First Baptist Church

First Baptist Church was organized in 1866 as an outgrowth of the predominantly white Farmville Baptist Church. In 1949, after the death of Rev. C. H. Griffin, the congregation unanimously called his son, L. Francis Griffin, as pastor, and he chose to serve his home church rather than a large northern church that had also called him. In April 1951, when 456 students at Robert R. Moton High School walked out to protest the deplorable conditions of their segregated school, the church under Rev. L. Francis Griffin supported the student rebellion, with most members backing their pastor despite some dissent. The church opened its facilities for meetings among students, faculty members, NAACP lawyers, parents, and others, and there parents, students, and NAACP attorneys decided to sue for integrated schools in Prince Edward County. After the 1954 Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Topeka Board of Education outlawed segregation in public education, Prince Edward County closed its public schools in 1959 to avoid integration, and First Baptist Church continued to support students and the community in the Civil Rights struggle. Nationally known Civil Rights leaders, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., visited the church, students locked out of public schools attended classes there, and Rev. Griffin endured economic reprisals from the white business community as the church made a major contribution to equal access to public education for all students.

Farmville, Virginia · United States