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400 credit unions created between 1965 and 1973. It provided equal opportunity loans to local residents, who otherwise were discriminated against by local banks for the purchases of houses and the development of local businesses. The
Community Action Agency also worked with congregation members and local residents on implementing the federal legislation of the
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kindergarten for local children, which met in the basement of the 1961 church building. The new building, with its basement meeting rooms and the large sanctuary, became a strategy center for the congregation. It discussed and planned its role in such pivotal events in the greater
Birmingham area as the
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headquartered at the church, the congregation in 1964 established a
Community Development Credit Union (CDCU), which still operates from the church in the 21st century. The Canaan Baptist CDCU was one of the first developed in the nation; it was eventually part of a national program of approximately
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Browder made this an opportunity to expand the church's vital role in providing social and educational services for
African Americans in Bessemer. For example, the segregated African-American public schools in Bessemer were not funded to support a kindergarten for black children. Browder organized a
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Due to its public positions during the early civil rights period, the members of Canaan attracted considerable attention from white officials. In 1959, the City of
Bessemer abruptly condemned the church's building, which had been first built in 1889 and expanded in 1908. The twin-tower church was an
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The
African-American congregation of Canaan Baptist has occupied this lot in downtown Bessemer since 1889. The first church building on the current lot, at the corner of 9th Avenue and 15th Street, was opened in 1940 during the ministry of E. L. Plant. It was completed until 1947. The following year
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Under the leadership of
Browder, who was pastor of Canaan Baptist from 1948 until his death in March 1964, the congregation was active in the civil rights movement. Browder significantly expanded the public outreach and service of the church. He improved church administration and greatly expanded
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He also was active, along with other members of the congregation, in the
Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights in the late 1950s. Browder and Canaan Baptist gained a reputation locally for being a strong voice for equal rights, voting rights, and public desegregation at a time when African
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But, in 1958 two other black churches in the city had been destroyed by fires, which city officials claimed resulted from construction and wiring deficiencies. (Local
African Americans believed that the fires were not accidental, as bombings of black churches and ministers' homes by
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chapters was prevalent during these years in
Birmingham and had already occurred in Bessemer. On April 28, 1957, the Allen Temple AME Church, at Ninth Avenue and 22nd Street, suffered a dynamite blast at the rear of the church during an evening service. There were no fatalities.)
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Horace P. Turner became pastor at Canaan Baptist in December 1969 and continued as pastor to the end of the century. Under his leadership, the congregation built the educational annex in 1984, which provided new office space for the church's religious and social programs.
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After Browder's death in 1964, A. L. Bratcher became the minister. He led the church into a significant local role in implementing aspects of the civil rights movement in Bessemer. Bratcher helped the church become involved in the federal
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under the state constitution since the late 19th century. Browder preached equality and fairness from the pulpit every Sunday. He strongly supported local efforts to desegregate schools after the United States Supreme Court's ruling in
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Established in 1865 by W. M. Grimes, a white minister, Canaan Baptist is among the oldest African-American Baptist congregations in Bessemer. Many of its congregation had belonged to the white-dominated Canaan Baptist Church before the
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the J. H. Browder became the minister of Canaan Baptist Church. The present church building, constructed in 1961, is the second on the lot and was built under the direction of Browder, with George Wilson of
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but, with freedom, wanted to have an independent congregation. Southern African-American congregations soon set up state Baptist associations, aided by churches in the Midwest, and eventually the
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African-American landmark within Bessemer and the congregation had ensured that it received numerous updates and improvements during the Browder years to keep it safe and comfortable.
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in 2005 for its role as a locally significant property and key strategy center in the city during the Civil Rights Movement in the Birmingham area from the early to mid-1960s.
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The city government condemned the historic building of Canaan Baptist as unsafe. The congregation was forced to build a new one-story contemporary brick structure in 1960–61.
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in Birmingham in 1962, and the Project C ("Confrontation") demonstrations of 1963, intended to fill the jails with civil rights protesters in Birmingham and Bessemer.
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The Canaan Baptist Church is considered a locally significant strategy center for church buildings as part of Birmingham's Civil Rights Movement, 1933–1979.
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educational programs, establishing a youth department and educational department, a Christian Aid Union, a Sunday School program, and a Matrons Department.
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255:(which split in the 20th century). The "white" Canaan Baptist church also still operates in Bessemer as part of the
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CHANDA TEMPLE and JEFF HANSEN, "Ministers' homes, churches among bomb targets"
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Americans were segregated by law and custom. They had been effectively
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Van West, Carroll; Nelson, Linda; White, Marjorie (March 24, 2004).
