Second African Baptist Church
Second African Baptist Church | |
---|---|
Second Colored Church (formerly) | |
Location | 123 Houston Street Greene Square Savannah, Georgia |
Country | United States |
Denomination | Baptist |
Website | www.secondafrican.org |
History | |
Founded | December 26, 1802 |
Architecture | |
Years built | 1926 |
Administration | |
Division | National Baptist Convention, U. S. A. Inc. |
Subdivision | General Missionary Baptist Convention of Georgia, Inc. |
Second African Baptist Church | |
Part of | Savannah Historic District (ID66000277) |
Added to NRHP | November 13, 1966[1] |
Second African Baptist Church is a church in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Located in the northwestern trust/civic block of Greene Square, at 123 Houston Street, the church was founded on December 26, 1802,[2] twenty-five years after the city's First African Baptist Church, as the First Colored Church.[3] Its first pastor was Rev. Henry Cunningham (1759–1842), who served from 1802 to 1833.[3] The church building was constructed in 1926.[4]
In 1823, the First Colored Church and Second Colored Church were renamed First African Baptist Church and Second African Baptist Church.[3]
In 1864, United States Army general William Tecumseh Sherman issued Special Field Orders No. 15 just outside Savannah. A short time later, general Rufus Saxton publicly spoke to members of this church on the provisions of Sherman's offer, which became known as "forty acres and a mule."[2] Secretary of War Edwin Stanton and Sherman were guests in the church following the surrender of Savannah on December 21, 1864.
Just under a century later, in 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" sermon here, an address he repeated in Washington, D.C., later in the year.[2]
Affiliations
[edit]The church is affiliated with the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. (the second-largest Baptist organization in the world, after the Southern Baptist Convention), and the General Missionary Baptist Convention of Georgia, Inc.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
- ^ a b c "Second African Baptist Church | Visit Savannah". visitsavannah.com. September 19, 2023. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
- ^ a b c "archives.nypl.org -- Second African Baptist Church (Savannah, Ga.) records". archives.nypl.org. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
- ^ "Historic Second African Baptist Church" – The Savannah Tribune
External links
[edit]- Media related to Second African Baptist Church (Savannah, Georgia) at Wikimedia Commons
- "Second African Baptist Church, official website
- 19th-century Baptist churches in the United States
- Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Georgia (U.S. state)
- Baptist churches in Georgia (U.S. state)
- African-American history in Savannah, Georgia
- Churches in Savannah, Georgia
- Historic district contributing properties in Georgia (U.S. state)
- African-American churches in Georgia (U.S. state)
- First African Baptist churches
- Franklin Square (Savannah, Georgia) buildings
- Savannah Historic District
- Buildings and structures completed in 1926
- 1802 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)