St. Luke's Evangelical Lutheran Church | History of SC Slide Collection

St. Luke's Evangelical Lutheran Church and School in Spartanburg. This African-American church Sunday School group was photographed by the WPA in the 1930s.

Courtesy of the South Caroliniana Library.

More in this Series

History of SC Slide Collection / J. Important Institutions in South Carolina | History of SC Slide Collection / D. Religious Institutions

Interior of an African-American Baptist Church | History of SC Slide Collection

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Interior of an African-American Baptist Church | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 1

Not all baptisms were held out of doors. Laura Glenn Douglas (see Laura Glenn Douglas) painted this interior of an African-American Baptist church around 1938. Courtesy of the South Carolina State...

Funeral Conducted by Columbia Firm | History of SC Slide Collection

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Funeral Conducted by Columbia Firm | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 2

Funerals were an important social occasion in South Carolina, particularly for the African-American community, where solemn rituals were carried on within the African-American church traditions of...

Camp Welfare | History of SC Slide Collection

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Camp Welfare | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 3

Camp Welfare, near Winnsboro, photographed by Ernest Ferguson around 1950, was "the last surviving camp ground of Arbor and Tents" for African-Americans in South Carolina. Founded shortly after 1865...

Indian Fields Campground | History of SC Slide Collection

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Indian Fields Campground | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 4

Indian Fields Campground in Dorchester County was more than 100 years old when it was photographed here by Carl Metz in the late 1940s. The central "arbor" (see Camp Welfare) was surrounded by...

Jewish Synagogue In Sumter | History of SC Slide Collection

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Jewish Synagogue In Sumter | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 5

The steeple on the building in the right of this photograph, on Hampton Street in Sumter, is that of the Jewish synagogue, next door to the Rabbi's house. There were Spanish and Portuguese Jews in...

House Designed by Robert Mills | History of SC Slide Collection

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House Designed by Robert Mills | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 6

This house was originally designed by Robert Mills as a residence for Ainsley Hall. At Hall's death, his widow was forced to sell it, and from 1827 until 1929 it served as the Columbia Theological...

Family Worship in a Plantation in South Carolina | History of SC Slide Collection

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Family Worship in a Plantation in South Carolina | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 7

"Family Worship in a Plantation in South Carolina," is the title given to this sketch, printed in the "Illustrated London News," December 5, 1863. The article described the scene as having taken place...

A Gospel Tent In Cheraw | History of SC Slide Collection

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A Gospel Tent In Cheraw | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 8

A gospel tent is set up on the town green in Cheraw around the turn of the century. Courtesy of the Cheraw Visitors Bureau.

The Pilgrim Holiness Church in Winnsboro Mills | History of SC Slide Collection

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The Pilgrim Holiness Church in Winnsboro Mills | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 9

Mill owners encouraged the building of churches (and thus habits of sobriety and industry among their workers) by donating lands within the mill village on which churches could be constructed. The...

Baptismal Celebration | History of SC Slide Collection

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Baptismal Celebration | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 10

Both white and African-American Baptists practice adult baptism by immersion as an important sacrament. This baptismal celebration of an African-American Baptist church in Darlington County took place...

Island Church on John Joyner Smith's Plantation | History of SC Slide Collection

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Island Church on John Joyner Smith's Plantation | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 11

An island church on John Joyner Smith's plantation on Port Royal, photographed around 1865 and destroyed before the turn of the century, probably served as a place of worship for slaves. Buildings...

Circular Congregational Church | History of SC Slide Collection

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Circular Congregational Church | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 12

This photograph of the Circular Congregational Church was taken in the 1930s. The congregation was founded as the first Dissenter church in the colony of South Carolina in the 1680s or 1690s, and...

State Presiding Elders of the African Methodist Episcopal Church | History of SC Slide Collection

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State Presiding Elders of the African Methodist Episcopal Church | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 13

Bishop Reverdy Ransom (seated), Mrs. Ransom, and the State Presiding Elders of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1932. Morris Brown, a free African-American, formed Charleston's Emmanuel...

High Hills Baptist Church in Stateburg | History of SC Slide Collection

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High Hills Baptist Church in Stateburg | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 14

High Hills Baptist Church in Stateburg, in Sumter County, is the second oldest Baptist congregation in the state. Organized in 1770, its first pastor was Richard Furman, one of the founders of the...

El Bethel Methodist Church in Spartanburg | History of SC Slide Collection

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El Bethel Methodist Church in Spartanburg | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 15

Postcard view of the El Bethel Methodist Church in Spartanburg - "The One Day Church" - built in one day on May 1, 1912. These photos show the progress of construction in the morning and afternoon...

The staff of the "Baptist Courier" | History of SC Slide Collection

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The staff of the "Baptist Courier" | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 16

The staff of the "Baptist Courier" in front of their office in the 1930s. Courtesy of Furman University.

The Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church | History of SC Slide Collection

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The Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 17

This engraving, done in the 1850s, identifies Reverend E.E. Pressly as Pastor of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in Due West, Abbeville County. The Associate Reformed denomination of...

The Monument of DeKalb | History of SC Slide Collection

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The Monument of DeKalb | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 18

"The Monument of DeKalb who fell fighting bravely in defense of the rights of man on the plains of Camden, SC, August 16th, 1780. Erected in the town of Camden. Front of the Presbyterian Church: the...

Fishing Creek Presbyterian Church | History of SC Slide Collection

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Fishing Creek Presbyterian Church | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 19

Fishing Creek Presbyterian Church, in Chester County, was organized in 1752. This photograph was taken around 1917-1918. Courtesy of the South Caroliniana Library.

The Cathedral Church of St. John and St. Finbar | History of SC Slide Collection

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The Cathedral Church of St. John and St. Finbar | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 20

The Catholic Church did not enjoy the original toleration that characterized other non-Anglican forms of worship in South Carolina. The first mass was not celebrated in Charleston until 1789. But by...

Vestrymen of the Catholic Congregation Of Georgetown | History of SC Slide Collection

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Vestrymen of the Catholic Congregation Of Georgetown | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 21

The vestrymen of the Catholic congregation of Georgetown pose after the dedication of their new mission church, St. Mary of Mercy, on January 5, 1902. The Right Reverend James F. Northrop, Bishop of...

Lexington County congregation of Pilgrim Lutheran Church | History of SC Slide Collection

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Lexington County congregation of Pilgrim Lutheran Church | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 23

The Lexington County congregation of Pilgrim Lutheran Church, posed outside of their building around 1930. Courtesy of the Lexington County Museum.

Interior of Old Goose Creek Church | History of SC Slide Collection

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Interior of Old Goose Creek Church | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 24

Interior of Old Goose Creek Church, showing the British royal arms over the altar. One of the earliest church buildings in South Carolina, its design is said to have been inspired by the stucco...

The Dock Street Theater and St. Philip's Church | History of SC Slide Collection

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The Dock Street Theater and St. Philip's Church | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 25

The Dock Street Theater and St. Philip's Church, as they appeared in the 1940s. The parish of St. Philip's, founded in the 1680s on what is now the site of St. Michael's, was the first Anglican parish...

Trinity Episcopal Church in Columbia | History of SC Slide Collection

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Trinity Episcopal Church in Columbia | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 26

Trinity Episcopal Church in Columbia, designed by Edward Brickell White (see The Dock Street Theater And St. Philip's Church), built in 1840-1847, in the English Gothic style of architecture. The...