WILLIAMSBURG — As part of its Juneteenth celebration, Colonial Williamsburg will be hosting the groundbreaking for the reconstruction of the African Baptist Meeting House.
According to Colonial Williamsburg, the African Baptist Meeting House and Burial Ground was the original permanent location of the First Baptist Church, one of the earliest African American congregations in the United States. A congregation of enslaved and free people of African descent worshipped, built a community and buried family members at this Nassau Street site.
Following Colonial Williamsburg’s purchase and removal of the church, the congregation relocated to Scotland Street, where its members have worshipped since 1956. In partnership with the First Baptist Church of Williamsburg and the Let Freedom Ring Foundation, Colonial Williamsburg has engaged in a multi-year project to excavate, study, and reconstruct this historic site.
Janice Canaday, the African American community engagement manager for Colonial Williamsburg, explained that the African meeting house was not called a church at the time because of the laws around free and enslaved African Americans.
“Your meeting house or gathering spot is today as it was then: it was a sacred spot, it was an anchor in the community. It was a place for folks to gather and heal and to encourage each other, to reestablish and reaffirm their humanity and their connection and the importance of family and community. Same thing as it is today, a place to pass news,” said Canaday.
“The church will be a tangible thing and it will give an opportunity place to illuminate and affirm the people that were there,” she continued. “It’ll make us look toward the whole town from the capital to the college and everything in between, and in our nation that these people were the backbone of every foundation that was laid.”
The groundbreaking will take place at 9 a.m. on June 19. Music will be featured from the Descendant Children’s Choir and the Historic First Baptist Church Choir and reflections from members of the Descendant Community. The project is proposed to be completed by 2026.
Other events will also be taking place in honor of Juneteenth, including the public opening of the Williamsburg Bray School at 10 a.m. In the days leading up to the event, Darryl Reeves, the most celebrated architectural blacksmith in the Gulf South, is returning for the third consecutive year to work and teach alongside Colonial Williamsburg’s blacksmiths June 17 to June 19. There will also be a Juneteenth Sunrise Service June 15 at 6 a.m. featuring Daniel Black, award-winning novelist, professor and public speaker.
To learn more about Colonial Williamsburg and its events, visit its official website.
