 Welcome to the historic Zion Baptist Church on this day we will have the unveiling of our street toppers naming signs Zion Baptist Square and the Columbia your historic black business district 800 to 1100 Street Washington Street East to West dedication service the scripture says that this is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes this is the day the Lord has made and we will be glad in it at this particular time we're going to invite ribbon Dr. Cynthia Walters forth for our scripture reading and following the scripture reading we will have a prayer by Deacon Isaac Washington we ask that you come in that order a scripture comes from Joshua 4 verses 1 through 8 the 12 memorial stones when the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan the Lord said to Joshua choose 12 men from among the people one from each trial and tell them to take up 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan from right where the priests are standing and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stayed tonight so Joshua called together the 12 men he had appointed from the Israelites one from each tribe and said to them go over before the Ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites to serve as a sign among you in the future when your children ask you what do these stones mean tell them that the floor of the Jordan was cut off before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord when it crossed the Jordan the waters of the Jordan were cut off these stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever verse 8 so the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them they took 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites as the Lord had told Joshua and they carried them over with them to their camp where they put them down again Joshua 4 verses 1 through 8 the NIV translation amen let's pray for the God we get thank you for allowing us to see a day that we've never seen before but we still thank you for the bloodless we thank you God for this church we realize what we know that you said your word we ask you right now to give us the strength Lord you go on and do what we ask right now to bless this service for bless this place let us know why we do and that's to draw someone just a little closer to you thank you for the suitable prayer and certainly the suitable scripture at this time we're going to have the occasion by mr. John Dixon as he comes when you give him a hand as he comes today is a day of hope today we commemorate the honorary naming of the intersection of Gaston Street and Washington Street as Zion Baptist Church Square and the honorary naming of the 800 through 1100 blocks of Washington Street as Columbia's historic black business district the commemoration of these locations speak of arguments in the past present and future of the history of this city to sound these locations may simply be loud and longitudinal points of on a city map but to us these locations mean so much more today we pay homage to the men ancestors and those still living who live to see that these locations were at the very heart of black livelihood in the city of Columbia within this small corridor of hope black people found salvation a reasonable safe sanctuary opportunities to be encouraged by each other to push on equality their navigation through arduous challenges such as segregation and inequality did not break them they persevered and because of what they did we are and we bear the promise of a bright future for those to come with gratitude to the honorable mayor Daniel J. Rickenman City Council woman Tina in Herbert along with other council members and step we extend a heartfelt thank you and swift action in making today a reality is deeply appreciated finally it is a day of hope whenever someone was up to read these wonderful sign over the street signs and they have the faintest clue what the Zion Baptist Church Square all the historic black business district is all about it is our hope that they will do further research and discover the real of Columbia for informed people are people of progress thank you beloved this time we will receive remarks in the fall of the order Columbia City mayor the honorable Daniel Rickenman Columbia City Councilwoman the honorable Tina Herbert following here from the state in a ACP conference president miss Brenda Murphy and then the Columbia branch in a ACP miss Oveda Glover West you come in that order give a mayor a hand as he comes thank y'all for for all being here today Reverend thank you for all your support and direction and counseling miss Herbert is not here today she had an unfortunate emergency family emergency but Tyler Bailey our new elected at large number will speak on her behalf and on behalf of the other members of City Council I hope you'll keep her in your prayers you know we got here today by interesting path some of y'all were in here we have a little controversial role to get here but you know what came out of that what came out of that everything happens for a reason my mother used to tell me it's never too late to make something right guess what today something's right something's gonna happen today what's so special about it is that we continue to celebrate the history and as we all learn Columbia played just an incredible role through the history of the U.S. United States of America Columbia was a center South Carolina was a center but Columbia especially last Sunday I had the opportunity to be at the intersection of Main Street at the exhibit at the Columbia Museum her lecture on the Garrett family which was extremely interesting to hear about a family actually got to see their house and 12 he's 12 12 12 14 late street went by there to see it it's still standing how do we how do we take that house and save it and return it and make it a vocal point because there's an incredible story there but I tell you the highlight of the whole day was I was in the exhibit walking around with Dr. Donaldson we met a gentleman Mr. Waley Mr. Waley started telling stories and started pointing in pictures of where he had been if it was the assembly street market if it was at the cafes where his mom who graduated from Hooker Washington in 1933 and he graduated in 1965 he still has her diplomas he still has all of