General Baptist State Convention
Goldsboro, Wayne County, North Carolina
Marker Inscription
General Baptist State Convention. Statewide association of black Baptists organized, Oct. 18, 1867, at First African Baptist Church, then located 2/10 mi. W.
Erected by North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
The Story
On October 18, 1867, Black Baptists from across North Carolina gathered to organize the General Baptist State Convention, a statewide association founded at Goldsboro's First African Baptist Church. Coming just two years after emancipation, it gave newly freed African Americans an independent religious institution of their own. The founding church then stood about two-tenths of a mile west of this marker.
Why it matters
Independent Black churches and conventions formed in the wake of the Civil War became the bedrock of African American community life, leadership, and eventually the civil rights movement.
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