https://www.hopewellproject.net/home daily 1.0 2023-07-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/1635552762634-55Q30R09I5KMXXRJRJ2Q/Church+Interiors+%283+of+15%29.jpg The Hopewell Project - Make it stand out Hopewell Church photos by Jon Cook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/1635553041952-YIGCUPCCQ7AF3J9N7CUV/Church+Interiors+%289+of+15%29.jpg The Hopewell Project - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/4fd7f845-8515-453d-bb6f-b4360bfcf67a/Church+Ext+%283+of+9%29.jpg The Hopewell Project The church reflects the simple meetinghouse style favored in the mid-18th century by the New Light or Separate Baptists. This group, led by prominent frontier evangelists such as Daniel Marshall, Martha Stearns Marshall, and Shubal Stearns, grew out of the Great Awakening and spread throughout the South. Later, the Separate Baptists united with the Regular Baptists and, in time, they were all simply called Southern Baptists. Such meetinghouses, like other similar churches in the reformed tradition, were intentionally austere and plain. The congregations that built them mistrusted ecclesiastical ornament and declined even to display crosses or steeples on their churches. Their worship services focused on the Word itself, as received directly by the members, rather than on elaborate liturgies or lavishly decorated altars, chancels, and communion rails. As the 19th century progressed, these meetinghouses were replicated across the south as members moved west in search of new land. But, in time, as Baptist churches grew wealthier and architectural styles grew more elaborate, fewer were built in the meetinghouse style. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/0ac96787-417b-47bd-8d47-f34e11083f78/7-BigStevensCreekChurch-Image.png The Hopewell Project - Make it stand out Town Creek Church. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/1635705619510-HWPWICGPP78RGDH9KOUI/7091.big-stevens-old.jpg The Hopewell Project - Make it stand out Big Stevens Creek Baptist Church, founded by Separate Baptist evangelist Daniel Marshall in 1762 and built in 1776 in North Augusta, SC (formerly Hamburg), in the Edgefield District. Big Stevens Creek was the model for the Town Creek Baptist Church in Dallas County, AL. Both churches have been torn down. Photo by Margaret Stringer Lambert. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/ad705dbb-378e-4b06-9c82-6edd7cc14a84/8-AshCreekChurch-Image.png The Hopewell Project - Make it stand out The antebellum Ash Creek Baptist Church, a meetinghouse style church in Gordonsville, Lowndes County. The church was torn down for salvage. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/11b6a3c8-e31c-48dc-b1e3-0c9afe1b0d5b/6-David-Lee-Plantation-Home-Image.jpg The Hopewell Project - Make it stand out The plantation home of Rev. David Lee and his wife, Mary Eleanor Coleman, in Mt. Willing, Lowndes County, before it was torn down. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/1635705939977-E0OR6DTGXJ5JBDJC147D/10-DavidLee-Image.png The Hopewell Project - Make it stand out David Lee, Jr., of Mt. Willing, AL, youngest child of Rev. David Lee Sr., born about 1846. No image exists of his father, born 1805 in Johnson County, NC. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/39d90f97-6c2a-4bc5-8bfd-211dbd7cadda/9-ChurchBookPages-Edited.png The Hopewell Project - Make it stand out A list of some “Colored Females,” members of the antebellum Coosa River Church, in Wetumpka, AL. The list includes last names, which was exceedingly rare. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/eda5383d-7eb0-4bc4-a287-18f5f79d06ec/3-Centre-Ridge-Church-Members-Image.jpg The Hopewell Project Yet white Baptists did not exclude enslaved Blacks from church membership; they ardently sought to convert them. Reverend Lee was a leader of this movement within the Alabama Association, frequently appealing to his brethren for funds to support missions to enslaved persons, and even serving for some years as a missionary himself. His motives were likely mixed, combining those of preacher and slaveholder. On the one hand, he exhorted fellow Baptists to address the “spiritual wants” of bondsmen, asking in the denominational newspaper, “Shall our slave population be suffered, by our neglect, to live in darkness and to die in sin?” On the other, he likely shared