at the groundbreaking of National Baptist Memorial Church, 23 April 1921, Library of Congress, Harris & Ewing Collection For many years there had been discussion at meetings of the
Columbia Association of Baptist Churches of organizing a Bible School at the Mount Pleasant Field. At an association meeting held at
Calvary Baptist Church in 1901
Percy S. Foster offered his house at the corner of
Columbia Road and 13th Street NW for a Sunday school and meeting place during his 1902–1903 term as Association moderator.
Metropolitan Baptist Church maintained a mission Sunday School at
Scheutzen Park (earlier spelled Schutzen). Scheutzen Park fronted 7th Street NW (today's Georgia Avenue), between Harvard and Kenyon Streets. Metropolitan Baptist member Mrs. Rosella E. Bryant suggested that the location was too far for the children of 14th Street and that a new Sunday school should be organized there. At the suggestion of Captain Fred Beall, Charles Warner began investigation what could be done to organize a Sunday school at 14th Street. The first meeting was held at the Post Office hall on Sunday, 7 January 1906.
Immanuel Baptist Church By January 1907 the congregation had outgrown Post Office Hall. A lot at the corner of 16th Street NW and Columbia Road NW was purchased in 1907 for $30,000. The property included a house that was renovated to include a hall for services. Late that year financial secretary J. H. W. Marriott got the idea to erect a large, electrically illuminated billboard on the roof of the house (pictured left). Architect George W. Stone Sr. of Stone & Averill was commissioned to design the building to serve as Sunday school house. Stone produced a Neo-Gothic design.
National Baptist Memorial Church A movement for the creation of a national Baptist memorial in Washington, D.C. began in 1917. The original concept was as a memorial to
Roger Williams and religious freedom. The design was to included a prominently placed statue of Williams (see illustration). In 1919 both the Northern and Southern Baptist Conventions agreed to add $175,000 each for the memorial in their five-year plans. The Washington area was to contribute another $100,000, with Immanuel Baptist Church pledging to raise $50,000 of the Washington contribution from within the church. The
Southern Baptist Convention 1920 Annual Meeting was held 12–17 May in Washington, D.C. and the sight was dedicated Saturday, 15 May of the convention. Two thousand people attended the dedication. Speakers included Secretary of the Navy
Josephus Daniels, Rev.
James Bruton Gambrell, President of the Southern Baptist Convention and
William Joseph McGlothlin, President of
Furman University. The architect for the new church was
Egerton Swartwout (1870–1943) from New York. The
Society of Architectural Historians Archipedia speculates that Swartwout's design may have been inspired by
All Souls Church, Langham Place, London (1824). and is part of the
Meridian Hill Historic District which was created in April–May 2014. In 2025, the church partnered with The District Church in D.C. to restore the building's interior as a shared worship and community space for the two congregations. The facility had become infested with pigeons during the COVID-19 pandemic. == References ==