Mt. Zion First Baptist Church is an historic African American church located at 333 Martin Luther King Drive in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

. Founded in 1871 by former slaves, the church has since provided ministerial services to thousands and played a major role in the civil rights movement of the city. In 1949, the Rev. Claude Black Jr. became pastor and lead the church to national prominence in the National Baptist Convention. Pastor Black, who would become a civil rights icon and city councilman would invite figures controversial at the time to speak from his pulpit. Some of those would include

Thurgood Marshall Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American civil rights lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1967 until 1991. He was the Supreme Court's first African-A ...

, Adam Clayton Powell Jr,

Azie Taylor Morton Azie Taylor Morton (February 1, 1936 – December 7, 2003) served as Treasurer of the United States during the Carter administration from September 12, 1977, to January 20, 1981. She remains the only African American to hold that office. Her sign ...

, Percy Sutton, Barbara Jordan and others. The church created the city's first black owned credit union as well as Project Free, a program dedicated to assisting the poor and elderly. The church was burned by

arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...

in 1974, but rebuilt the following year.

References

External links

Official Church Website
{{Coord, 29.413506, -98.473439, display=title African-American history in San Antonio Baptist churches in Texas Rebuilt churches in the United States Religious buildings and structures in the United States destroyed by arson Churches in San Antonio Arson in Texas Church fires in the United States

See also

References

External links