Second Baptist Church of Detroit

Operating in downtown Detroit since its beginning, Second Baptist has set a pattern for other churches with a variety of historical accounts:

■ From 1836 to 1865 (the end of the Civil War), the church served as
a “station” on the Underground Railroad receiving some 5,000 slaves
before sending them on to Canada. By giving them food, clothing, and
shelter the church was in total defiance of the Fugitive Slave Laws.
■ In 1839 Second Baptist established the city’s first school for black children.
In 1870, a member, Fannie Richards, became the first black career public
school teacher in Detroit.
■ In 1841 the church called a meeting in Amherstburg, Canada to establish
the Baptist Association for Coloured People to aid escaping slaves, fight
slavery, promote unity, exchange ideas, and assist in organizing other
Baptist churches.
■ In 1843 the first State Convention of Colored Citizens met at Second
Baptist, Demanding the right to vote. The Equal Rights League made the
second petition in 1865. Both were denied. The church persisted until the
end of the Civil War when the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments were
added to the constitution declaring an end to slavery, making blacks
citizens, and allowing black men to vote.
■ In 1859 Abolitionist Frederick Douglass spoke at Second Baptist minutes
before a meeting in a Detroit home with revolutionary John Brown to plan
methods of freeing slaves.
■ In 1863 the church hosted a public reading of the Emancipation
Proclamation to explain that President Lincoln had freed the slaves in only
the ten “rebellious” states, leaving the nation half-slave and half-free.
■ In 1896 Second Baptist began an emphasis on foreign missions sending
one of its members to Africa, followed by many others over the years.
■ In 1927 Ralph Bunche, the first black to receive the coveted Nobel Peace
Prize, was baptized at Second Baptist.
■ Over the years, Second Baptist can claim direct or indirect influence in the
creation of over 30 churches serving or controlled by blacks, providing the
incentive, organization and operation through its ministers, leaders, and
members. Some of these that are continuing to serve as houses of
worship in Detroit are: Shiloh Baptist Church, Mt. Olive Baptist, Hartford
Memorial Baptist, First Baptist (Windsor), Mt. Beulah Baptist, Calvary
Baptist, Peace Baptist, Greater King solomon, Renaissance Baptist, and
Christ the Lord Christian Center.