High Street Baptist Church

Q-100

In 1865 emancipated African Americans withdrew from First Baptist Church, where they had worshiped from the balcony, and founded a congregation later known as High Street Baptist Church. Members erected their first sanctuary here in 1873. Fire destroyed that structure and its replacement, constructed in 1878. The present Romanesque Revival church was built in 1901. High Street Baptist served as a base for organizers of the local civil rights movement and hosted the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963. Pastor Lendell W. Chase was president of the Danville Christian Progressive Association, which coordinated nonviolent protests against segregation and discrimination.

Department of Historic Resources, 2014

See a problem? Report it to HighwayMarkers@dhr.virginia.gov.

DHR could use your help! We don't have a recent image of this marker. If you have one that you'd like to submit for inclusion on this site, please send it to HighwayMarkers@dhr.virginia.gov.

References/Bibliographic Citation:

Emma C. Edmunds, “Danville Civil Rights Demonstrations of 1963,” Encyclopedia Virginia: http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Danville_Civil_Rights_Demonstrations_of_1963 Emma C. Edmunds, Mapping Local Knowledge: Danville, Virginia, 1945-1975. Oral history interviews. www.vcdh.virginia.edu/cslk/danville Mary Cahill and Gary Grant, Victorian Danville, Fifty-two Landmarks: Their Architecture and History (Danville: Womack Press, 1977), 36-37. Mechanicsville Historic District, National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form WSB-TV clip of Mayor Julian R. Stinson speaking to the Rev. Lendell W. Chase, 13 June 1963, Civil Rights Digital Library. http://southernspaces.org/2004/television-news-and-civil-rights-struggle-views-virginia-and-mississippi#section4