By: Elizabeth Laney
May 31, 2024
1: First African Baptist Church in Beaufort, SC
2: Hopewell Presybeterian’s cornerstone marker
3: A Deeds Index book listing of churches in Colleton County
The Learning Lab series provides practical tips, advice, and guidance on specific historic preservation topics that are relevant to African American preservation projects. We hope these posts help community members and leaders better navigate the complexities of historic preservation work successfully.
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| It’s at the heart of every community, but is the story of your historic African American church being recorded? Documenting its history could be as easy as recording the memories of the current congregation or as challenging as searching local newspaper accounts for the date of your church’s original founding. Whether you are writing a grant to fund a preservation project, trying to get your church listed on the National Register of Historic Places or simply trying to write a church history, there are many strategies that can help you get started researching your historic African American church. |
Tips for Researching Your Historic African American Church
- What do you already know about your church? Make a list of information that you already know about your church and another list about what you want to learn. Here are some questions to consider: What is the church’s current name and were there any variations or alternate names in the past? When was the church founded? Who were the significant leaders and families who have been associated with the church? Are there any auxiliary groups, charities, etc. that are or have been affiliated with the church? Is your church associated with an important event or figure?
- Begin your research with people. If you are researching the history of a church with an active congregation ALWAYS start with church members. Start with older church members and work your way backwards. Don’t neglect younger generations! Their memories of the church will be the church’s history 100 years from now. Ask church members about the history of the church within their lifetimes and ask what they may know of the church’s earlier history. You can hire a consultant to do formal oral history interviews or record informal videos on your phone but take advantage of their knowledge.
- Identify important church records and their location. Baptisms, marriages, births, deaths, burials, business records, charity activities, directories – past or present, are critical documents that can help you reconstruct your church history. Find out if your church still has any of its historic records. Here are some places to look: Filing cabinets in the back of the church office, basements, attics or storage rooms in the church or associated buildings. With the families of past pastors or administrative staff who may have taken records home for safekeeping. A centralized state or national level administrative holding or archive for the church’s denomination.
- What has already been written about your church? Chances are a history of your church or the church you are researching already exists in some form or another – a commemorative booklet published by the church for an anniversary, a survey of black churches by the local historical society, a history published in a local newspaper. Be sure to check the church files, the local history room of your local library and online digital newspaper archives for previously written church histories. Don’t forget to look at any memorial plaques inside or outside the church, as well as the cornerstone for relevant information!
- Consider the origins of your church. If you suspect that your church or its congregation had their origins within another institution, you will want to examine histories and historic records of the other church as well. Some questions to consider: Was your church or its congregation associated with another church in the past? Why and how did the two churches become distinct entities?
- Use local land records to help you uncover church origins and track location changes. A great way to learn more about your church’s founding is to locate the original deed for the land the church sits on. Usually located at a county’s Register of Deeds office, these records should be accessible by the public during regular business hours. Be sure to ask if an index of local churches has already been created, otherwise search under the church name and any known name variations in the Grantee Index. Likewise, if your church has moved or changed locations, county deeds can help you track that information as well.
- Dig into local newspapers. Many local newspapers have now been digitized and can be searched through free sites such as the Library of Congress’s Chronicling America website or subscription sites such as Newspapers.com. Conduct keyword searches in newspaper databases for the name of the church, the names of significant families and individuals associated with the church, etc. Keep in mind that in the late 19th and early 20th centuries the church might not have been named in the paper. Search instead using historic descriptors such as “colored church,” “negro church” or “black church.”
- Scour your county library’s local history room. Many county library’s will have a local history room. Ask a reference librarian to help you locate books specifically on the county (the 975’s in the Dewey Decimal System) and for local history books specifically on religion and churches (usually the 200’s in the Dewey Decimal System). You may find an entire book, a simple chapter or a brief reference to your church in some of these resources so look carefully! Also, ask the library if they have a Vertical File. This is a miscellaneous file where programs, family histories, unpublished church histories, pamphlets, maps and other local material may be saved that could be relevant to your search.
- Search out local maps. Maps can be a great way to trace your church history. Some questions to consider: When does your church first appear on a local map. How is it designated? Is the church listed under a variation of its current or historic name? How does the church and its location relate to the buildings around it? Is it located in a historic black community or located within the larger community? The SC Digital Library has digitized maps from every county across the state which are easily searchable, and also has digital access to the Sanborn Fire Maps which show many towns and cities from the 1890s – 1930s. Vertical Files in your library’s local history room may also have access to historic local maps that could show your church, as well as local museums.
- Search digitized books repositories online. There is a wealth of knowledge available through Google Books & Archive.org. Use keyword searches for the name of your church, its denomination, names of families and individuals associated with the church to find relevant material. These sites not only contain digitized books, but also pamphlets, government reports, church histories, etc.
BONUS TIP!
- Don’t forget historical context. Always keep in mind the larger history of the community, the state and the nation when researching the history of your historic African American church. The time period when it was founded, the challenges of segregated society, periods of violence, upheaval or natural disasters, can all have an impact on not only the story of your church but your ability to discover that history.