Civil Rights Warrior – Evelyn Jones Rich (1)

As we approached the sanctuary from a few blocks away, we could hear the music . . . Oh come, come, come to the church in the wildwood Oh, come to the church in the dale No spot is so dear to my childhood As the little brown church in the vale . . . Written in the mid-nineteenth century by William Pitts, the “Little Brown Church” hymn has been sung by congregations across the nation throughout the years. We sang it often in Church—usually as part of the regular service rather than as a processional or recessional.

“No spot is so dear to my childhood as the little brown church in the vale,” epitomizes my feelings about Galilee Baptist Church of Philadelphia, which we simply called “Galilee.” Galilee still stands on the corner of Roxborough and Mitchell Street in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia. It is and always has been a Black church in a White neighborhood.

Today, developers probably have their eye on the large property consisting of the main building and a parsonage next door with a large backyard. Although educated in the public schools of Roxborough, I was also educated in the Galilee Church for the seventeen years I spent there. Galilee significantly shaped the person I am today. Baptists founded the first church in Roxborough in 1789, followed thirty years later by the Methodists.

Galilee was first organized in 1896 to serve the small Black community in Roxborough, Manayunk, and Wissahickon when a group of African Americans met for services regularly in the home of a Mr. Graham. They later moved to the second floor of a house on Walnut Lane and Pechin Street.

Mr. Graham became the first pastor. They named their church Galilee Baptist after Mr. Graham’s former church in Virginia. Religious services were held in members’ homes or schoolhouses. Assisted by Rev. Horace B. Wayland, pastor of the Zion Baptist Church in nearby Germantown, Galilee began holding services and building a congregation like a regular Baptist Church. A succession of pastors followed, including Rev. Royal H.

Brown and Rev. Clarence Parrish, who was ordained and installed on July 2, 1899. The founding members purchased the property on the southwest corner of Roxborough Avenue and Mitchell Street. The cornerstone was laid in 1900. Deacon Taylor and Deacon Wesley McCullough supervised the church’s construction. I remember Deacon Taylor vividly when I was growing up. Sitting in a pew in the front of the church, he seemed like a very old man.

Copyright © 2026 by Evelyn Jones Rich All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Skyhorse Publishing, 307 Fifth Avenue, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10016.

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Visit our website at www.skyhorsepublishing.com. Please follow our publisher Tony Lyons on Instagram @tonylyonsisuncertain. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file. Cover design by David Ter-Avanesyan Cover images courtesy of the auhtor Print ISBN: 978-1-5107-8565-6 Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-8566-3 Printed in the United States of America 1kitap1.com/en To Mother, Marvin, MaryAnn, and all the girls and women allies in our continuing struggle for social justice.

Never give up! 1kitap1.com/en Contents 1. Debating Malcolm X 2. Falling In Love and Correcting the Freedom Rides Record 3. Funding the Sit-ins and the Freedom Rides 4. African Adventures: Uganda 5. Girls Do Carry Papers 6. The US Post Office: Mama’s Bank 7. Galilee and Me 8. A Negro at Bryn Mawr 9. Making It Happen: Turning a High School Around 10. Tough Love: Highlights at Andrew Jackson High School (1980–1985) 11. Challenges and Opportunities 12. Thwarting Drug Dealers at Andrew Jackson 13. Dr. Rich and the Police 14.

Confronting Giftedness 15. We Weren’t Helicopter Parents 16. Ain’t Finished Yet! Acknowledgments 1kitap1.com/en 1 Debating Malcolm X M y husband, Marvin, called to tell me that I must debate Malcolm X the very next day. To be specific, Malcolm X wanted to debate a representative of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) about the Freedom Rides.

It was May 1961. Ku Klux Klan members and others had just burned a bus carrying CORE Freedom Riders in Anniston, Alabama. The entire nation was aware of what was happening because photos of the burning bus were plastered on the front pages of newspapers across the country. Malcolm X hoped to capitalize on this awful event by presenting the Nation of Islam’s (a.k.a.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

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• Title: –
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• ISBN: 9781510785656, 9781510785663
• Pages: 155
• Language: English (en)

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