Morningstar Baptist Church of Chicago
Bronzeville’s Morning Star Baptist Church of Chicago, whose storied history includes the famous Gospel trio Barrett Sisters as church members, is one step closer to becoming a city landmark.
At a hearing on April 3, the Commission on Chicago Landmarks gave its final recommendation for landmark status for the 113-year-old church at 3993 S. Dr. Martin Luther King Dr.
The proposal will now go before the Chicago City Council for final approval.
Once approved, the church will be the ninth Chicago landmark on King Drive, the world’s oldest street named after the slain civil rights leader.
Known for its distinctive glass-stained arched windows, Morning Star Baptist Church of Chicago was founded in 1917 by Reverend Edmund D. Hubbard during the first wave of the Great Migration. Most of the church congregations were Blacks who moved to Chicago from the South.
Morning Star Baptist Church helped cement Chicago as the “Birthplace of Gospel Music.” Many Black churches in the city cultivated the unique sound during Sunday morning worship services. Morning Star Baptist Church hosted gospel events featuring well-known performers, contributing to the vibrant musical scene in Bronzeville.
According to the Commission report, one of Morning Star Baptist Church’s most significant contributions to the gospel music tradition came through the Barrett Sisters. DeLois Barrett Campbell, Billie Mae Barrett Greenbey, and Rodessa Barrett Porter grew up attending Morning Star, where their father served as a deacon and their mother was a chorister.
Nearby Pilgrim Baptist Church’s Thomas A. Dorsey, regarded as the inventor of the Gospel music genre, was a friend of the Barrett family. DeLois, Billie Mae and Rodessa began singing in the church choir as children in the 1930s. Their journey from church choir to gospel stardom is a testament to the role that churches like Morning Star played in nurturing musical talent. As a high school student, eldest sister DeLois Barrett Campbell was recruited by the Roberta Martin Singers, a well-known gospel group associated with Pilgrim Baptist Church.
This opportunity, indicative of the close-knit nature of the Chicago gospel community and the cross-pollination of talent between churches, marked the beginning of DeLois’s professional career in gospel music. The Barrett Sisters formed their own group in 1950, launching a career that would span several decades. Their accomplishments included appearances on popular television shows like “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,” numerous international tours, and recording a dozen albums on the Savoy and other labels.
In its early days, Morning Star Baptist Church worshipped in a rented building at 3800 S. Vincennes Avenue near Aldine Square. After two years of growth, the congregation was able to purchase the Vincennes property in 1919. On April 1st of that year, the State of Illinois granted the church a charter under the name of Morning Star Institutional Missionary Baptist Church. This milestone marked the church’s establishment as a recognized institution.
In 1936, the church purchased its current building, which was once the site of an auto garage, according to a landmark preservation report by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks.
After purchasing the building, the church retained pioneering Black architect Walter Thomas Bailey to transform the utilitarian structure into a place of worship reflecting the architect’s ingenuity and the congregation’s determination. The renovation that began in 1937 was completed in 1939. In 1963, the congregation started another major renovation that transformed the building into its present form as a manifestation of the Modern Movement in architecture. The African American architectural firm of Hunter, Konn, & Duster and Associates designed the renovation.
The church’s modernist renovation of its interior and exterior was completed in 1968. As both a spiritual home and a neighborhood landmark, Morning Star Baptist Church embodies the heritage of Chicago’s Great Migration era, the cultural contributions of the Black community, and the evolution of church architecture, making it a vital piece of the city’s culture.
They commissioned architect Walter Thomas Bailey, the first Black architect registered in Illinois, to renovate the property. Bailey is also known in Chicago for his work on Bronzeville’s First Church of Deliverance, 4315 S. Wabash Ave.
In 1963, the church underwent another round of renovations by the Black-owned architectural firm Hunter, Konn & Duster and Associates, who reshaped the building in a modernist style. The firm designed the church’s steel structure, structural piers hewn from Indiana limestone and series of four green, blue and white geometric-patterned arched dalle de verre stained-glass windows. Inside, the church sanctuary and vestibule received modern finishes of pale-blue glazed brick, mosaic tile and varnished hardwood paneling – architectural elements it remains known for today.
The landmark commission report calls the building a “unique example of adaptive reuse in ecclesiastical architecture from the 1930s.”
In September 2023, Kathy Mitchell, a former congregation member, nominated the church for landmark designation. Sites can be recommended for landmark designation by members of the public, civic groups, or Commission on Chicago Landmarks staff members. The initial recommendation usually follows a commission staff report and a preliminary recommendation of eligibility.
At a January 9 Commission on Chicago Landmarks meeting, Mitchell said members of the congregation “enthusiastically support” the pursuit of landmark status.
“In the face of efforts to denigrate and diminish the teaching of African American history, projects such as this one illustrate the importance of preserving the experiences of everyday Black citizens and how their experiences have shaped larger historical narratives such as the Great Migration and the Civil Rights Movement,” Mitchell told meeting attendees. “Mainline Black churches such as Morning Star have played an undeniable role in the development of Chicago, the Midwest Region and the entire United States of America.”