In the heart of what was once Britain\u2019s largest colony in the New World, a \u201csecret\u201d church reveals how Black people lived and worshipped in the US\u2019s earliest days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The peal of a church bell cuts through the humid air in Williamsburg, Virginia. It\u2019s not just a call to worship; it\u2019s a declaration of resilience, faith and freedom. Since the United States\u2019 founding in 1776, African Americans have gathered at First Baptist Church, making it one of the nation\u2019s oldest continuous Black congregations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Founded in 1632, Williamsburg served as the political and cultural capital of Britain\u2019s largest colony in the New World from 1699 to 1780. Today, Colonial Williamsburg \u2013 a 301-acre historic district featuring more than 600 restored and reconstructed homes, shops and taverns \u2013 is sometimes hailed as the \u201cworld\u2019s largest living history museum\u201d. Exploring its cobbled streets and interacting with its costumed interpreters offers a rare opportunity for visitors to time travel to the US\u2019s earliest days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Williamsburg\u2019s taverns and government halls are where the US Founding Fathers debated the course of a new nation. Meanwhile, free and enslaved Black people \u2013 who comprised more than 52% of the town\u2019s population \u2013 toiled in its kitchens, built its homes and grew okra, basil and peanuts in its fields. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
They cooked the meals at King\u2019s Arms Tavern, crafted the bricks that line Duke of Gloucester Street and transported dignitaries in horse-drawn carriages, helping to shape the culture and foundation of what would become the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet, it was illegal for Black residents to worship in a church without white supervision. \u201cWe did it anyway,\u201d said Connie Harshaw, president of the Let Freedom Ring Foundation, which works to conserve First Baptist Church\u2019s buildings and artefacts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The church, founded by free and enslaved African Americans at the height of the American Revolution, is one of the first independent Black congregations in America. Its existence reveals how Black Americans were actively shaping their own destiny, even as they were denied basic human rights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet, for too long, the nation\u2019s foremost site of early American history offered only a fleeting acknowledgement of this story, mirroring the US\u2019s broader failure to reckon with its past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Worshippers first met in secret, gathering on nearby plantations and later in a secluded, densely wooded area known as Raccoon Chase, where a historical plaque now stands. In 1776 \u2013 the same year the Declaration of Independence ironically proclaimed \u201cAll men are created equal\u201d \u2013 the loosely knit congregation formalised itself as the Baptist \u201cAfrican church\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By 1805, a white landowner offered congregants a swampy plot on Nassau Street where they built their first meetinghouse. Although a tornado destroyed the church in 1834, the congregation, then 500 strong, rebuilt a larger brick church on the same spot in 1856. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Women raised funds to purchase a bell for the steeple, which called worshippers to service for decades before falling into disuse. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
By the 20th Century, the thriving congregation was now called First Baptist Church, but new threats emerged. Beginning in 1926, businessman and philanthropist John D Rockefeller Jr and Reverend Dr WAR Goodwin planned Williamsburg\u2019s restoration, focusing only on structures central to the settlement\u2019s Anglican and white colonial past. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
First Baptist Church didn\u2019t fit that vision, and the building was demolished, paved over for a bus depot. The congregation relocated yet again to nearby Scotland Street in 1956. Today, Colonial Williamsburg\u2019s restored and reconstructed buildings are designed to represent life in early America, but for generations, the site failed to incorporate the stories of African Americans, who shaped and built the colonial capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve always had African American interpreters in costume,\u201d said Janice Canady, African American Community Engagement Manager at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and a descendent of the church\u2019s early members. \u201cBut telling the fuller story has been a struggle. People aren\u2019t always comfortable with the truth,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Part of the challenge with uncovering that truth was that much of Williamsburg\u2019s Black history was passed down orally, making it difficult to pin down hard facts. In 2016, a dedicated steering committee was formed to document First Baptist Church\u2019s history and secure its rightful place in Williamsburg\u2019s narrative. One of the committee\u2019s first initiatives was restoring the church\u2019s early bell that hadn\u2019t rung since segregation. \u201cIt\u2019s the sound of freedom when it rings,\u201d Harshaw said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture opened in Washington DC in 2016, the 500lb relic \u2013 fittingly known as the Freedom Bell \u2013 travelled to the nation\u2019s capital, where it was rung by President Barack Obama and four generations of a family descended from enslaved people for the dedication ceremony. In the years since, the committee has worked to convey that the bell, the church and everything they represent isn\u2019t just Black history; it\u2019s America\u2019s history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHistory happens only once,\u201d Harshaw said. \u201cWe were all here at the same time, the same place. We may have had different experiences, but we have a shared history.