The African American Church in Birmingham, Alabama, 1815-1963: A Shelter in the Storm

This book offers a comprehensive history of the African American church in a community which played a crucial role in the civil rights movement. While the church in Birmingham was indeed a spiritual community, it was also the central institution in the African American community at large, providing leadership as well as economic, political, and social functions in a segregated racist society. This historical analysis begins in the period of slavery with the development of a particularly African American version of Christianity from the merging of African and white evangelical religions. As African Americans moved to Birmingham from the black belt of Alabama, they formed churches which were spiritual communities where African Americans sought hope, security, moral discipline, and self-esteem in the face of racism and segregation. In addition, the study illustrates how churches established institutions that met educational, benevolent, and economic needs. The study concludes with a look at the leadershipprovided by churchmen in the civil rights movement, who brought Martin Luther King, Jr. to the city for massive civil rights demonstrations. (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Alabama, 1995; revised with new preface, foreword, introduction, afterword)