“Jazzing Hellwards”: The Painful History of White Protestant Church Segregation and What It Means Today

“Jazzing Hellwards”: The Painful History of White Protestant Church Segregation and What It Means Today

June 28 – Marta Crilly, Historian and Archivist

From segregated seating in the 1840s to the Memphis Kneeel-Ins of the 1960s, America’s white congregations have a long and painful history of working to promote segregation in church pews. Examining the long tradition of segregationist theology, polity, and culture in the white church sheds light on the current racial situation in American churches, and helps us to understand why 11:00 on Sunday morning is still the most segregated hour for American Christians. This lecture delves into the pro-slavery and pro-segregation theology accepted in many white churches in the 19th and 20th century and how that theology manifested in local church practice.

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