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What started as a search for early church records, photographs, bibles and communion sets soon became something bigger. The Let Freedom Ring Foundation was formed and, partnering with Colonial Williamsburg, they excavated the paved-over bus depot on Nassau Street. What followed was an unexpected archaeological discovery. In 2020, excavations unearthed a trove of artefacts extending beyond the church that reveal how Williamsburg\u2019s early African American community lived in the face of slavery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOne example is animal bones from meals being eaten on-site,\u201d explained Jack Gary, executive director of archaeology at Colonial Williamsburg. \u201cPeople were coming together, worshiping all day, eating together. And remains of the food they were eating were left behind.\u201d Analysis revealed the remains of pork, beef and poultry, but also wild game like opossum, raccoon and muskrat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen we shared these findings with church descendants, one cousin mentioned their family still eats muskrat today,\u201d Gary said. \u201cIt\u2019s cool to make that connection, what we see in the ground and modern community.\u201d (BBC)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the most profound discovery was the burial site: 62 intact graves. \u201cWe exhumed three to confirm their ancestry,\u201d Harshaw said. \u201cDNA tests and analysis confirmed they were of sub-Saharan descent. They are believed to be early congregants of the church.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a solemn ceremony in autumn 2024, Williamsburg dedicated dozens of grave markers to these early congregants \u2013 many of whom are directly related to area residents who still attend First Baptist Church today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Efforts are now underway to reconstruct the wood-framed meetinghouse on its original foundations. Perhaps most importantly, many feel that Colonial Williamsburg is making meaningful strides to integrate the experiences of Black residents into the settlement\u2019s broader story. In doing so, visitors come away with a more holistic understanding of how enslaved and free Black people shaped life in early America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Organisers are hoping the First Baptist Church\u2019s restoration will be complete by 2026 in time for its 250th anniversary. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The church\u2019s original foundations will be protected below a new modern wood-framed meetinghouse, and a glass portal will allow visitors and worshippers to peer down on some of the original bricks. Oral histories, documentary research and archaeological evidence will combine to honour First Baptist Church\u2019s story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nearby, another significant restoration is underway: the Bray School. Operated from 1760 to 1774, this London-funded Anglican charity taught free and enslaved Black children how to read while reinforcing the fictitious narrative that slavery was divinely ordained. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Relocated nearby to the College of William & Mary in 1930, it moved to a new spot on Nassau Street within Colonial Williamsburg\u2019s historic area in 2023, adjacent to First Baptist Church\u2019s first permanent site. Now being restored to its original state, the Bray School adds yet another layer to Williamsburg\u2019s evolving historical narrative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2023, the US Congress approved an African American Heritage Trail in Williamsburg, another touchstone that will share the unheard side of the town\u2019s history. Together, these projects are ensuring that the Black experience is central to the visitor\u2019s experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That history continues to unfold at the modern First Baptist Church on Scotland Street, home to one of the region\u2019s most diverse congregations. Everyone is welcome to attend services, as well as to see artefacts documenting the church\u2019s rich history \u2013 including visits by civil rights leaders Dr Martin Luther King Jr, who preached from the pulpit; Rosa Parks; and Opal Lee, the \u201cgrandmother of Juneteenth\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And, of course, the Freedom Bell is there. Visitors are invited to ring it, just as generations before them have done. \u201cIn spite of and because of it all, we still stand,\u201d Harshaw said. \u201cWe\u2019re dressed up every Sunday, and we\u2019re not going anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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