her things from that era and to listen to the stories about Columbia from someone who experienced selling for me was incredible and you have to understand my family didn't move to the US till 1967 so I have a whole I'm learning every day about the history in Columbia but I can tell you with us coming together as a community that history will never be forgotten it will continue to be celebrated and I think it's going to open up a lot more opportunities as as we continue to move forward with the Hooker Washington center that's going to be built that's going to help us be part of the civil rights trade and if you've been in Montgomery Alabama and you've experienced if you go understand that Columbia has just as much history if not more because to be quite honest we were first in a lot of a lot of movements and we didn't get the credit for that's okay we're going to put it in there as an asset that is an asset because we are taking our history celebrating it and continuing to move forward as we grow our community together and I want to thank y'all for the opportunity to be here today excited about the unveiling as we continue to celebrate and hopefully this will be the first of many as we continue to grow our community together and I think it was best said earlier by Mr. Vixen if you want if you want to know the history of community reform take the time take the time to learn our history because it's important for all of us thank you to Reverend Dr. Andrew Davis Zion Baptist Church our esteemed mayor and congress I'm sorry to disappoint you all I'm not the honor of being the perfect person but Zion Baptist Church has played a critical role in molding the social fabric of this community and my first story involved with Zion Baptist Church cold morning on January 17th 2020 which many of y'all probably remember was a it was the first of these rallies that Zion Baptist Church had with the march from here to the state house and I was 10 years old at that time it was Martin King Day it was a cold morning my dad woke me and my siblings up and said that we're going to march for the Confederate flag to come down off the state house so that's just an example of the history that this church has and working on the mold and shaping our community which we are appreciative of for the city of Columbia and many cities throughout the the country had black business districts they refer to the black wall streets we always heard of Tulsa, Oklahoma but this here too was also a black wall street during several by history month events this February was commonly asked if you knew about black wall street in Columbia and every time maybe two or three people would say they knew and today with this naming of uh Zion Baptist Square along with the historical black Columbia Business District we are paying tribute to make sure our story is from the total historic black business district will never rise through prominence if we all work together we need Zion Baptist Church the city of Columbia journalists creatives and everybody join arm in arm and tell our history so let's work together to make this historic destination not just for people in Columbia but throughout this country and I also want to make sure that thank Councilman Kerber for her leadership and quick sort of action to make sure that we're ready to recognize Zion Baptist Church the Columbia Black Business District during Black History Month and follow them up on first Sunday in March with this great event thank you yes yes what a great day it is what a great day it is I am so happy to be a part of this today and to say to you I lived it also I was raised in Columbia South Carolina and you heard the comment just a few minutes ago that this was known as the black wall street area Columbia the areas known as the Columbia Black Wall Street was the 10 hundred block to the 11 hundred block of Washington Street from assembly street to gas street those were that those were that was the area basically that most of the local businesses the black businesses that served our communities were located I remember the chapter of the theater some of you may remember I'm just gonna say a name you know the beauty shop that was there a barbershop and beauty shop the law offices of Matthew Perry and Lake of Jenkins the Lilywood barbershop the green leaf restaurant the the Temple Pride dentistry who's known mostly for lawyering nowadays and also funeral homes they were here as well this was our hub the hub of our business it was where the first grocery store that served us as black people I know some of you probably remember the Wyn Dixie right there on the corner of Washington and assembly street it brings back fond memories to think about our history here we must not forget it it was here that it all started and the place that served us during segregation uh until the 1970s not too long ago this past and a lot has happened and we saw the changes uh many of those businesses moved out but most importantly here stands Zion Baptist Church still standing and I'll tell you as one as in the other person we all always called it Big Zion this was Big Zion the church that we visited um and we heard about its history as individuals walked through these these halls uh they were here to fight for our justice and they were here to visit they'll continue today and I just want to say thank you Dr. Davis Reverend Dr. Davis the officers of this great church the members of this great church for being what you are and being the place that we can continue the journey for justice for all again thank you thank you thank you and I just want to say I do remember Reverend Gil go forth and his messages and you know and on behalf of the Columbia of South Carolina to Dr. Davis and of course congregation because without you what no Dr. Davis and no what continuously moving forward with the church but the congratulation is on the inspection of these significant marks that we will review shortly they serve as a reminder of the rich history of this church and the enduring spirit of the historic African-American business district which must never be forgotten Zion Big Zion as they used to call it holds a significant and historically important place as defined by its remarkable legacy the Colombian South Carolina branch of the NAACP was