The 1909 church in the Albina neighborhood, on Portland’s east side, was purchased by the congregation in 1951 and remodeled to its current appearance in 1958. The congregation was established in 1944 in a housing development for war-time workers employed in the nearby shipyards. After the war, the church moved to the Albina neighborhood of Portland, where African Americans were forced to live in this era due to discriminatory housing practices. The congregation grew rapidly under the leadership of Reverend O.B. Williams and by the early 1950s needed more space. They engaged architect Hubert Athling Williams, who renovated the Gothic Revival church, giving it the modern appearance it has today. In their nearly 50-year tenure at the helm of the Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church, Reverend Williams and his wife Willia offered not only spiritual leadership to the congregation, but also provided education, social services and a real community center. Additionally, the church encouraged civic and social engagement, which was enhanced by Williams’ extensive social and political connections. The church became central to the civil rights movement, as it played out locally, regionally, and nationally, with lectures and rallies by civil rights leaders and activists such as the national president of the NAACP, Roy Wilkins, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1968 the church hosted the Portland’s memorial service for the slain Martin Luther King, Jr., which was attended by Senator Mark Hatfield, Governor Tom McCall, Portland mayor Terry Schrunk, a host of municipal dignitaries, and a crowd of over 1,500 persons. The church’s congregation, which was locally based historically, has been impacted by urban renewal, institutional expansion, and now gentrification. Nonetheless, the institution continues in a leadership position in the African American community. Today the building is one of the few remaining historic structures in Albina that is directly associated with the Civil Rights movement., This image 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., National Register of Historic Places (Listed, 2016), National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. Prepared by Raymond Burrell III. 2016.