the prevailing view among white Baptists that religious conversion promoted social control, and that a Christian slave was, in fact, a better slave—i.e., one who was less rebellious, more content and compliant, and preferably grateful to have been redeemed by whites from his uncivilized African ways. The campaign to evangelize enslaved persons was so successful—not the least because many Blacks themselves saw certain real advantages in church membership—that in a considerable number of antebellum Baptist churches in the Black Belt, African-American members soon far outnumbered whites. In 1860, just before the Civil War, a number of prominent Alabama Association churches had many more Black than white members—for example, First Baptist Montgomery had 270 white members and 409 Black members; Shiloh, in Sardis, had 21 white members and 311 Black members; and Elim, in Mt. Meigs, had 26 white members and 280 Black members. In the Alabama Association as a whole, Blacks actually outnumbered whites in 1860 by 2,844 to 2,066. Enslaved African-American Baptists worshipped, and also engaged in significant acts of resistance, for as much as 30-40 years in such mixed-race churches during the antebellum, Civil War, and immediate postbellum periods prior to leaving to form their own churches. This important part of Black religious and social history is far too-little recognized. In the white-dominated antebellum churches, Black Baptists generally were restricted from preaching, serving as deacons, voting in conference, or forming their own churches, and sometimes even barred from attendance. They were listed on membership rolls without last names, and instead designated, for example, as “Fanny, servant of Col Hayne Rose,” or “Steven svt. T. Dunklin.” They were disciplined with exclusion from the church for offenses of resistance such as running away, stealing food, and disobeying overseers and owners. They were compelled to participate in worship services in segregated seating, either in slave galleries or in separate sections railed off at the rear of the church. Sometimes they had to worship standing up or sitting on the floor. Sometimes they could observe services only from outdoors in the church yard. Despite such restrictions, enslaved African-Americans shaped, changed, and contributed in extraordinary ways to early Baptist practice and also vigorously urged their own autonomy. They swelled the numbers of the movement, and persisted in their faith in the face of every difficulty. They brought constant petitions before these churches to preach, pray, and act as deacons themselves, or otherwise participate actively in church life, and often succeeded. In a some cases, they were able to secure their own separate church services and conferences, even before emancipation. Image: An excerpt from a typed transcription of the membership list at Centre Ridge Baptist Church in Carlowville. Lowndes County. The list shows the first names of “Black Members” and, in an adjacent column, designates each enslaved member as the “Servant of” an individual slaveholder. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/1635705887385-54EV452MA4FJMG42CCYC/4-Dressed-for-Church-Image.jpg The Hopewell Project - Make it stand out After emancipation, many formerly enslaved persons, like these individuals dressed for church in Selma, attended independent Black churches. Silas Orlando Trippe Photograph Collection, Department of Archives and History. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/f42b9828-2c23-4990-b48c-407fd37405a8/14-SnowHill2.jpg The Hopewell Project - Make it stand out Marquee near Snow Hill Christian Church https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/58e7ca67-965c-4aa8-9990-9bc574ab1bf0/14-Rev-PREFERREDPHOTO.jpg The Hopewell Project - Make it stand out Reverend Dale Braxton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/26bc3c61-c035-4042-afed-3fed084aa551/Screen+Shot+2021-11-01+at+6.56.18+PM.jpg The Hopewell Project Today, the Hopewell Church building is owned by the Snow Hill Christian Church, an historically Black church just down the road, which has been pastored for 38 years by Reverend Dale Braxton. Funding from the Alabama Historical Commission is now assisting Snow Hill to begin the restoration of the Hopewell Church, and the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale University