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REMARKABLE PIECE OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN AND SOUTH BEND HISTORY — 100 YEARS IN ONE VOLUME.
This is the 1890–1990 Centennial Anniversary history of Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church, South Bend, Indiana, produced to commemorate an extraordinary century of faith, community, family and civic life.
This is far more than an anniversary program.
The substantial hardcover volume documents the history of an important African-American congregation from its beginnings in 1890 through its 100th anniversary in 1990, preserving photographs, names, families, church leaders, organizations and historical records that may be extremely difficult to find anywhere else.
Among the fascinating historical material are reproductions/transcriptions relating to the congregation\'s 1891 property purchase and mortgage, including names of early trustees. The history discusses the growth of South Bend\'s African-American population, the church\'s early struggles and successes, the Depression years, construction of its church building, and generations of people associated with the congregation.
The book is richly illustrated with historic photographs of African-American church members, pastors, trustees, families and community figures, some reaching far back into the congregation\'s history.
The centennial attracted recognition at the local, state and national level. The volume contains reproduced congratulatory correspondence and messages associated with prominent public figures and institutions, including President George H. W. Bush and Barbara Bush, U.S. Senator Dan Coats, Congressman John Hiler, Indiana Governor Evan Bayh, South Bend Mayor Joseph Kernan, University of Notre Dame President Rev. Edward A. Malloy, and others.
IMPORTANT: Signatures appearing with these congratulatory messages are printed/facsimile signatures and are not being represented as original autographs.
The book also preserves material from local churches, civic organizations, families and community groups—including an Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority centennial congratulatory message—creating a broader snapshot of Black institutional and community life in the South Bend region.
SCARCITY IS A MAJOR PART OF THE APPEAL.
Extensive online searching did not locate another retail or documented sold copy for comparison at the time of research. That does not establish how many copies were originally produced or how many survive, but it demonstrates how seldom this particular publication appears in the readily searchable marketplace.
An institutional copy has been identified in the collection of the Indiana University South Bend Civil Rights Heritage Center, where the publication is catalogued as Pilgrim Missionary Baptist 100th Anniversary; circa 1990. That institutional holding underscores the book\'s usefulness as a historical record.
For collectors and researchers of African-American history, Black church history, Indiana history, South Bend history, genealogy, local history, religious history, civil-rights history and African-American photography, this is an unusually rich primary community publication.
1890–1990. ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF NAMES, FACES, FAITH AND HISTORY PRESERVED IN A SINGLE VOLUME.
