Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church (Portland, Oregon)
- Title
- Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church (Portland, Oregon)
- LC Subject
- Architecture, American Architecture African American churches Methodist church buildings Parsonages
- Alternative
- Central Methodist Episcopal Church (Portland, Oregon)
- Creator Display
- Richard H. Martin, Jr. (architect, 1858-1950)
- Description
- The Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church of Portland, Oregon, is a prominent ethnic landmark located at the southeast corner of Vancouver Avenue and Fargo Street. For more than 72 years, the church has endured as an important pairing of faith and community service in the Albina neighborhood of Portland. The church is one of the oldest mid-twentieth century African American congregations established in Portland, launched in 1944 in the housing projects in Vancouver, Washington. It was the fifth African American Baptist Church organized in Portland, and for many years maintained the status of having the largest membership of any African-American church founded in Portland and the Pacific Northwest. Throughout its history, the church has played an important spiritual and civic role in the urban center. It is where a grassroots movement of like-minded people from the post-war era came together in support of inclusion and community. As a local foundation, the church contributed to galvanizing social and political action by bringing people together from all walks of life, by creating social bonds when social conditions made efforts difficult and even dangerous. The church itself was all important in motivating people of color during the local Civil Rights movement by actively engaging a populous individually and collectively, by confronting the prevailing political powers within the city, the state and throughout the region. Its structure, culture and its ecumenical platform of education were all fundamental to helping a community sustain the protest actions with few resources and little permanent power. It was also a spiritual refuge for the countless men and women who devoted their lives to the cause of change. The stories of this church are of real men and women of different faiths, backgrounds and cultures reaching out to reconcile with others. The Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A, in the areas Social History and Ethnic Heritage/Black, for its role in changing the lives of its congregation through its promotion of improved social conditions in the post-war and Civil Rights eras. It is also eligible under Criterion B, in the area of Ethnic Heritage/Black, for its association with the Dr. Reverend O.B. Williams and his wife Willia Ida Williams. Reverend Williams was an early founder of the church and grew its membership and influence dramatically. Over nearly fifty years of leadership, Reverent Williams, along with his wife, made a significant difference in the lives of the congregation and ultimately in the social consciousness of the city of Portland across racial lines. The property is significant at the state level, for the church’s leadership role, which played out at the city, state, and national levels. Source: National Register nomination. National Register of Historic Places (Listed, 2016) This content is included in Building Oregon: Architecture of Oregon and the Pacific Northwest, a digital collection which provides documentation about the architectural heritage of the Pacific Northwest.
- View
- exterior or interior
- Temporal
- 1900-1909
- Work Type
- architecture (object genre) built works
- Latitude
- 45.5459599
- Longitude
- -122.6679701
- Location
- Portland >> Multnomah County >> Oregon >> United States Multnomah County >> Oregon >> United States
- Street Address
- 3138 North Vancouver Avenue
- Date
- 1909
- Identifier
- OR_MultnomahCo_VancouverAveFirstBaptistChurch_0012
- Rights
- In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
- Rights Holder
- The image is provided here by the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office and the University of Oregon Libraries to facilitate scholarship, research, and teaching. For other uses, contact the State Historic Preservation Office. Please credit photographer and the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office when using this image.
- Source
- Raymond Burrell III, Diana Painter (photographs), "Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church," National Register of Historic Places Registration Form." (2016)
- Type
- Image
- Format
- image/tiff
- Set
- Building Oregon
- Primary Set
- Building Oregon
- Institution
- University of Oregon
