The stained glass windows of Mount Zion Baptist Church feel magical, and for good reason. Situated at 32 W. Carpenter St., Athenians walk past the aged church each day, often without knowing the work a local group has dedicated to preserving the building, and with it, Black history in Athens.
The Mount Zion Baptist Church Preservation Society held its annual meeting Saturday at the Southeast Ohio History Center. People sat in rows from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at 24 W. State St. with more people joining on Zoom for the event, which doubled as the 150th-anniversary celebration of the church’s founding.
The society is a largely volunteer-based organization dedicated to preserving Athens’ Black history, specifically the Mount Zion Baptist Church. The group is currently working on renovating the historically Black church, which shut down in the early 2000s, into a cultural center that preserves and shares local history.
“The fact that it’s 150 years really adds a solemn moment for us to remember so many people who have contributed to make Mount Zion a beacon of light,” said Nadya Hinson, the executive director of the society.
The group began their annual meeting with four representatives from Delta Sigma Theta sorority performing a processional, followed by a rhythmic dance performance, both of which praised the sorority. Delta Sigma Theta is a historically Black sorority, and members were invited to perform by Trevellya Ford-Ahmed, colloquially often known as Dr. Tee, a board of directors member, for the society.
Following the performance, the group introduced each board member, inviting them up to give an update about their success and involvement throughout 2022, as well as discuss what they will go on to complete this year. The group is non-profit, and they updated audience members on their budget, including which grants they had received and where that money was going. The preservation society ended the year with $139,109.87 in its name, with big plans for the money in 2023, including the careful removal and storage of the priceless stained glass windows in order to work elsewhere in the building without damaging the glass.
One effort to supplement the necessary funds is the new Quarters to Freedom project. This is a collaboration with the local Andrew Jackson Davison Club, which is learning about Black history in the Athens school district. In true historian fashion, the fundraiser was inspired by a 1934 school children’s effort to raise money for a statue. Kids collected pennies during the Great Depression to raise a monument that would honor Eliza Davison, wife of Andrew Jackson Davison, the first Black lawyer in Athens.
The preservation society is now collecting quarters, with each quarter representing an inch on an Underground Railroad route from Athens to Buxton, Canada. Buxton was an important stop on the Underground Railroad, and the settlement there was largely founded by refugees seeking freedom from enslavement. With quarters as inches, traveling one mile on the route will raise $15,840. If the society can raise money all the way to Buxton, they will have gathered over $5 million.
“What can a quarter do?” asked Ada-Woodson Adams, president of the Mount Zion Baptist Church Preservation Society. “What can your quarter do? We don’t want to stop at 4,000 quarters, we got to get to Canada.”
Audience members had the opportunity to donate quarters after the event, and anyone interested is encouraged to donate to the Mt. Zion Baptist Church Preservation Society’s P.O. Box 548 in Athens.
After announcing their new fundraising efforts, they continued with the celebration. Guest speaker Uzoma Miller, a visiting professor of African American studies, took the stage following the society’s updates to address the importance of preserving Black history. He said he was glad to see students in the audience, but felt everyone should care more about local Black history.
“For those of you that are students that are here, glad to see you,” Miller said. “It should be 100 more. It is literally (a) five-minute walk.”
Miller encouraged everyone, present and absent, to pay special attention to the work the preservation society is putting into saving and recording local history. He said learning about such efforts and their historical importance saves Black stories.
After Miller’s address, the board presented two awards to community members who were especially helpful in their efforts. These honorees received the Beacon of Light award, as the church is often seen as a beacon of light.
The first honoree, Ron Luce, helped found the society and has worked in various positions on the board since. The second went to Paul Logue, the Athens City planner, who helped write grants and support the society’s efforts while in his position.
Luce had first worked with Adams when he helped her become a board member at the Southeast Ohio History Center. His passion for Black history and ensuring all stories are told stuck with Adams.
“I felt for the first time that someone was seeing me and my ancestors and my cultural importance,” Adams said. “I have a lot of angels around me today and all of you are my angels, but there are certain people who come into your life that are always the heart of your spirit and your soul, and Ron is that person.”
Much of the event revolved around gratitude, like Adams’ appreciation for Luce, and for generous donations from local individuals and businesses. The board said these funds are crucial to the preservation society’s work. Aside from the building renovations, the group is also in need of funds to put out the second and third parts of a docuseries they created, “Black Wall Street Athens County.”
The first installment of the series premiered in 2022, discussing Athens’ rich Black history, and giving an overview of historic buildings and people. The second film will focus on the Berry Hotel, a Black-owned hotel that stood at 18 N. Court St., where Hangover Easy stands today, and the Albany Academy, where many Black students received their education.
Elizabeth Williams was the last scheduled speaker at the event and she represented her family, which goes back four or five generations in Athens and helped to found Mount Zion. Williams was born in Athens 73 years ago and has committed to the town since. She addressed the Berrys’ contributions to the town, particularly Mattie Berry.
She said townspeople in Athens tried to ban any white salespeople who stayed at the hotel, but Mattie Berry was able to ensure people would still stay.
“Mrs. Berry had such a mind for service and giving that she would collect the clothes for salespeople at night and she would clean them, fix the buttons or whatever repairs needed to be done,” Williams said. “And so they had to lift this ban because people were going to stay there anyway.”
Williams addressed Mattie Berry personally, as Ford-Ahmed reappeared dressed in a long blue dress and white head wrap, portraying Berry symbolically. As the program wrapped up, the board thanked everyone for attending and for their continued support, expressing gratitude for the church that preserved history even 150 years after its birth.
“What I'm thankful for is the church,” Williams said. “That's the church where my parents went to as youth. That's where my parents were married. That's where they brought me to be baptized as an infant or blessed as they would call (it). It still remains. And we want it to remain forever.”
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