First Baptist Church

First Baptist Church

632 West Main Street

(First Baptist Church Christian Education Center)

The original congregation of the First Baptist Church on Park Street was interracial, with African Americans seated in the balconies above the White congregants. After the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect in 1863, the black members requested to leave the main body of the church to form their own congregation under the guidance of Francis Fife’s father, which met in the original structure’s basement until 1868.

On August 20^th of that year, the new group purchased the Develan Hotel at the corner of 7^th Street and West Main Street. This structure, also known as the “Mudwall” building because of the color of the Albemarle clay used in its construction, was home to the Develan Baptist Church until it was torn down in 1876 to make room for a brand new building. The actual construction of the new structure was significant because the African Americans did not want to take out loans and take the risk that White creditors would be able to take possession of the building of they feel behind on the payments. Instead, congregants worked on the building whenever they had time, with whole families becoming involved with women serving food and children carrying bricks for the men. The new church was completed on October 12, 1883 and dedicated the next year as the First Colored Baptist Church of Charlottesville. It is unclear when the term “Colored” fell out of use, but it is not mentioned in the 1962 200^th Anniversary Edition of The Daily Progress detailing the congregation’s history.

The First Baptist Church has had fifteen pastors over the course of its history, many of which have been active in the community and acted as pillars of society. The Reverend Benjamin Bunn served the church for 36 years into the early-1980s and was also responsible for establishing the local chapter of the NAACP, which was instrumental in the fight to desegregate local schools against Massive Resistance legislation, to desegregate local businesses though sit-in demonstrations, and to resist more Urban Renewal projects after Vinegar Hill. The Reverend Bruce A. Beard served for sixteen years beginning in 1993 and developed Transformation Ministries, which is dedicated to bridging the gap between the church and the community until moving to Atlanta.

In 1979 the First Baptist Church became the only African American church in Charlottesville or Albemarle County to join the Southern Baptist convention, and in 1982 the building was recognized on the National Register of Historic Places.

Sources

Bryant, Florence Coleman. Rebecca Fuller McGinness. A Lifetime: 1892-2000. Charlottesville, Virginia: The Van Doren Company, 2001.

Lugo, Alicia. Interview by Naomi Jacobs and Cynthia Terrell Richardson, 16 April 2010, Personal Collection, Charlottesville, Va.

Lugo, Alicia. Interview by Naomi Jacobs and Cynthia Terrell Richardson, 26 April 2010, Personal Collection, Charlottesville, Va.

Members of the Albemarle County Historical Society Publications Committee. “Tour F: West Main Street/Ridge Street Driving Tour.” In Historic Charlottesville Tour Book: 10 Tours of Charlottesville, Virginia, edited by Frank E. Grizzard, Jr, 43-51. Charlottesville’s Historic Resource Task Force in conjunction with The Albemarle County Historical Society: Charlottesville, Virginia, 2002.

Progress Staff, “First Baptist Church Was Organized in 1831,” The Daily Progress – Charlottesville’s 200^th Anniversary Edition 1762-1962, 13 April 1962. “Churches and Temples. Religion – Baptist – First Baptist, Ch’ville.” Local History File, Alderman Library, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.

Saunders, James Robert and Renae Nadine Shackelford. Urban Renewal and the End of Black Culture in Charlottesville, Virginia. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2005.

Steve Stinson, “Integration Comes Slowly To City Churches,” The Daily Progress, 28 July 1974. “Churches and Temples. Religion – [Miscellaneous; General] – Local.” Local History File, Alderman Library, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.

Virginia African American Heritage Program. “Site: First Baptist Church, Charlottesville.” African American Heritage Virginia. <http://www.aaheritageva.org/search/sites.php?site_id=597> (accessed 22 April 2010).