Tugged along by a steamboat headed North from Missouri, a group of formerly enslaved African American men, women, and children arrived at Fort Snelling in 1863. They were taking their chances for a better life. Calling themselves Pilgrims as they headed up the Mississippi River, they arrived in St. Paul and formed one of the oldest African American churches in Minnesota. Allison Herrera tells us about Pilgrim Baptist Church.

Pilgrim Baptist Church (732 Central Avenue West, St. Paul), 1990.

Rev. Dale Anderson (right) with Rev. David Wold (center) and LeRoy Cunningham (left) outside Pilgrim Baptist Church (732 Central Avenue West, St. Paul), March 28, 1974. Anderson and Wold played basketball for a local St. Paul team called the Preachers.

Pilgrim Baptist Church members with their NAACP awards, ca. 1961.

Hat retailed by Newman's department store and worn by Merrie E. Barr to Pilgrim Baptist Church in St. Paul in 1956. Barr lived on Fuller Avenue in the Rondo neighborhood.

Side view of Pilgrim Baptist Church (732 Central Avenue West, St. Paul) ca. 1945.

Members of Pilgrim Baptist Church gather in front of their new building at 732 Central Avenue West, St. Paul, on its opening day: December 16, 1928. Cropped portion of a panoramic photo.

Members of Pilgrim Baptist Church gather in front of their new building at 732 Central Avenue West, St. Paul, on its opening day: December 16, 1928. Cropped portion of a panoramic photo.

Pilgrim Baptist Church (Cedar Avenue between Twelfth Street and Summit Avenue) in St. Paul, undated but between 1886 (when the congregation moved to Cedar Avenue from Sibley Street) and 1928, when the congregation moved from Cedar Avenue to 732 Central Avenue West.