Baptists and the American Civil War: October 8, 1865

Kentucky Tennessee MapIn wake of the recent inaugural gathering in Louisville of Kentucky’s State Convention of Colored Baptists, solicitations are underway to raise money in order to pay salaries of teachers for schools for black children.

To this point there have been efforts in Louisville and beyond to provide education for the children of freedmen. Such efforts are often housed in local churches and staffed by well-meaning but semi-illiterate teachers, with unsatisfactory results. Seeking to raise the quality of education, the American Missionary Association, supported by many Northern Baptists, and the Freedmen’s Bureau are providing some financial support.

These are yet early educational efforts in a narrative that will last for years.

Source: Pellom McDaniels III, The Prince of Jockeys: The Life of Isaac Burns Murphy, Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 2013 (link)