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Section 2: Building the Black Community: The Family Section 2: Building the Black Community: The Church Section 2: Building the Black Community: The School Section 2: Quest for Economic Autonomy and Equal Rights Section 2: Memory and Mourning Section 2: Violence

Interior View of the First African Baptist Church in Richmond (Harper's Weekly, June 27, 1874)

Interior View of the First African Baptist Church in Richmond.
(Harper's Weekly, June 27, 1874)

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Like other black churches throughout the South, the First African Baptist Church of Richmond played a central role in the black community.

Founded in 1848, the church functioned as a social and political gathering place as well as a house of worship.

Its pastor, the Rev. James Holmes, is seen preaching from an elevated pulpit to members of the congregation, which numbered nearly 4,000.
Copyright 2003
A New Birth of Freedom: Reconstruction During the Civil War The Meaning of Freedom: Black and White Responses to Slavery From Free Labor to Slave Labor Rights and Power: The Politics of Reconstruction Introduction The Ending of Reconstruction Epilogue Additional Resources Credits for this Exhibit