has awarded one of Reverend Lee’s white descendants, who is partnering with Snow Hill on the project, a fellowship to research Hopewell’s history. When restoration is complete, the Hopewell church site will be used to promote truth and reconciliation through interpretive exhibits, classes, and events that acknowledge and address the narrative of racial difference that was historically promoted by the antebellum church. The Project hopes to attract not only local visitors, but also some of the thousands of tourists interested in Civil War and civil rights history who visit Montgomery and Selma but do not generally find their way to this underserved part of Lowndes County, which has borne more than its share of the economic and social burdens of slavery and its aftermath. The Hopewell church is situated within approximately 35 miles of both Selma and Montgomery, and just 15 minutes’ drive south of the National Park Service’s Lowndes Interpretive Center in White Hall, on the route of the march from Selma to Montgomery. Public conversations on race and power need to be grounded in a full and honest understanding of the roots of racial inequality that stretch back to the antebellum period. This mission is especially urgent now in light of the nationwide racial reckoning precipitated by the death of George Floyd, which ignited a long-overdue national dialogue on topics of racial injustice. Finally, when it is fully restored, the Hopewell church site also will offer an authentic, intimate venue for local and regional music, theatre, and art. Lowndes County does not presently have a single dedicated arts venue, and cultural opportunities are particularly scarce in the low income, majority-Black community near the Hopewell church. The Project hopes to partner with other arts organizations to present events and activities that will enrich the lives of visitors and local citizens alike. The Hopewell church site is open only by prior arrangement until restoration is complete. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/f94948c0-4cc6-4de8-8366-179eee3c6dd3/Screen+Shot+2021-11-01+at+3.49.39+PM.jpg The Hopewell Project - Make it stand out Reverend Isaac Tichenor and Reverend Basil Manly were among the influential Baptist leaders who supported slavery and preached at the First Baptist Church Montgomery. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/1635804393809-L55HBSCIJ6KDQE8Y39CB/5-Black-Preacher-Image.png The Hopewell Project - Make it stand out A Black preacher exhorting both whites and Blacks on a Southern plantation. Published in the Illustrated London News on December 5, 1863. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/7022ff7f-ccc0-44d4-bfe3-a3f949f6f11d/traylor.jpg The Hopewell Project - Make it stand out Bill Traylor, considered one of the most important American artists of the 20th century, was born into slavery around 1853 on the plantation of John Getson Traylor near the towns of Pleasant Hill (Dallas County) and Benton (Lowndes County). John Getson Traylor was a prominent Baptist in the Alabama Association and, most likely, Bill Traylor was raised in the church. Traylor’s remarkable images of Black preachers may represent clandestine outdoor services held by enslaved persons before emancipation within the bounds of that Association—possibly even showing the ring shout—although their precise subject matter is not certain. Preacher and Congregation, c. 1939-42, collection of Gael Mendelsohn (left), and collection of Judy A. Saslow (right). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/1635805164848-FNTNF448ZC72OMF1PPF7/12-SlaveGaglleryatPleaseantHill2.jpg The Hopewell Project - Make it stand out Slave gallery at Pleasant Hill Presbyterian Church, Pleasant Hill, AL. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/1635806712533-6YT808Z51IR7G3RG2N5Z/Screen+Shot+2021-11-01+at+3.44.06+PM.png The Hopewell Project - Make it stand out Alabama Chief Justice William Parrish Chilton and Governor Thomas Hill Watts were prominent Baptist leaders. Watts at one time owned some 180 slaves. Watts’ first cousins lived in Mt. Willing and likely attended Hopewell Baptist Church. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/697c23e3-4695-4643-9274-2d6304ec5f3b/Screen+Shot+2021-10-31+at+11.48.45+AM.jpg The Hopewell Project - Make it stand out Shubal or Shubael Stearns was one of the founders of the evangelical Separate Baptists in the late 18th century. