People, Locations, Episodes

The Hymn “We Shall Overcome” is Published

*On this date in 1901 we celebrate the song We Shall Overcome. “We Shall Overcome” is a protest song that became a key anthem of the African American civil rights movement during the 20th and 21st century.

Joachim Prinz, Rabbi, and Activist born

*Joachim Prinz was born on this date in 1902. He was a White German American Rabbi outspoken against Nazism and an activist for the American Civil Rights movement.

St. Stephen Baptist Church (Kansas City) holds its first service.

*On this date in 1903, St. Stephen Baptist Church held its first service. This church began with a courageous young preacher, Reverend James Wesley Hurse. Preaching from a tent and a few dedicated followers, they worked, prayed, and sacrificed on a street corner in “Bellevidere Hollow.” As a prominent leader, he became the second President of […]

The New Hope Baptist Church (Newark) Opens

*On this date in 1903, The New Hope Baptist Church of Newark was organized. The New Hope Baptist Church is one of the oldest Black churches in the state of New Jersey.

Denzil Carty, Minister, and Civic Leader born

*Denzil Carty was born in St. John’s Antigua, British West Indies on this date in 1904. He was an African American minister and civic leader.

William Holmes Borders Sr., Minister born

*On this date in1905, Rev. William Holmes Borders was born. He was an African American minister and activist and writer.

Noah Smith, Minister born

*Reverend Noah Smith was born on this date in 1908.  He was a Black musician, businessman, and minister.  From Marion, Indiana, after high school Smith played the drums in bands, moving in 1930 to Minneapolis, where he also ran a business painting signs on buildings and vehicles. Smith was a cartoonist briefly before getting a […]

Edler G. Hawkins, Activist, and Minister born

Edler Garnett Hawkins was born on this date in 1908. He was an African American minister and civil rights activist through the Presbyterian Church.

Alexander Memorial Baptist Church (DC) is Founded

Alexander Memorial Baptist Church began on this date in 1908 when a group of worshipers left the First Baptist Church in Georgetown, Washington D.C., because they did not like the way the church was managed.

Adam Clayton Powell Jr., Politician born

This date marks the 1908 birth of Adam Clayton Powell Jr. He was an African American minister, publisher, businessman, and politician.

Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Powell moved to New York City where his father administered the Abyssinian Baptist Church. After attending public schools, he graduated from Colgate University and received his M. A. in religious education from Columbia University.

John Burgess, Bishop born

*On this date in 1909, John Burgess was born. He was an African American bishop.

From Grand Rapids, Michigan, John Melville Burgess’ father was Theodore T. Burgess, a dining car waiter on the Pierre Marquette Railroad. His mother was Ethel I. (Beverly) Burgess. In 1930, he graduated from the University of Michigan and received his master’s degree in sociology a year later. He graduated from the Episcopal Theological School in 1934 and returned began his ministry in Grand Rapids.

The Holt Street Baptist Church Begins Services

*The Holt Street Baptist Church is celebrated on this date in 1909. This was a Baptist church in Montgomery, Alabama. The Holt Street Baptist Church building is located at the corner of Holt Street and Bullock Street and was completed in 1913. The first reverend was I.S. Fountain. From 1939 until 1952, Charles Kenzie Steele […]

Bethel AME Church, (Reno, NV) is Founded

*Bethel AME Church in Reno, Nevada, is celebrated on this date in 1910. The church was a religious, social, and political center of Black settlers in the 1910s and later for local American Civil Rights activists during the 1960s. From its inception, Bethel AME has held to the principles of the AME church to provide self-expression and […]

Avery Alexander, Minister and Activist born

*Rev. Avery Alexander was born on this date in 1910. He was an African American minister and activist in the struggle for civil rights for Black Louisianans.

M. Moran Weston, Minister, Educator, and Activist born

*Dr. M. Moran Weston was born on this date in 1910. He was an African American minister, businessman and civil rights activist.

From Tarboro, North Carolina, he was the son and grandson of Episcopal priests and studied under his mother Catherine Perry Weston at St. Luke’s Parochial School in his hometown. His maternal grandfather the Rev. John W. Perry had founded this school in 1882. Weston attended St. Augustine’s Junior College in Raleigh North Carolina, graduating in 1928 as valedictorian. From there he enrolled at Columbia University in New York City, graduating in 1930.