[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 54 (Wednesday, April 30, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S3856]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    PLYMOUTH CHURCH OF BROOKLYN, NY

 Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, founded in 1847, Plymouth Church 
of Brooklyn, NY, has made significant contributions to the Nation. The 
church building, designated in 1963 by the U.S. Department of the 
Interior as a national historic landmark, was known as the ``Grand 
Central Depot of the Underground Railroad'' because of the antislavery 
activities of Rev. Henry Ward Beecher and the congregation.
  Reverend Beecher was familiar with the horrors of slavery auctions 
from his own observation and from experiences of members of his family, 
including his sister Harriet Beecher Stowe who wrote ``Uncle Tom's 
Cabin.'' Thus, on several occasions between 1848 and 1860, he conducted 
well-publicized mock slave auctions at Plymouth Church with the results 
that the congregation secured the freedom of the slaves and he 
demonstrated to the Nation the barbarity of selling people who had been 
created, according to the Bible, ``in the image of God.'' These 
auctions helped create a pro-abolitionist consensus in the North.
  In February of 1860, Abraham Lincoln, then relatively unknown east of 
the Appalachians, was invited to speak at Plymouth Church. At the last 
moment, the location of the speech was changed to Cooper Union where 
Lincoln made an address which introduced him to the eastern United 
States which, in turn, led to his nomination for the Presidency less 
than 3 months later. Lincoln worshiped at Plymouth Church on two 
occasions, the only times he attended church services in New York 
State.
  Following the end of the Civil War, the congregation of Plymouth 
Church supported the position that women and black men should have the 
right to vote. Even after the 15th amendment to the Constitution gave 
newly emancipated black men the right to vote, Plymouth Church 
continued to advocate for the right of women to vote. Reverend Beecher 
was the only man ever to serve as president of the American Suffrage 
Society.
  Reverend Beecher left an impact on other areas of American cultural 
life. He was among the first religious leaders in the United States to 
embrace Darwin's theory of evolution and Spencer's theories of social 
evolution. He was an early advocate of Jewish-Christian dialog and of 
giving public standing to Judaism as a major American faith group.
  Because the church was for many years the largest and best known 
public building in Brooklyn, many notable persons have spoken there, 
including Wendell Phillips, Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, 
Clara Barton, and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Mark Twain, 
who described Plymouth Church's 1867 grand tour of Europe and the Holy 
Land in his book ``Innocents Abroad,'' also spoke there.
  In 1934, Plymouth Church and neighboring Church of the Pilgrims 
merged to form Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims. On May 4 of this year, 
Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims will celebrate the 150th anniversary of 
the founding of Plymouth Church and the commencement of the ministry of 
Rev. Henry Ward Beecher. I wish to add my congratulations to the 
Reverend Sharon Power Blackburn; Frank Decker, president of the 
Plymouth Council; and the entire congregation of Plymouth Church of the 
Pilgrims on this most important occasion.

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