A historical anti-slavery note long believed to have been lost forever has been discovered in the depths of an American Baptist church archive.
Volunteer Jennifer Cromack made the extraordinary discovery while trawling through 18th and 19th century journals which had been stored in boxes for decades.
In one of these boxes, she found a five foot scroll in pristine condition. It was a handwritten declaration titled ‘A Resolution and Protest Against Slavery.’
The document, signed by 116 New England ministers in Boston and adopted March 2, 1847, was long believed lost forever after historians had searched high and low at for it at Harvard and Brown universities over the years.
A copy of the document was last seen in 1902 inside a history book, but the original had never been found.
Cormack said she was ‘amazed and excited’ at her discovery.
Reverend Diane Badger, the administrator of the American Baptist Church of Massachusetts who oversees the archive, described the scroll as the ‘Holy Grail’ of abolitionist-era Baptist documents.
It speaks to the thoughts and feelings of church leaders at the time about slavery, and their growing uneasiness.
Volunteer Jennifer Cromack made the extraordinary discovery while trawling through 18th and 19th century journals which had been stored in boxes for decades
Rev. Diane Badger unfurls a recently found, 178-year-old anti-slavery scroll at Grotonwood, the home mission of The American Baptist Churches of Massachusetts
It was signed 14 years before the start of the Civil War, offering a glimpse into the emerging debate.
‘We made a find that really says something to the people of the state and the people in the country,’ Cormack said.
‘It speaks of their commitment to keeping people safe and out of situations that they should not be in.’
Deborah Bingham Van Broekhoven, the executive director emerita of the American Baptist Historical Society, said many Americans at the time, especially in the North, were ‘undecided’ about slavery and weren’t sure how to respond or were worried about speaking out.
‘They thought it was a Southern problem, and they had no business getting involved in what they saw as the state’s rights,’ Van Broekhoven said.
‘Most Baptists, prior to this, would have refrained from this kind of protest. This is a very good example of them going out on a limb and trying to be diplomatic.’
The document shows ministers had hoped ‘some reformatory movement’ led by those involved in slavery would make their action ‘unnecessary,’ but that they felt compelled to act after they ‘witnessed with painful surprise, a growing disposition to justify, extend and perpetuate their iniquitous system.’
‘Under these circumstances we can no longer be silent,’ the document states.
The document, signed by 116 New England ministers in Boston and adopted March 2, 1847, was long believed lost forever after historians had searched high and low at Harvard and Brown for it over the years
‘We owe something to the oppressed as well as to the oppressor, and justice demand the fulfillment of that obligation. Truth and Humanity and Public Virtue, have claims upon us which we cannot dishonor.’
The document explains why the ministers ‘disapprove and abhor the system of American slavery.’
‘With such a system we can have no sympathy,’ the document states.
‘After a careful observation of its character and effects and making every deduction with the largest charity can require, we are constrained to regard it as an outrage upon the rights and happiness of our fellow men, for which there is no valid justification or apology.’
Reverend Mary Day Hamel, the executive minister of the American Baptist Churches of Massachusetts, said that letter sparked a movement within the church that is still important.
‘It was a unique moment in history when Baptists in Massachusetts stepped up and took a strong position and stood for justice in the shaping of this country,’ she said.
‘That’s become part of our heritage to this day, to be people who stand for justice, for American Baptists to embrace diversity.’
It was signed two years after the issue of slavery prompted southern Baptists to split from northern Baptists and form the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation’s largest Protestant denomination.
The split in 1845 followed a ruling by the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society prohibiting slave owners from becoming missionaries. The northern Baptists eventually became American Baptist Churches USA.
In one of these boxes, she found a five foot scroll in pristine condition. It was a handwritten declaration titled ‘A Resolution and Protest Against Slavery’
Since its discovery, Badger has put all the ministers’ names on a spreadsheet along with the names of the churches where they served.
Among them was Nathaniel Colver, of Tremont Temple in Boston, one of the first integrated churches in the country, now known as Tremont Temple Baptist Church.
Another was Baron Stow, who belonged to the state’s anti-slavery society.
Badger also is working to estimate the value of the document, which is intact with no stains or damage, and is making plans to ensure it is protected.
A digital copy could eventually be shared with some of Massachusetts’ 230 American Baptist churches.
‘It’s been kind of an interesting journey and it’s one that´s still unfolding,’ Badger said.
‘The questions that always come to me, OK, I know who signed it but who didn’t? I can go through my list, through my database and find who was working where on that and why didn’t they sign that. So it´s been very interesting to do the research.’
Reverend Kenneth Young – whose predominantly Black Calvary Baptist Church in Haverhill, Massachusetts, was created by freed black slaves in 1871 – called the discovery inspiring.
‘I thought it was awesome that we had over hundred signers to this, that they would project that freedom for our people is just,’ Young said.
‘It follows through on the line of the abolitionist movement and fighting for those who may not have had the strength to fight for themselves against a system of racism.’
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