On This Day: The Founding of the American National Baptist Convention, 1886

#OnThisDay

August 25, 1886

The #AmericanNationalBaptistConvention was organized in #StLouisMissouri by #ReverendWilliamJSimmons, who served as the organization's first president. It is purportedly the oldest and largest African American religious convention in the United States.

Simmons was born enslaved in Charleston, South Carolina and while he was young, his mother escaped from slavery with her children on the #UndergroundRailroad. He eventually relocated to Kentucky, where he served as the 2nd president of the Kentucky Normal and Theological Institute (eventually renamed #SimmonsCollege in his honor).

The main goals of the National Baptist Convention were to unify African American Baptists across the country and provide education, employment, and housing for newly emancipated people moving from the South to the North.

Prominent presidents and members included #RevHarveyJohnson; #RevWilliamAbrahamCreditt; RevEliasCampLove; and #RevJohnJasper, to name a few.

The linen poster depicting prominent Baptist leaders is from the Rev. Jesse E. Nash, Sr. Collection within the Nanny Jack & Co Archives. https://www.uncrownedcommunitybuilders.com/person/jesse-2

#BlackHistoryisEverywhere #NegroHistoryDetective

#ArtifactualJourney

Courtesy of Nanny Jack & Co Archives