Uplifting the People: Three Centuries of Black Baptists in Alabama (Religion & American Culture)

349 Pages·2007·1.27 MB·English

by  Wilson Fallin Jr.

Uplifting the People
religion and american culture
Series Editors David Edwin Harrell Jr.
Wayne Flynt
Edith L. Blumhofer
Uplifting the
People
Three Centuries of Black Baptists in Alabama
Wilson Fallin Jr.
The University of Alabama Press ■ Tuscaloosa
Copyright © 2007
The University of Alabama Press
Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487-0380
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Typeface: Minion
∞
The paper on which this book is printed meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for
Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Fallin, Wilson, 1942–
Uplifting the people : three centuries of Black Baptists in Alabama / Wilson
Fallin, Jr.
p. cm. — (Religion and American culture)
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8173-1569-6 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8173-1569-1
1. African American Baptists— Alabama— History. 2. Alabama State Missionary
Baptist Convention— History. I. Title.
BX6444.A6F35 2007
286′.176108996073—dc22
2006038420
Contents
List of Illustrations vii
Preface ix
Part 1 / Slavery and Reconstruction, 1701–1874
1. Slaves, Afro-Baptist Faith, and Black Preachers 3
2. God’s Gift of Freedom 29
Part 2 / Post-Reconstruction, 1874–1900
3. Church Life, Expansion, and Denominational Concerns 57
4. Education, Black Nationalism, and Sociopolitical Concerns 79
5. Theology and Leadership 97
Part 3 / The Progressive Era, 1900–1917
6. Protest, Growth, and Revivalism 117
7. Urbanization and Economic Self-Help 137
Part 4 / Before and after World War II, 1917–1954
8. Between the Wars 165
9. Rising Militancy 193
Part 5 / The Civil Rights Movement
and Beyond, 1954–2000
10. Protest and Reorganization 221
11. Continuity, Preservation, and Challenge 246
Conclusion: Serving the Needs of the People 263
Notes 265
Bibliographical Essay 275
Bibliography 287
Index 301

Illustrations
1. C. O. Boothe 157
2. Rev. L. S. Steinback 157
3. St. Louis Street Baptist Church in Mobile, Alabama 158
4. Stone Hall, Selma University 158
5. Dr. William R. Pettiford 159
6. Mrs. Dinah Smith Jordan 159
7. Mrs. Rebecca Pitts 160
8. Faculty of Birmingham-Easonian Baptist Bible College 160
9. Mrs. Ethel Fallin and Mrs. A. M. Wilson 161
10. Alabama Women’s State Convention 161

Preface
H
istorians and other scholars of the African American experience agree
that the church has played a vital role in African American life in the
United States. Primarily a religious institution, it became much more because
of restrictions imposed on African Americans. The African American church
served many purposes: refuge in a hostile world; promoter of business; sponsor
of education; and dispenser of benevolence. The church was also the major pre-
server of African American culture. In the 1950s and 1960s the African American
church and its pastors led the civil rights movement that overturned legal segre-
gation in the United States.
The African American church experience has been documented in various
forms. Several general studies provide an overall view of the black religious ex-
perience. Monographs on particular areas of black church life such as music,
slavery, and culture have enriched our knowledge as well. Biographical stud-
ies on important fi gures such as Henry McNeal Turner, James W. C. Penning-
ton, and Martin Luther King Jr. supplement other works. In recent times, histo-
rians have completed studies on the black church in local communities. In 1997
Garland Press published my book A Shelter in the Storm: The African American
Church in Birmingham, Alabama, which documented the story of the African
American Church in Birmingham from 1815 to 1963.
One of the most prominent and frequent ways that black churchmen have
sought to document their history has been through denominational studies.
This is not surprising since denominations have been a vital part of black reli-
gious life since blacks separated from white churches following the Civil War.
Immediately, they formed conferences, conventions, and associations, which
continue to the present day. Although at certain times, denominations prohib-
ited blacks from speaking with one voice when they needed to do so, denomi-
national histories are probably the richest source for understanding religion in