The 1830s were the years when new groups migrated
to the small village of Detroit—Irish and German immigrants from Europe
and African Americans from the US east and south—some seeking opportunity
and others fleeing bondage. In 1836, 13 former slaves organized Second Baptist
with the
Reverend William Monroe as the first pastor. This is the oldest African American
congregation in Michigan and the seventh oldest in Detroit. The earlier
ones
are:
St. Anne du Detroit - 1701 - St. Anne at Howard
First Presbyterian - 1821 - 2930 Woodward
Central Methodist - 1821 - 21 East Adams at Woodward
St. Paul's Episcopal - 1824- 4800 Woodward at Warren
First Baptist
St. Mary's Catholic - 1835 - Monroe at St. Antoine
Small numbers of slaves escaped to safety
in Canada through Detroit in the early 19th century, but after the British
abolished slavery in
their empire in 1837, Detroit and Port Huron became stations on the Underground
Railroad. The Second Baptist congregation may have helped 5,000 fleeing
slaves to get across the Detroit River to Canada. In 1839, the Reverend Monroe
organized
the city's first school for African-Americans. In 1841, the church established
the Baptist Association for Colored People in Amherstburg, Ontario to serve
the spiritual needs former bondsmen. In 1843 and in 1865, state conventions
of colored citizens were held at Second Baptist to demand voting rights for
Michigan's African Americans. They were denied until the 15th Amendment became
effective in 1870. On March 12, 1859 Frederick Douglas preached at this church
before meeting abolitionist John Brown at, approximately, the corner of Congress
and St. Antoine. Second Baptist held a public reading of President Lincoln's
Emancipation Proclamation shortly after September 20, 1863. They were disappointed
since President Lincoln seemed to manumit only those slaves held in land controlled
by Union forces. In the late 1860s, member Fannie Richards, initiated litigation
that led the Michigan Supreme Court to order the racial integration of Detroit's
formerly segregated public schools. Noble prizewinner Ralph Bunche was born
in Detroit in 1903 and baptized in this church.
The congregation started building its first church on this site in 1852. It
was remodeled several times, but burned in 1914. The church you see was erected
on the same site, but has been remodeled several times. The current painted
brick building shows evidence of Gothic influences using a rectangular plan.
A front
gable formed by steep buttresses dominates the Monroe Street front. You will
see a large, attractive lancet window with limestone trim. Two major additions—one
dating from 1926 and the other from 1968—flank the church building.
Michigan Registry of Historic Sites: P25242, Listed September
17, 1974
Michigan State Historic Marker: Erected December 17, 1974
National Register of Historic Sites: Listed March 19, 1975
Both the National and the Michigan Historical markers are visible on the Monroe
Street façade.
Website: http://members/aol/churchwww/second.htm
Use in 2003: Baptist Church
Photo: January, 2003; Ren Farley