern city. Douglass has already been a successful recruiter for other African American regiments, including the notable 54th Massachusetts Regiment, where two of his own sons serve. C.…
Fort Wagner stands on Morris Island, guarding the approach to Charleston. Early this morning fresh federal troops land on the island, sizing up the fort. The only approach to the beach fort is over a narrow strip of sand bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on one side and swamp marshland on the other. Prospects are…
Michigan’s oldest black congregation, the Second Baptist Church, was founded in 1836 by thirteen former slaves. In 1839 the congregation established the city’s first school for black children. Second Baptist’s first pastor, the Reverend William C. Monroe, was a noted anti-slavery activist. In 1843 Monroe presided over the first State Convention of Colored Citizens, which…