MILWAUKEE — Wisconsin’s Mount Carmel Missionary Baptist Church is getting national recognition for its historic start.
The church recently received an African American Culture Heritage Action Fund Grant from The National Historic Trust for Historic Preservation.
Mount Carmel Missionary Baptist Church Deacon Kenneth Miller said Mount Carmel stood out as an applicant because of the man who designed it.
Located on Milwaukee’s north side, the church was designed by Wisconsin’s first registered Black architect, Alonzo Robinson, in the early 1970s.
Robinson graduated from Howard University and was a modernist architect who designed many public structures in the city and county of Milwaukee.
“The fact that this church was designed by the first Black certified architect in the state of Wisconsin is another great feat, and the fact that Mount Carmel is right here in the heart of the inner city, and has been for over 70 years, is something we are very proud of,” said Miller.
Miller helped lead the effort to secure the grant. That money will help cover a study by consultants, who will evaluate what renovations are needed for the church and how much they could cost.
Mount Carmel is led by Pastor Hugh Davis, Jr. He said the church served as a source of Black empowerment in the city, especially when it first opened in the 70s.
“During that era, during that time, it was the ‘I’m Black and I’m proud’ movement,” Davis said. “So, we just wanted to embrace that and be a part of that movement. So, therefore, just about everything we did, we did it with a Black emphasis. It’s not that we were racist or anything like that, we just were just trying to embrace who we were.”
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson has proclaimed Sunday, Feb.18 as “Mount Carmel Missionary Baptist Church Day” in honor of the church’s national recognition and funding.
“We are elated to be a part of the preservation of this place of worship, for this neighborhood, for this community as being a stabilizer and beacon of light,” Davis said.
Miller said they will learn in August if they can apply for the next round of funding to do the renovations the consultants recommend.
“Having a church and a place to worship is one of the most positive things a Black family can look forward to on a regular basis,” said Miller. “With everything that is happening in the world today, the Black church is a refuge for so many people in the community.”