[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 87 (Thursday, May 23, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S3100]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              102ND ANNIVERSARY OF EMMANUEL BAPTIST CHURCH

  Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. President, today I wish to recognize the 102nd 
anniversary of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Beloit, WI. Emmanuel Baptist 
Church was established on April 15, 1917, and has been a pillar of the 
community for the last 102 years.
  The church was founded during the peak of the Great Northward 
Migration, when more than 6 million African Americans migrated from the 
rural South to the industrial cities of the North and Midwest. Many 
northern manufacturing plants sought African-American migrants from the 
South to help replace white workers fighting in World War I. Beloit 
became a favored destination for many migrants thanks in part to a 
young African-American named John McCord from Pontotoc, MS, who helped 
the Fairbanks Morse manufacturing company in Beloit recruit Black labor 
from the southern town.
  African Americans were eager to escape the Jim Crow laws of the South 
and seek an improved quality of life for their families. As they 
settled in an unfamiliar part of the country, they sought solace in 
their faith and established the Second Emmanuel Baptist Church, now 
Emmanuel Baptist Church. The church held its first service at Kent Hall 
on State Street on April 15, 1917, for a small group of African 
Americans, all of whom worked at Fairbanks Morse. As their families 
grew and the Great Migration continued, the once small church quickly 
grew to a congregation of 100 by 1920. On June 3, 1927, formal 
incorporation papers were filed with the Rock County Registrar.
  The first church at the current location was built in 1924 for 
$5,500. The edifice of the present church was built in 1960 after the 
first building was destroyed by fire in 1958. Today, Emmanuel Baptist 
church proudly offers worship and educational programs for its members 
and provides community outreach programs through its Family Life 
Center. Two of its most successful endeavors, a food pantry and a free 
hot lunch program, began under the leadership of the late Rev. Dr. 
Floyd Prude, Jr., who served as senior pastor for 36 years, the longest 
in the church's history.
  Now, 102 years after its founding, Emmanuel Baptist Church provides a 
spiritual refuge for its 350 members under the steady hand of Minister 
Rodney Hayes. It stands as a beacon of hope that has withstood the 
devastating impacts of racism and persecution. Under the devoted 
guidance of its spiritual leaders, may it continue to be a shining 
asset to the community for the next 102 years.

                          ____________________