Walter H. Brooks (Walter Henderson), b. 1851
The Evolution of the Negro Baptist Church.
From The Journal of Negro History 7, no.1 (January 1922), 11-22. Lancaster, Pa; Washington, D. C.: The Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, Inc., 1922.
In this article written for the Journal of Negro History in 1922, Brooks describes the slow transition in the Baptist Church from mixed black and white congregations to separate churches for the races. Although Brooks points out that tensions created by the institution of slavery eventually caused the black members to split off into their own congregations, he goes on to argue that the official relationship between the black and white congregations was never entirely severed. He concludes by giving the reader a sense of what he views as the unmitigated success of the African American Baptist Church.
Brent Kinser
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