Item #6183 History of the First African Baptist Church, From Its Organization, January 20th, 1788, to July 1st, 1888 . . Love Rev, mmanuel, ing.
History of the First African Baptist Church, From Its Organization, January 20th, 1788, to July 1st, 1888 . . .
History of the First African Baptist Church, From Its Organization, January 20th, 1788, to July 1st, 1888 . . .
History of the First African Baptist Church, From Its Organization, January 20th, 1788, to July 1st, 1888 . . .
History of the First African Baptist Church, From Its Organization, January 20th, 1788, to July 1st, 1888 . . .

History of the First African Baptist Church, From Its Organization, January 20th, 1788, to July 1st, 1888 . . .

Savannah, GA: The Morning News Print, 1888. 8¼” x 6”. Cloth over boards, gilt. Pp. [5], [A]-E, [6], iv-v, [blank page], 5-360. Good: lacking two leaves consisting of pp. 1-4 that appear to never have been bound in; boards moderately worn and lightly soiled, leaves lightly toned with scattered dust soiling and foxing; approximately 50 leaves with two tiny tears at top.

This is a history of Savannah, Georgia's First African Baptist Church (FABC), written by its formerly enslaved pastor who was also an important educator and civil rights leader. The author, Reverend Emmanuel King Love, was born into slavery in 1850. He attained a bachelor’s degree from the Augusta Institute (later Morehouse College) and served as pastor of the FABC in Savannah from 1885 to 1900. Love was an activist as well as a Baptist leader, fighting segregation and Jim Crow laws and heading multiple state and national Baptist conventions. In 1891 he helped establish the Georgia Industrial College for Col*red Youths, the first public institution of higher learning for African Americans in the state. It exists today as Savannah State College. Love also supported the establishment of an independent African American Baptist national publishing house, as well as Savannah’s first privately owned Black bank.

FABC is widely considered to be the oldest Black church in the United States and Love used the book to lay out evidence to support his claim that the FABC was the first African American Baptist church established in North America. According to the introduction, the book came to be because

“our race has acted nobly and done many things that were highly commendable of the race, but no record was kept of them and hence it went without saying that the race had done something worthy of praise. This is still true . . . This will always be so until we have a well conducted press of our own and bring out our own men, or do as Dr. Love has done—write their history.

The white press was never intended to praise and elevate the ne*ro. They do not spend their money for that purpose. The white press, if it means no ill will to the ne*ro, it means elevation to the white, and to support the long believed theory that the ne*ro is inferior to the white man . . . With such prejudice the ne*ro has been contending and struggling to rise, under adverse circumstances through the vicissitudinous cycles of an hundred years . . . Our race during the hundred years that have passed was profited very little by the history of their noble men, for it was not written. If it had been written, however meagre, it would have inspired others to like and even nobler deeds. Hence, we should welcome this work into our homes and give it a careful perusal.”


To that end, Love provided a detailed history of the church including the tenure of Rev. Andrew Bryan and the “great trouble of 1832,” when the church was split and a majority of the members followed Rev. Andrew C. Marshall to form a new church, retaining the old name. The detailed history continues through to the date of publication, and is told in a series of letters and reports accompanied by narrative. Importantly, Love
also included biographies of four major church leaders as well as his own (written by a colleague). Each is at least a few pages long (Love's bio covers 64 pages) and accompanied by a steel engraved portrait, and also also includes the text of sermons as well as church discussions. Also important are the additional 37 shorter biographies of church leaders, at least eight of which are also accompanied by a portrait, including a woman, the elected organist, Mrs. M.M. Monroe.

The book also has a chapter on the FABC's various societies, two full page illustrations of the church building, original poetry, and a collection of documents related to the its centennial celebration. These include 32 sermons and addresses with compelling titles such as “The Wants of the Col*red Ministry,” and “The African Baptist Publication Society And Its Work for the Col*red People.”

An important and compelling history of a noteworthy African American church written by its noteworthy leader and packed with numerous potential research trails. OCLC shows six physical copies over four entries. Good. Item #6183

Price: $2,000.00

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