The war grinds on in the midst of winter, the cold largely confining the conflict to winter army camps, Union-held towns and cities, freedmen camps, war prisons,army hospitals, statehouses and courthouses, newspapers, street corner conversations, sermons, and sparse kitchen tables. Many white Baptists of the South keep abreast as best as they can of the…
On this last night of the year, free black Baptist congregations throughout the United States and Union-controlled areas of the South observe the January 1 anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation with a “watchnight” service of celebration and prayer for God-granted freedom. There is certainly much to celebrate. Tens of thousands of blacks have been emancipated…
Today at Concert Hall in Philadelphia a meeting is convened by the Pennsylvania Freedman’s Relief Association, an organization supported by many Northern Baptists, “to take into consideration the condition of the freed people of the South.” Speaker after speaker offer positive reports on the strides made to emancipate slaves and educate and acclimate freed persons…