Pilgrim Baptist Church

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Pilgrim Baptist Church, June 1964.

Pilgrim Baptist Church was a historic church located on the south side of Chicago, Illinois. The church was notable both as an architectural landmark and for the cultural contributions by the congregation of the church. Located at 3301 S. Indiana Ave, the church was in the heart of Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood.

The building was designed as a synagogue by Chicago architects Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler, and built in 1890 and 1891. Originally it was the home of Kehilath Anshe Ma'ariv [1], an important congregation in the development of Reform Judaism; Adler was a member, and his father was a rabbi here. A Baptist congregation moved into the building in 1922, forming Pilgrim Baptist Church. In 1981 the building was designated a landmark by the city of Chicago.

The church is credited as the birthplace of gospel music in the 1930s. Thomas A. Dorsey, the "Father of Gospel Music", was the music director at Pilgrim Baptist for decades. Albertina Walker, Mahalia Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Sallie Martin, James Cleveland, The Staples Singers, and The Edwin Hawkins Singers are among those who have sung at the church.

Famous members of the congregation include Bessie Coleman. The church also hosted the funeral service of boxer Jack Johnson in 1946, and was prominent in the Civil Rights Movement. Martin Luther King Jr. preached here at the height of the movement.

[edit] Fire

22 December 2006

On January 6, 2006, the church was gutted by fire. Investigators concluded that the fire was started accidentally by workers performing roof repairs during a $500,000 restoration. The roofers were fitting metal coping, which is sealed with a blowtorch. Consumed in the fire were decades of historical records, along with boxes full of Dorsey's original sheet music. A school next door was also severely damaged. The brick and stone of the outer walls still stand near complete and have had a steel support skeleton attached to the outside to brace the walls for a later reconstruction of the interior of the building and restoration of the façade.

The congregation now meets in a building across the street from the burnt out structure.

Although some news reports confused the two buildings, this is not the same Pilgrim Baptist Church as that used as the "Triple Rock" church in the movie The Blues Brothers, which stands on 91st Street several miles to the south.