Footsteps articles from January 2004

Footsteps archives from January 2004

Church & community.
January 1, 2004... Black churches in the United States have performed and continue to perform many roles, As religious institutions, they have brought millions of men, women, and children together to worship, uniting them in a spiritual community of shared belief...

The early years.
January 1, 2004... Still wearing the work clothes they wore in plantation fields, enslaved African Americans would often "steal away" to isolated wooded areas to praise God. There was little, however, about these clearings in the woods or shaded brush arbors that...

Key to success.
January 1, 2004... Before the Emancipation Proclamation, African American churches brought people together for comfort and action. Members of the community supported and encouraged each other as they worked together to survive in difficult times. Use the clues to...

A force by itself.
January 1, 2004... In the late 1700s and early 1800s, the growing African American communities in the northern states formed all-black congregations. These churches came about because their members were dissatisfied at being treated poorly by white Christians....

The A.M.E. church and Richard Allen.
January 1, 2004... Richard Allen was a person who did what needed to be done. As a young enslaved man whose family had been sold to another slaveholder, Allen found a way to continue with his life and make the best of it. He began practicing Christianity and...

'A mission from the president'.
January 1, 2004... On December 21, 1864, General Tecumseh William Sherman led a triumphant Union army into Savannah, Georgia. Back in Washington, President Abraham Lincoln was thrilled. He would finally have a chance to carry through on the Emancipation...

A church mix-up.
January 1, 2004... Many African American churches were religious institutions that participated in and supported political and social change. This word search will help you learn about the people and the events of the period. Find these words in the puzzle...

The Baptist Church.
January 1, 2004... The most diverse of Christian denominations, the Baptist Church has many different branches. Founded as a breakaway faction of the Church of England, or Episcopal Church, the church has grown into an international body. While there is no...

Seeking one's voice.
January 1, 2004... Before and after the Civil War, most African Americans worshiped as Christians in Baptist and Methodist churches. Sometimes blacks worshiped with whites, but more often than not they did so with other people of color in Baptist and Methodist...

Committed to her beliefs.(Ida Bell Robinson founded the Mount Sinai Holy Church of America, Inc.)(Biography)
January 1, 2004... Ida Bell Robinson is one of the few women in the United States to found a denomination. Born on August 3, 1891, in Hazelhurst, Georgia, she spent her early life in the South. Like many other young African Americans of her day, she did not go to...

'Credentials from heaven'.
January 1, 2004... We are sometimes told that if a woman pretends to a Divine call... she will be believed when she shows credentials from heaven; that is, when she works a miracle. --Julia Foote Women have always played a vital role in the black...

'Everything began with the churches'.
January 1, 2004... "To read, to write, to be free"--so begins the book Sweet Words So Brave: The Story of African American Literature. The authors, Barbara Curry and James Michael Brodie, were referring to basic rights but, in 1964, these rights were not...

A key activist.
January 1, 2004... Not all black churches actively engaged in politics or promoted a civil rights agenda. At times, churches focused largely on religious and spiritual matters, leaving politics for another day. Some ministers and church leaders felt that...

The SCLC.
January 1, 2004... An alliance of black ministers founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in Atlanta in 1957. The goal of its members was to organize nonviolent protests against the rising tide of segregation and racism in the South. Although...

'Georgia Tom'.
January 1, 2004... Thomas Andrew Dorsey was a man of many talents. A respected pianist, music arranger, and composer of more than 1,000 songs, he is considered the founder of modern gospel music. He also composed one of gospel music's most popular and most...

A strong partnership.(Reflections and Memories)
January 1, 2004... As a museum curator, I tell history through exhibits. In 2001, I was in charge of the exhibit titled Reading the Word: The Church and African American Education. Through it, I explored the connection between church and education for blacks in...

Rochester's oldest black church.(Then And Now)(African Methodist Episcopal Zion has a fascinating history. (A.M.E. Zion))
January 1, 2004... Rochester, New York, New Year's Eve 2002: Cars fill the parking lot of the state's oldest black church, Memorial African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Zion. Bright lights shine through the building's stained-glass windows. Despite the cold,...

Your pages.(Poem)
January 1, 2004... LIBERIA I was a slave in America. This is my first time in Liberia. The beach is beautiful. To the left is the village. A brook flows through it. On the right, a jungle stands high. I am glad I am here because I am free. Elizabeth...

Books.(More About)(The African-American Experience)(African-American Religions)(Rock of Ages by Ages)(Brief Article)(Children's Review)(Book Review)
January 1, 2004... The African-American Experience by Ray Spangenburg and Diane K. Moser (Facts on File, 1997, www.factsonfile.com) is a well-organized, informative book that focuses on 10 locations important to African American history (including the oldest...

Cobblestone resources.(More About)(African American Churches.)(Brief Article)(Bibliography)
January 1, 2004... The following issues of FOOTSTEPS complement this issue's theme of "Black Churches" and are available from Cobblestone Publishing: "Thurgood Marshall and Civil Rights" (FTP0303) "The Great Migration" (FTP0209) "Martin Luther King,...

On the net.(More About)(Use these websites for information on black churches in the south.)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... To learn more about the church in the southern black community, go to the University of North Carolina's Web site and its wealth of links and images: http://docsouth.unc.edu/church/ For for a history of the First African Baptist...