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National Register of Historic Places in Jefferson County, Alabama
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Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Alabama
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Brooks, Walter H. "The Evolution of the Negro Baptist Church."
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National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
230:. Built in 1961, it had a congregation active in the
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Canaan Baptist Church in Bessemer was listed on the
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History of the National Register of Historic Places
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493:, AL.com, 16 July 2000, accessed 3 February 2015
188:Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham, Alabama MPS
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1040:National Baptist Convention, USA churches
543:U.S. National Register of Historic Places
234:of the 20th century and was added to the
38:U.S. National Register of Historic Places
16:Historic church in Alabama, United States
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324:Southern Christian Leadership Conference
505:, Civil Rights Movement Archive website
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1035:Churches in Jefferson County, Alabama
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384:National Register of Historic Places
264:National Register of Historic Places
236:National Register of Historic Places
446:from the original on March 17, 2014
422:from the original on March 17, 2014
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320:Selective Buying Campaign of 1962
278:Role in the Civil Rights Movement
55:July 2016: Canaan Baptist Church
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336:Economic Opportunity Act of 1964
228:National Baptist Convention, USA
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951:Multiple Property Submissions
109:Show map of the United States
57:with 150th anniversary banner
503:History: "1963 January-June"
338:. Through the creation of a
226:. It is affiliated with the
122:824 Fifteenth Street North,
19:United States historic place
1010:Baptist churches in Alabama
956:National Historic Landmarks
295:Brown v. Board of Education
257:Southern Baptist Convention
253:National Baptist Convention
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1020:Churches completed in 1961
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415:. National Park Service.
193:NRHP reference
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466:Journal of Negro History
409:"Canaan Baptist Church"
340:Community Action Agency
969:Keeper of the Register
468:(1922) 7#1 pp: 11-22.
989:Contributing property
437:"Accompanying photos"
389:National Park Service
274:, as the contractor.
232:Civil Rights Movement
216:Canaan Baptist Church
170:1 acre (0.40 ha)
151:33.40197°N 86.96412°W
30:Canaan Baptist Church
156:33.40197; -86.96412
147: /
84:Show map of Alabama
489:2015-07-01 at the
334:through using the
249:American Civil War
222:church located in
1025:Bessemer, Alabama
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984:Historic district
349:Voting Rights Act
224:Bessemer, Alabama
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448:. Retrieved
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939:Other lists
154: /
130:Coordinates
1004:Categories
925:Birmingham
883:Washington
873:Tuscaloosa
868:Tallapoosa
813:Montgomery
753:Lauderdale
362:References
142:86°57′51″W
139:33°24′07″N
863:Talladega
848:St. Clair
768:Limestone
743:Jefferson
658:Covington
556:by county
450:March 17,
433:See also:
426:March 17,
238:in 2005.
838:Randolph
798:Marshall
758:Lawrence
708:Franklin
693:Escambia
663:Crenshaw
633:Cleburne
608:Cherokee
603:Chambers
487:Archived
470:in JSTOR
441:Archived
417:Archived
347:and the
200:05000290
119:Location
946:Bridges
893:Winston
843:Russell
828:Pickens
788:Marengo
783:Madison
773:Lowndes
738:Jackson
733:Houston
703:Fayette
668:Cullman
648:Conecuh
643:Colbert
618:Choctaw
613:Chilton
598:Calhoun
588:Bullock
573:Barbour
568:Baldwin
563:Autauga
547:Alabama
242:History
220:Baptist
930:Mobile
888:Wilcox
878:Walker
858:Sumter
853:Shelby
818:Morgan
808:Monroe
803:Mobile
793:Marion
718:Greene
713:Geneva
698:Etowah
688:Elmore
683:DeKalb
678:Dallas
638:Coffee
623:Clarke
593:Butler
583:Blount
823:Perry
778:Macon
748:Lamar
728:Henry
653:Coosa
554:Lists
444:(PDF)
420:(PDF)
218:is a
175:Built
833:Pike
723:Hale
673:Dale
628:Clay
578:Bibb
452:2014
428:2014
178:1961
167:Area
763:Lee
545:in
308:KKK
259:.
195:No.
184:MPS
1006::
476:^
439:.
411:.
397:^
387:.
381:.
370:^
351:.
535:e
528:t
521:v
454:.
430:.
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