According to the history of the church which comprises this collection, the Baptist church in Columbus began when 12 persons, 11 white and a slave named Joseph, assembled in a room on Broad Street to organize a church on February 14, 1829. The first church building was built in 1830 at the corner of 3rd Avenue and 12th Street, permitting black and white to worship together under one roof. In 1840, after building a new building, the First Baptist Church gave their old building to their black congregants for a house of worship. These people organized the African Baptist Church. The second building of the church was located at the corner of St. Clair (now called 11th Street) and Front Avenue. It was built in 1862 at a cost of 800 dollars. The cost of lot, $250, was paid by the First Baptist Church. Beginning with the construction of this building, the pastors were ministers of color. After that building was destroyed by fire, a new brick building was constructed in 1881 at the corner of 11th Street and 6th Avenue, where Golden Foundry and Machine Company later stood. The fourth building at 901 Fifth Avenue was occupied in 1915 and formally named the First African Baptist Church. Due to “frictions and factions”, three other churches were formed between 1889 and 1908, the Metropolitan Baptist Church 1890, the Friendship Baptist church in 1906 and the Mt. Tabor Baptist church in 1908.