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Guide to the Metropolitan Baptist Church Records 1904-2000, MSS 930

Repository
Heinz History Center
Title
Metropolitan Baptist Church Records
Collection Number
MSS 930
Extent
1.0 linear feet (1 box)
Date
1904-2000
Abstract
The Metropolitan Baptist Church was founded in 1850 in Allegheny City (today, the North Side neighborhood of Pittsburgh). The Metropolitan Baptist Church Records consist of organizational histories, event programs, financial records, legal documents, and membership directories. Photographs document the church's membership and choir.
Language
The material in this collection is in English.
Author
The guide to this collection was written by Douglas Edwards.
Sponsor
This collection has been made accessible as part of an NHPRC-funded Basic Processing grant.
Publisher
Heinz History Center
Address
1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
URL: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org

History

The Metropolitan Baptist Church was founded in 1850 in Allegheny City (today, the North Side neighborhood of Pittsburgh). The organization is known as the oldest black Baptist church in Western Pennsylvania. The church was formerly known as the First Colored Regular Baptist Church, Zion Baptist Church, and Green Street Baptist Church before becoming Metropolitan Baptist Church. It was received as a member of the Pittsburgh Baptist Association on June 2, 1850, and later moved to the Allegheny Baptist Association, which later became the Allegheny Union Baptist Association.

The church began small and even briefly disassembled in the late 1850s, but by the late 1860s they had established a Sunday School and made efforts to attain a permanent physical location. In 1875, the church opened a building on Greet Street, before moving to Sampsonia Street in 1904 due to the growing size of their membership. The building has seen periodic renovations and expansions.

The church's activity is marked by a dedication to serving their community. These acts include running a center for food distribution, a benevolent fund, a collection center for clothing, youth employment programs, day care, tax assistance for senior citizens, voter registration campaigns, a head start program, and adult education classes. Of particular note is the church's dedication to providing housing for the elderly and low-income members of its parish, which involved the purchase of two apartment buildings on Armandale Street and Atlanta Way and remodeling old houses for lower-income families.

The church's pastors have included Revs. Lacy Richardson, Dudley D. Chatman, and Obadiah Simms.

Scope and Content Notes

The Metropolitan Baptist Church Records primarily consists of administrative records and photographs. The records include organizational histories, financial records, legal documents, event programs, and membership directories. Also included is a Boy Scout charter, church dedications, blueprints, and the church constitution. The photographs document church activities and members, with a number of the images depicting the church's choir. The collection also includes the contents of a binder of historical materials which was organized by the church.

Conditions Governing Access

None.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift from Martina Corbin in 2013.

Archives accession # 2013.0025

Preferred Citation

Metropolitan Baptist Church Records, 1904-2000, MSS 0930, Thomas and Katherine Detre Library and Archives, Senator John Heinz History Center

Processing Information

Preliminary processing by Douglas Edwards in May 2013.

Conditions Governing Use

Property rights reside with the Senator John Heinz History Center. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the Thomas and Katherine Detre Library and Archives of the Senator John Heinz History Center.

Separated Materials

To the Library: Two LPs entitled Songs of Praise by the Choirs of the Metropolitan Baptist Church, Pittsburgh, Pa.

To the Museum: Commemorative Plate 2013.9

Subjects

    Corporate Names

    • Metrpolitan Baptist Church (Pittsburgh, Pa.).

    Personal Names

    • Simms, Obadiah.
    • Chatman, Dudley D.
    • Richardson, Lacy F.

    Geographic Names

    • Pittsburgh (Pa.)
    • North Side (Pittsburgh Pa.)
    • Allegheny City (Pittsburgh, Pa.)

    Other Subjects

    • African American Baptists--Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh.
    • African American churches -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh

Container List