This monumental brick and stone edifice was built in 1926 as a synagogue for Jewish immigrants who came to the U.S. to escape anti-Semitism in Romania. In 1954 the building was bought by an African-American Baptist congregation under the leadership of Reverend J.M. Stone. Stone led his congregation to support the Civil Rights Movement, and the church hosted frequent sermons by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., especially during the Chicago Freedom Movement in 1966, when King led a campaign to end housing discrimination in the city. The Chicago Freedom Movement prompted national debate about housing discrimination that ultimately led to the passage of the Fair Housing Act in 1968.