Located on W. Whitney Avenue in the southwest part of Albany, Georgia, the Mt. Zion Baptist Church and the Albany Civil Rights Institute visually connect Albany’s past with Albany’s present. Founded in 1865, Mt. Zion Baptist Church has long been a fixture in the Black community in Albany. As a freedmen’s church, it was the first African American Baptist church in Albany. On November 25, 1961, the first Albany Movement meeting occurred at the church. The church played a pivotal role during the Civil Rights Movement and galvanizing activists in Southwest Georgia. It was also the location where the Freedom Singers held their first performance. The meetings were so well attended that people would overflow into the street into Shiloh Baptist Church, serving as a meeting place for activists and a sanctuary for those seeking justice. Leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr, John Lewis, and Ralph David Abernathy attended and spoke at the meetings.
Adjacent to the church, the Albany Civil Rights Institute is dedicated to preserving the rich history of the Civil Rights Movement in Southwest Georgia. Housed in the rehabilitated Old Mt. Zion Baptist Church, the institute features exhibits, interactive displays, and a digital oral history database that bring the stories of the past to life1. Visitors can explore the struggles and triumphs of the movement through photographs, documents, and artifacts that detail the fight for voter registration, nonviolent protest, and economic boycotts. The church underwent significant restoration after the “Great Flood of 1994,” which caused extensive damage to the church.
Connected to the church, The Albany Civil Rights Institute, originally known as the Albany Civil Rights Movement Museum, opened in November 1998. Its mission is to educate about the Civil Rights Movement, especially in Southwest Georgia.
Below are images of the church from the National Register of Historic Places application before it is restored.
