White Rock Baptist Church

White Rock Baptist Church is a historically African American church that was founded in Durham, NC, in 1866.[1] The congregation first met in the home of Margaret Ruffin Faucette in Durham's Hayti neighborhood. The Reverends Zuck Horton and Samuel Daddy Hunt were the first ministers to lead the congregation.[2]

Dr. Augustus Shepard, father of Dr. James E. Shepard, founder of North Carolina Central University led the congregation between 1901-1911.[3]

A number of prominent African American citizens were members of White Rock Baptist Church, including Asa and Edna Spaulding, parents of Asa T. Spaulding, Jr.,[4] and Dr. Aaron Moore. Dr. Moore donated funds for a Sunday School building and started a library in the church's basement, which would later become the Durham Colored Library and then the Stanford L. Warren Public Library.

In 1960, just after the start of the sit-in movement at the Woolworth store in Greensboro, NC, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., gave a speech titled “A Creative Protest”[5] at White Rock Baptist Church to a crowd estimated at 1,200.[6] King made five appearances in Durham.[7]

The original church building was demolished to make way for the Durham Freeway, and a new building was constructed further south on Fayetteville Street with the congregation moving in in 1977.[8][9]

References
  1. "Collection Title: White Rock Baptist Church Records, 1880s-1980s". The James E. Shepard Memorial Library at North Carolina Central University. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  2. "White Rock Baptist Church (Durham, N.C.)". SNAC Cooperative. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  3. "White Rock Baptist Church". Open Durham. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  4. "Asa and Elna Spaulding papers, 1909-1997 and undated, bulk 1935-1983". Duke University Libraries Archives & Manuscripts Collections Guides. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  5. "1960". Virtual Martin Luther King, Jr. Project. North Carolina State University. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  6. "Martin Luther King, Jr., at White Rock Baptist Church". And Justice For All Durham County Courthouse Art Wall. Durham County Public Library. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  7. "Durham students sit-in for U.S. Civil Rights, 1960". Global Nonviolent Action Database. Swarthmore College. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  8. "Martin Luther King, Jr., at White Rock Baptist Church". And Justice For All Durham County Courthouse Art Wall. Durham County Public Library. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  9. "White Rock Baptist Church". Visit NC. Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina. Retrieved August 17, 2022.

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