Trip coincides with the 240th
anniversary of the historic First Baptist Church – established in the
year of the nation’s founding – which heard the restored bell toll for
the first time since segregation
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (Sept.
8, 2016) – The Freedom Bell of the city’s historic First Baptist Church,
which tolled this year for the first time since segregation, will make a
final journey to Washington, D.C. and ring at the dedication of the
National Museum of African American History and Culture attended by
President Barack Obama on Sept. 24.
“Our congregation was formed
secretly in a plantation wood by our brothers and sisters – enslaved and
free – who sought simply to worship as they wished, just as our new
nation asserted citizens’ unalienable rights,” said First Baptist Church
Pastor Rev. Dr. Reginald F. Davis. “Their courage and our unwavering
faith have sustained the First Baptist Church since 1776 through war,
segregation and the ongoing struggle for equality.”
“Just last
year we set out to restore our long-silent bell so that it might ring
out during our 240th year in a call to the nation for healing and
justice,” Davis said. “That it will ring on such a day in the presence
of our nation’s first African-American president, is a glorious advent
that we could not have shared in our prayers or imagined in our wildest
dreams.”
First Baptist Church is believed to be the first black
Baptist church organized entirely by African Americans, for African
Americans. Acquired by the congregation in 1886, the Freedom Bell was
installed above the church’s current sanctuary during its construction
in 1956, but soon fell silent due to architectural and mechanical
deficiencies. In 2015, under the guidance of a Colonial Williamsburg
conservation and operations team, the bell was restored and the church
belfry and vestibule renovated so that it could ring anew.
The
Let Freedom Ring Challenge called on the nation to visit the historic
church during Black History Month in February 2016 and ring the bell for
justice, peace and racial healing. Relatives descended from Thomas
Jefferson and Sally Hemings – an enslaved African-American woman whom
Jefferson owned – were the first members of the public to ring the bell
Feb. 1 following a service featuring the Rev. Jesse Jackson and other
luminaries. More than 4,000 people would follow them that month, and the
Freedom Bell remains available for visitors to ring.
“For 90
years Colonial Williamsburg has interpreted history, but together with
First Baptist Church we’ve made history,” said Colonial Williamsburg
President and CEO Mitchell B. Reiss. “First Baptist’s is a crucial
American story that parallels our entire nation’s. The Freedom Bell
embodies both our shared history and our nation’s founding values as we
work toward ‘a more perfect union.’”
“For this bell to ring at
this moment in history closes an arc in fitting, even poetic fashion.
Both our institutions are honored and gratified by the Freedom Bell’s
role in this momentous event,” Reiss said.
The Freedom Bell will
complete its final journey and return to First Baptist Church before
Oct. 16 observances of the congregation’s 240th anniversary.
Additional
information on the Freedom Bell and its journey will be made available
at LetFreedomRingChallenge.org and by visiting Colonial Williamsburg on
Facebook and @colonialwmsburg on Twitter and Instagram. Information on
the National Museum of African American History and Culture and its
opening is available at nmaahc.si.edu.
The Let Freedom Ring challenge was made possible in part by a generous grant from the Ford Foundation of New York.
Media contact
Mariana Quevedo Vallejo
About First Baptist Church
First
Baptist Church of Williamsburg originated in 1776 with a quest by a
group of courageous slaves and free blacks who wanted to worship God in
their own way. In their search, they left the church of slave owners,
such as Bruton Parish Church, where worship was formal and restrained.
First led by Moses, a free black itinerant preacher, they built a brush
arbor at Green Spring Plantation a few miles from town to gather
secretly in song and prayer. Organized as Baptists by 1781 under Rev.
Gowan Pamphlet, an enslaved man in Williamsburg, worshippers moved to
Raccoon Chase, a rural area just outside Williamsburg. A member of the
white Cole family, moved by their stirring hymns and heartfelt prayers,
offered the group the use of his carriage house on Nassau Street for a
meeting place. Pamphlet continued as pastor until his death about 1807.
The African Baptist Church, as it became known before the Civil War,
dedicated a new brick church on Nassau Street in 1856, the
congregation’s church home for the next 100 years. It was renamed First
Baptist Church of Williamsburg in 1863. The present church at 727
Scotland Street has served the congregation since 1956.
About the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
The
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation preserves, restores and operates
Virginia’s 18th-century capital of Williamsburg. Innovative and
interactive experiences highlight the relevance of the American
Revolution to contemporary life and the importance of an informed,
active citizenry. The Colonial Williamsburg experience includes more
than 500 restored or reconstructed original buildings, renowned museums
of decorative arts and folk art, extensive educational outreach programs
for students and teachers, lodging, culinary options from historic
taverns to casual or elegant dining, the Golden Horseshoe Golf Club
featuring 45 holes designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. and his son Rees
Jones, a full-service spa and fitness center managed by Trilogy Spa,
pools, retail stores and gardens. Philanthropic support and revenue from
admissions, products and hospitality operations sustain Colonial
Williamsburg’s educational programs and preservation initiatives.
– CWF –
Comment by email:
Comment by email:
Hello Mr. Zick! Thank you so much for your post! Have a great weekend. Best,
Mariana [Mariana Quevedo Vallejo]
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