established just one year one year after the grand this grand sanctuary was constructed in many ways our path that's Zion the lovely branch and the NAACP have evolved side by side Zion Dr. Church has consistently opened its doors to the NAACP and numerous other community organizations and has been invading for mass meetings demonstrations church services notable speakers musical performances prayer of vigils vigils and King David Dunn none of these impactful programs and events have been possible without the support of Zion Baptist Church for your generosity and continued firm commitment to the advancement of colored people and all people we salute you may these markers serve as a reminder of the courageous lessons of the past may they inspire and guide us as we continue the fight for freedom and justice for all in our time let us remember that our history is one of our most valuable assets and we must ensure that it is preserved and cherished we must make sure that it is not diminished watered down and hidden from our children and all members of our community i need for you to say these words with me three words share our history ready share our history thank you so much for those words of encouragement from our mayor from councilman bailey thank you for substituting for councilwoman herbita the rising star into miss murphy into miss glover this time we will have legacy observations uh by the following miss vivian counts following miss counts we will have legacy observations from dr barbie donelson amen thank you so very much let me say again good afternoon and this really is a good afternoon i'm so excited to talk a little bit about being one of the descendants of the business owners on the historic black wall street black business district of columbia washington street a washington street my name is vivian counts again i'm the granddaughter of dr counts who was a pharmacist at 1105 washington street and i found out recently that he was a compounding pharmacist these are the pharmacists that make their own medicine from natural resources which now i understand what why i'd like to get into herbal medicine and all that kind of stuff i said my blood but it was not only a pharmacy but a restaurant an ice cream parlor a daycare center a meeting place and so much more and it was also one of the businesses that was uh listed in historical green book for black folks to travel safely through the south and places that they can go to get services in a segregated country um what i remember as a little girl was feeling so much empowerment seeing the hustle and bustle of beautiful african american going up and down washington street penalizing these businesses it was a safe and protected environment it was magical it was a monumental gateway for the visions of young people to dream of the possibilities of becoming successful african american men and women in business and there are other black business districts in columbia they're around allen and vinnidia college uh greenview area there are other black business districts i want to thank xiong at this church for your leadership in this endeavor this historical event and i also want to suggest that we make this day an annual celebration we have to find ways to teach our young people about these business districts in columbia these black businesses are different in columbia and to commemorate the successful how would you say the successful impact it had on us knowing that we could do anything a beautiful strong impact on our communities so let's make this day a celebration let's have a festival a festival in honor of what happened on that black wall street and i'd also like to add before i leave that my grandmother dais counts was an august apianist when his church for a few years he said i got him having a little history with that too but anyway dais i got this first thank you for taking the lead on this thank you for all of the support from the community in this endeavor and i have shared this with a lot of our family members about what was going on so this means a lot to us thank you again and enjoy this afternoon i'll get after the everyone to uh pastor davis to minister of the gospel to me i recommend the city leaders to this captain blames and the zion historical committee all those who are from the city of columbia i have thoroughly enjoyed black history month so much so that i've now lost my voice on this sunday so thank you for giving this as i try to work through the assignment given to me by sister count another lady reverend walters has lifted up an important scripture and i was going to use that reverend walters but since you've already raised that to our attention i would like to draw your attention to the liberals the fourth chapter and the eight burgers where paul writes a letter to philipi while in jail all speaks all those years ago not only to the philipians but to us he says finally my brethren what sort of things are true what sort of things are honest just pure love what sort of things are of good report if there be any virtue if there be any praise i need you to think on these things we gather today at the intersection of gatson and washington streets eight zero one washington street to think on these things to think on the stones that the builders rejected that are today the chief cornerstone of our history Frederick Douglass who said in 1888 the nation the nation may forget its history may shut its eyes to the past but block you to keep the memory of the past alive until justice is done we gather today to think on these things we gather today to think on that name was dr carter g woodson dr woodson who said this who's the inspiration with a teaching about history we gather to think on these things we gather to think on the lessons of another prophet whose name was dr mary mcleod food who said in 1939 if with a sword and a shield a belief in themselves and their possibilities we must teach our children their history from the frame to the grave we must do so that whatever calls even if it breaks the very back of the king we gather today to think on the lessons shared with us by judge jas security judge matthew jp miss spain mother gladness gopher mr rufus fool my teacher miss tomasina braves my teacher deacon john bookhawk and our teacher miss kathy