The USC Libraries are hosting the archives of the 120-year-old Second Baptist Church of Los Angeles during its yearlong renovation project. An official city landmark – as well as a neighborhood institution with a national profile – the church building was designed in 1924 by renowned architect and USC alum Paul Williams.

The collaboration began nearly four years ago as church officials planned the historic preservation project for the building. Charged with safeguarding Second Baptist’s legacy, the church’s archives committee consulted with USC Libraries archivists and librarians. They hoped also to explore new ways of sharing their history with K-12 educators, researchers and others beyond the congregation.

The Second Baptist Church has played a role in the religious, civic and cultural life of Los Angeles throughout its history. Founded in 1885, it was the first African-American Baptist church in Southern California. In keeping with its motto, “service is the price you pay for the space you occupy,” the church has been an active force in movements for social justice and community empowerment.

David Crippens, chair of Second Baptist’s board of trustees, describes the church’s legacy as a moral imprint on the Los Angeles region. Members of the congregation fought restrictive housing covenants and racial discrimination in many forms at Santa Monica beaches, Pasadena public swimming pools and restaurants in Indio.

“We have been deeply involved in the civil rights struggle from the beginning,” Crippens said. “It has been a vital part of our mission, since it is essential to both who we are and where we want to go.”

Noting that this struggle is preserved in the unique objects in the church’s archive, Crippens said, “The archive is a treasure trove of letters and photos chronicling the everyday life of our community – in weddings, funerals and similar events – as well as our contribution to the larger history of the African-American diaspora in Los Angeles.

“One of my favorites is a letter that former pastor Dr. Henderson wrote to Martin Luther King Sr. inviting his son to speak at Second Baptist for the first time. He also wrote a number of fiery letters to segregationist congressmen. His writing and extraordinarily vivid way of capturing things makes it easy to step back in time.”

Historian W.E.B. DuBois, novelist Alice Dunbar-Nelson and Martin Luther King Jr. have graced the Second Baptist pulpit. King considered the church his West Coast home and preached his last sermon there just three weeks before he was assassinated on April 4, 1968.

The church’s national stature grew during the 1920s after the construction of its Griffith Avenue building, less than two miles from the University Park campus. At the time, Second Baptist was the largest African-American-owned meeting space west of the Mississippi. In 1928, the church hosted delegates to the first NAACP convention in the western United States.

“The archives committee has been the driving force in the partnership with USC,” Crippens said. “They wanted to make our history available in a systematic way to people outside the church and ensure that our collection was professionally organized. That’s why they sought help from the USC Libraries.”

USC librarian and university archivist Claude Zachary has provided advice and directed the archives committee to resources that have helped them preserve their collection. In addition, he has served as an archival consultant to Second Baptist for National Endowment for the Humanities and Haynes Foundation grant proposals. He will assist with cataloguing efforts while the archive is hosted at USC.

“It’s rare for a community church to be so proactive in preserving its own history,” he said.

Susan Anderson, managing director of the USC-Libraries-based L.A. as Subject, said, “Bringing the Second Baptist Church’s archives to the USC Libraries will make them more available to historians and enable the church’s rich history to become a part of the ongoing discussions about our city and about African-American contributions to the development of California and the West.

“This is a perfect example of how USC can collaborate with neighborhood institutions,” Anderson said.