Dexter Avenue Baptist Church is a

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

church in

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama. Named for Continental Army major general Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River on the Gulf Coastal Plain. The population was 2 ...

, United States, affiliated with the

Progressive National Baptist Convention The Progressive National Baptist Convention (PNBC), incorporated as the Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc., is a Baptist denomination emphasizing civil rights and social justice. The headquarters of the Progressive National Baptist Co ...

. The church was designated as a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 1974 because of its importance in the civil rights movement and American history. and In 1978 the official name was changed to the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, in memory of Dr.

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...

, who was pastor there and helped organize the

Montgomery bus boycott The Montgomery bus boycott was a political and social boycott, protest campaign against the policy of racial segregation on the public transit system of Montgomery, Alabama. It was a foundational event in the civil rights movement in the United ...

in 1955 during the civil rights era. The church is located steps away from the Alabama State Capitol. On January 1, 2008, the US Government submitted the church to

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

as part of an envisaged future World Heritage Site nomination, because of this important history. It is on the UNESCO "Tentative List of

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

s".

History

The Dexter Avenue Baptist Church congregation was organized in 1877 by

freedmen A freedman or freedwoman is a person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, slaves were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their owners), emancipation (granted freedom as part of a larger group), or self- ...

and

free people of color In the context of the history of slavery in the Americas, free people of color (; ) were primarily people of mixed African, European, and Native American descent who were not enslaved. However, the term also applied to people born free who we ...

. It was first known as the Second Colored Baptist Church. The church trustees paid $270 on January 30, 1879, for a lot at the corner of what is now Dexter Avenue and Decatur Street. The first church building was a small wood-frame building. The congregation began construction of a new building in 1883; the brick building was not completed until 1889. The church began serving the broader

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

community on October 3, 1887, when it hosted the first registration of students for Alabama State University, a

historically black college Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of serving African Americans. Most are in the Southern U ...

. In 1899, William H. McAlpine became pastor; he was a cofounder of Selma University. Vernon Johns, an early leader of the Civil Rights Movement, served as

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

from 1947 to 1952. He was succeeded by Dr.

, who was pastor of the church from 1954 to 1960. He organized the 1955

from his basement office. Near the church is the former Dexter Parsonage, which served as home to twelve pastors of the church between 1920 and 1992. It is now operated as the Dexter Parsonage Museum, interpreting church history. The church was added, on its own merits, to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1982. Behind the church is the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Legacy Center, on 455 Washington Avenue. The courtyard has a statue of Dr. King.

Gallery

Montgomery December 2018 44 (Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church).jpg, Exterior Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church & Parsonage, Montgomery, Alabama LCCN2010637401.tif, Interior Montgomery December 2018 65 (Dexter Avenue King Memorial Legacy Center).jpg, Dexter Avenue King Memorial Legacy Center Dexter Baptist Pastorium Apr2009 01.jpg, Dexter Parsonage Museum

References

External links

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Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church
{{Authority control National Register of Historic Places in Montgomery, Alabama National Historic Landmarks in Alabama Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Alabama Religious organizations established in 1877 Baptist churches in Alabama Churches in Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery bus boycott African-American history in Montgomery, Alabama Gothic Revival church buildings in Alabama Italianate architecture in Alabama Civil rights movement museums 1877 establishments in Alabama Italianate church buildings in the United States

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links