hope we gather today to think on these things we gather today to remember in 1866 when the daily phoenix newspaper spoke about black people who were dissatisfied with their worship experience at first bappers church so they decided to remove themselves and to march down washington street toward the river and revin frank dotter's and 72 men and 65 women gathered in the shadows of a home they erected an old wooden church that served people across his report it said that the colored people of columbia were seeking to build a gothic building it said the new building will be 130 feet long and 60 feet wide 160 feet wide no one even imagined a condition that those struggling black people could build a cathedral they think that on this corner and here we are today in 16th and cornerstone for the big negro church it said it said the lieutenant governor came it said dr jj durr of the leader of the state came mr cc johnson the head of the negro masons came they said this the negro zeal and lord they said this church has been erected by the trustees at the cost of personal sacrifice which in the aggregate through and by these sacrifice they'll school in the practice of self-help and sturdy independence when this building was erected all around us were homes businesses institution today they're parking lots empty lots hotels so much has changed and yet so much remains the same so many of those places are long gone but still staying not seen today we gather to build on the legacy of carter g woodson frederick gunness and dr mary mclough but we also this church who traveled these corridors who developed the washington street business district we gather today we gather the day to remember those men and women who once said bye bye all the saints shall gather home what will they do they will tell you don't tell the story of how we will recover what will they do they will tell the story that says god will make a way somehow they will tell the story that says time is filled with swift transition not on theme to turn and we hold to god's unchanging hand they will think on these things and they will tell the story of the old woman and watch meeting service the old woman who interrupted the program revan davis she said brother preacher i've been walking for the lord a long time there's something about walking with every day get sweeter than the day before he said i don't mind the pitfall because every time i get to the lord is right there so i just i just don't feel no waste time i've come too far from where i start thank you for the legacy observations uh by miss vivian counts and dr bobby donelson let's give them a hand again at this time we will receive acknowledgments uh for missus calvinetta beasley williams give her a hand and she comes and dr donelson you have to deal with pastor pastor davis put us in full peer in designing historic mission he was supporting it and pushing us to do everything that we could we are blessed to have a pastor who pushes this history because if not we could not do what we're doing so we want to thank him for all the business districts our members with the families are any of those families here in the church would you please stand did any one of those families come and do us on a Sunday other than missus counts in fact right here in it for west family which y'all can stand and stay standing for one more time deacon john waders is that all of your family standing deacon john in 1900s that's when her family came here and their spiel has some lineage in the church and we want to thank you for that i'm going to the wooden church now i'm going a little further artisan daughter to stand miss artisan is not well but she's here thank you lily stay standing miss alice migris johnson those were before the wooden church because the wooden church in 1871 but they met in there her great-grand it was your mother's great-grand aunt so that's going a long way that was the 1860s that we did it you go there miss atonist harrison baptized in this emphasis this church it was 16th you're lucky imagine that this thing a woman at 16th ooh the oracle read a house that's across the street want to make sure that is mr. lone here mr. lone is in his family members here because mr. lone spent thank you mr. lone is 89 years old in may and he was born in the historic reed house across the street so the better chance he has been a little under the weather so please give him a call is this jumper here is it if her family here because they go back into that in your family mr. jumper okay miss artist weans i thought i saw this golden augustus is his grandchildren here because your family traces back to to the late 1800s i wanted them to know about their grandmother miss artist weans miss tanya nightmare i see someone standing right your hand okay okay deca louis walters is still here where it stand up still like we call him still with respect to yes grand is it going to grandfather grandfather we are tracing back to the late 1890s and 1900s right here at this church so the walters family's where that's your baby too the whole family they go way back that's what i think about the walters want to be a little bossy sometimes deca cash oh that's right hands down go away also that is grandfather go back to the beginning also so we're still keeping the way that you're going we just want to mention those people that have that mention we have a special thanks to deacon uh brian where you dare to round he did the buttons for us and we want to thank him and the slideshow that you saw dr. panel weans would you stand up please my daughter in law did that for us it's a great day for us say we've got one of the best hands in the world making this a reality we know that you must be god seeing so we do pray for you and thank you all very much to god be the glory for all of the wonderful things he has done in the in the book of the Thessalonians the fourth chapter says give thanks and everything for this is the will of god just take a moment to express thanks and gratitude to miss cabinet abeasley williams for her leadership making this all possible and to the entire historical committee for what you have done to make this possible to design that this church and historical committee will you please stand i just want to acknowledge you and say thanks