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/1635801707200-1RWPHO0DUXP3NNQHI9N1/bookpage.png The Hopewell Project - Make it stand out Proceedings of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1845, Digital Collection, Moody Library. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/1635805323103-HQRO3K0JHEELSWNHET10/11-SlaveGalleryStairs-AdamsGroveChurch-DallasCounty1.jpg The Hopewell Project - Make it stand out Slave gallery stairs at Adams Grove Presbyterian Church, Sardis, AL. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/dcea7197-1d72-4661-b8c4-2c1908ac0306/2-Antioch-Baptist-Church-Image.jpg The Hopewell Project - Make it stand out The first building of the Antioch Baptist Church in Mt. Willing, constructed around 1890 on land deeded in 1882. Members met in a brush arbor before the building was built. Antioch is thought to have been founded by enslaved persons who formerly were members of the Hopewell Baptist Church. Image from The Heritage of Lowndes County, Alabama, p. 50. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/1635805266851-NL9QQWU0SVIXXIWGLNHY/13-CentreRidge-Image2.jpg The Hopewell Project - Make it stand out Slave gallery stairs at Carlowville Baptsist Church, Carlowville, AL. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/eef17086-8901-420d-80f9-4c448fc7525b/Church+Ext+%289+of+9%29.jpg The Hopewell Project - Make it stand out The Antioch Baptist Church at Mt. Willing in the present day. Photo by Jon Cook. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/1dc50914-de98-40e3-b7e3-0dbba6d519bd/churches.jpg The Hopewell Project - Make it stand out The First Baptist Church and the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church in Montgomery, AL, are among the churches founded by formerly enslaved members of the antebellum First Baptist Church Montgomery, a church that was prominent in the Alabama Association. These Black churches—which split from mixed race Baptist churches within the Association after emancipation—as well as others such as Mt. Gillard Baptist Church in Trickem, played critical roles in the Civil Rights Movement. Photo of King Memorial Baptist Church by Cultura Exclusive/Photostock-Israel/Getty Images. https://www.hopewellproject.net/sew-their-names daily 0.75 2023-07-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/c101f9e4-a9dc-4284-bf37-0a03bc9b1769/WiniMcQueen.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/3df12366-497b-48a0-8be1-83e875c53071/Somebody.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/e8edb008-48af-4974-8492-355d4edefe7d/WellsDetails.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/c5272fcb-5906-4de3-8aae-90110437b019/YvonneWells.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/1635652613782-MGYZ08GG02NKW02TH0F0/Screen+Shot+2021-10-29+at+4.27.12+PM.png Sew Their Names - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/1635652548813-QZYFSO33J83WOQUF4UI0/Screen+Shot+2021-10-29+at+4.58.05+PM.png Sew Their Names - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/1635652664156-UPNZ0M8RJ2VHV8BV9N2F/Screen+Shot+2021-10-29+at+4.28.55+PM.png Sew Their Names - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/1635652592069-5FS5VHWOUY5TLTJI3OPD/Yvonne-Wells-Color.png Sew Their Names - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/4379b9bf-5155-4771-87d1-8b4011285a11/Quilters+Color+%2858+of+69%29.jpg Sew Their Names https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/4374c9f8-8f85-4079-a890-b828aefc5531/DaleBraxton.png Sew Their Names https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/0c231e0e-8481-4c34-a7c7-4bfa7f5188b3/Azriah.jpg Sew Their Names https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/3b5c3ce6-ae78-4547-8805-eae3ddd93d72/WiniMcQueen.png Sew Their Names https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/48c2fa7b-99bf-480d-880b-5d48de66436c/Charlotte.jpg Sew Their Names https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/c8cef4d0-ec7f-441e-8589-f35e7bc5eaed/YvonneWells.png Sew Their Names https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6175da63e482f44cef020d19/6a3511b0-1a5e-46a7-a71a-fa5cb22731f3/RollinMoore.jpg Sew Their Names https://www.hopewellproject.net/hopewell daily 0.75 2021-10-27 https://www.hopewellproject.net/contact-us daily 0.75 2021-11-04