The United States Christian Commission (USCC) supports Union soldiers by providing supplies, medical assistance (in collaboration with the U.S. Sanitary Commission) and religious literature to troops. The work of the USCC is carried out through Protestant chaplains and social workers, many of whom are Baptists. Today the USCC convenes for its annual meeting in Washington,…
News of the Confederate massacre of black Union soldiers at Fort Pillow is spreading like wildfire throughout the North. As the public demands justice, famed black abolitionist Frederick Douglass today addresses a crowd assembled at the Twelfth Baptist Church in New York City. Expressing hope that Congress is finally committed to providing fair pay to…
Amidst the desolation and death of war, moments of beauty remain. Today, Benjamin Johnson Lang (1837-1909) makes his debut as a conductor in Boston with the city’s first performance with orchestra of Mendelssohn’s Die erste Walpurgisnacht. Lang is the organist of one of the most musically-talented Baptist congregations in America: the first Baptist Church of…