Do you know Jack?

Posted on November 13, 2025

Dear Friend,

Do you know Jack?

On November 16, 1652, Jack joined the First Baptist Church in Newport, Rhode Island—America’s second Baptist church. He’s recorded as the 45th member of the congregation founded by John Clarke— listed as “Jack, a colored man.”

Dr. Ed Gaustad shares the little-known story of Jack—the first Black Baptist—in our latest publication, The Baptist Story.

“In that private act of commitment, Jack launched the history of Black Baptists in America and perhaps the world,” writes Gaustad.

Baptists need to know Jack.

Do you know Lulu Fleming?

Louise “Lulu” Fleming was born enslaved in Florida in 1862. She graduated from Shaw University and embarked on a journey as a missionary in the Congo. Illness forced her back to the United States, but resolved to continue her calling, she studied medicine and returned to Africa as a physician, bringing the gospel and life-saving care to those she served.

Baptists need to know Lulu Fleming.

Dr. Pamela Smoot tells the remarkable story of Lulu Fleming—one of many Black Baptist women who “made a way out of no way”—in the pages of The Baptist Story.

Your Gift Keeps the Story Alive

The Baptist History & Heritage Society is committed to sharing the untold, overlooked, and neglected stories of remarkable Baptists like Jack and Lulu.

With The Baptist Story and its new 33-page discussion guide, congregations, Sunday School classes, and students can engage deeply with more than 415 years of Baptist history, theology, and public witness.

The Baptist Story features standout articles from noted Baptist historians and scholars. These essays introduce the stories and histories of Baptist women, Black Baptists, Latino/a Baptists, Native American Baptists and Global Baptists, and explore the Baptist commitment to—and advocacy for— religious liberty.

We need your support to ensure this work continues!

Your generosity enables us to carry forward our vital mission of “helping Baptists discover, conserve, assess, and share their history.”

Because of you, we produce accessible, high-impact resources in English and Spanish that serve congregations, ministers, leaders, students, and scholars—across the country and around the world.

From our Portraits of Courage: Stories of Baptist Heroes e-book and curriculum for children and youth to our popular Baptist Identity Resources series (now available in Spanish) to The Baptist Story, we are living out our vision to bridge the world of the academy and congregation.