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Queen Elizabeth in Houston

Queen Elizabeth in Houston

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by: Dorothy Active Indicator LED Icon 7 OP 
~ 1 year, 10 mos ago   May 22, '22 9:29am  
Queen Elizabeth in Houston
 
5/22/1991: Queen Elizabeth visits historic black church in Houston
On this day in 1991, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom visited Antioch Church, the first black Baptist church in Houston. Antioch Missionary Baptist Church was organized in 1866. John Henry Yates, a former slave and a leading figure in Houston's black community during Reconstruction, was the first preacher.
 
www.tshaonline.org/h andbook/entries/yate s-john-henry-jack
 
Yates, John Henry [Jack] (1828-1897)




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By: Olee Yates McCullough
 
Type: Biography
Published: February 1, 1996
 
Updated: April 7, 2021
 
Rev. Yates
Reverend Jack Yates. Image available on the Internet and included in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107.
Antioch Missionary Baptist Church
Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, Houston. Image available on the Internet and included in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107.
Emancipation Park
Jack Yates with a group in Emancipation Park. Courtesy of the Houston Metropolitan Research Center and the Houston Chronicle. Image available on the Internet and included in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107.
YATES, JOHN HENRY [JACK] (1828-1897).John Henry (Jack) Yates, slave and minister, son of slaves Robert and Rachel Yates, was born in Gloucester County, Virginia, on July 11, 1828. When Rachel's mistress, Mrs. Fields, died, Rachel was given the task of caring for the Fields child, who eventually taught Jack how to read, although to do so was illegal. Jack took his reader, Bible, and songbook to the field with him and would steal out at night and read by the light of a pine knot. He made small amounts of money from fishing. When he was a young man he attended the slaves' religious gatherings and was converted. He married Harriet Willis, of a neighboring farm; they had eleven children. When Harriet's master moved to Matagorda County, Texas, about 1863, Yates, unable to bear the thought of being separated from his wife and children, begged to go along. Upon emancipation in June 1865, the Yates family went to Houston to look for work. Jack became a drayman by day and a Baptist preacher at night and on Sundays. The Home Missionary Society had sent a Black man, Isaac Sydney Campbell, to do mission work among the African Americans in Texas, and Campbell, needing help, began to send Yates to hold meetings in Houston and elsewhere. This led to Yates's ordination as a Baptist preacher by Campbell and Elder J. J. Ryanhart. When Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, the first Black Baptist church in Houston, was organized in 1866 by Reverend Crane, a White preacher, Yates was called as the first pastor. He and others moved the congregation to a more desirable location. Martha, Yates's oldest child, cooked for the bricklayers, carpenters, and laborers as they constructed the building. Under his leadership, Antioch Missionary Baptist Church and Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church purchased Emancipation Park on Dowling Street for the Black people of Houston in 1872. A dispute about a pay-as-you-go remodeling plan caused Yates to leave Antioch and organize Bethel Baptist Church in 1891. The queen of England visited Antioch Church on May 22, 1991.
 
Yates House
Yates House. Courtesy of the Heritage Society. Image available on the Internet and included in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107.
Jack Yates High School
Jack Yates High School. Image available on the Internet and included in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107.
In 1869 Yates bought several lots on what is now Andrews Street, where his house still stands; he thus became a homeowner less than five years after his emancipation. He was instrumental in organizing the first Baptist association for Blacks in Houston, the Old Land Mark Association, which exists today. Under the direction of two White missionaries, Jennie L. Peck and Florence Dysart, Yates organized Houston Academy, a school for Black children, in 1885. He tried unsuccessfully to have Bishop College located in Houston, and then assisted in placing it in Marshall. After Harriet Yates died, Yates married Annie Freeman, on October 13, 1888; they had one child. Yates died on December 22, 1897. Jack Yates High School in Houston was named in his honor in 1926.
 
Jack Yates Marker
Rev. John Henry "Jack" Yates Historical Marker in front of the Yates family plot at College Memorial Park Cemetery. Courtesy of the Montrose Management District. Image available on the Internet and included in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107.
Yates's son Willis bought farmland and may have been the only Black man in Harris County during the latter part of the 1880s to buy, own, and operate a steam cotton gin. He also operated a small store. Rutherford, another son, was raised by White missionaries and received his A.B. degree from Bishop College. He was a teacher and founder of Yates Printing Company of Houston, now in Austin. He was coauthor of The Life and Efforts of Jack Yates, published by Texas Southern University Press in 1985. His brother and coauthor Paul graduated from Prairie View A&M and taught at Houston Academy. Yates's daughter Maria did mission work around the country. Five of Yates's other children taught school. In 1994 John Henry Yates's home was moved from Andrews Street to Sam Houston Park in Houston and restored to its original 1870s configuration. The home was donated by his granddaughter, Mrs. Whiting, and is available for tours through the Harris County Heritage Society.
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Inb0913 Active Indicator LED Icon 6
~ 1 year, 10 mos ago   May 22, '22 12:57pm  
@Dorothy : Well that church history has so much history. I visited once with coworkers and it's architecture is amazing as well. Queen Elisabeth picked the right place to visit and or worship.
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