Historic Second Baptist Church to hold Museum of Black History

MT. PLEASANT - The oldest building in Mt. Pleasant is raising funds for critical work on its basement.

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Built in 1843, this building began life as a Methodist Church. But, in 1856, with the construction of the Asbury Methodist set to begin, it was moved to its current location at 407 W. Saunders. In 1863, it became home to the Second Baptist congregation, Mt. Pleasant’s first African-American church. In fact, for many years, there were two black churches.

This was when Missouri was still a slave state. Escaping slaves were labeled as ‘Contraband’- stolen goods, rather than people. According to Joy Lapp of the Mt. Pleasant Historical Preservation Commission, a Union Army Chaplain in St. Louis, Reverend James White, was a Mt. Pleasant resident. During the Civil War, as a “Contraband Agent,” he controlled the flow of Freedom Seekers north. He often directed them to Henry County.

Mt. Pleasant, with a large population of abolitionists, was uniquely predisposed to help. The town was a stop on the Underground Railroad, helping escaping slaves move north to Chicago, and beyond to Canada.

But some chose to stay in Mt. Pleasant. Iowa Wesleyan College offered many black people unparalleled educational opportunities. The schools of Mt. Pleasant voluntarily desegregated in 1867, allowing African-American children a similar quality of education to their white counterparts. However, racism still stymied many African-Americans’ attempts at upward mobility. Well-educated but rejected by white society, Lapp described black graduates who worked menial jobs for which they were quite overqualified, or left Mt. Pleasant for greener pastures.

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All this time, the Second Baptist Church was there, a pillar of this community. The building received additions, another window, and, in 1915, a basement. However, that basement, made of clay, is now in desperate need of repair.

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In 2009, the 2nd Baptist moved to their current church. In 2013, the historic structure was donated to the city of Mt. Pleasant, which began restoring it. Its asphalt roof was replaced with cedar shakes, and vinyl siding was removed in favor of historic tongue-and-groove. In 2014, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Mt. Pleasant Historic Preservation Society plans to use the building as a museum, showcasing the city’s African-American history.

The basement, requiring much work, remains a source of worry. However, a jazz concert is hoped to raise the necessary funds for its replacement. On Friday, March 20, at 7:30 p.m., the Jerry Tolson Quartet and Delfeayo Marsalis will perform at the Chapel Auditorium, for the benefit of the old church. Tolson, an Academic in Louisville, Kentucky, grew up in Mt. Pleasant, attending church in that very building. His father, Glenwood Tolson, graduated from Iowa Wesleyan with a teaching degree, but was unable to find work due to racist meddling. Instead, he worked as a janitor, a junk man, and a chauffeur. Each generation of the Tolsons worshiped in the old Second Baptist Building.

Marsalis, a friend of his, is a jazz trombonist from an esteemed family. Brother to famed trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, he is a composer in his own right, and a five-time winner of Offbeat’s Best of The Beat Awards. His 2016 album, Make America Great Again!, is a thought-provoking and wisecracking take on some of the very history embodied Mt. Pleasant’s Second Baptist Church. The name jokingly appropriated from a conservative political slogan, which Marsalis asserts is a racist canard.

Anyone interested in the concert can purchase tickets online, at https://historicsecondbaptistmp.org/. All proceeds will benefit the restoration of this historic structure.

Call Marilyn Higgins at 319-368-8895 or email her at marilyn.higgins@southeastiowaunion.com