Plymouth church hosts ‘Let Freedom Ring!’ concert
Plymouth Church in Brooklyn Heights – “the Grand Central Depot” on the Underground Railroad – makes for an incredible setting for “Let Freedom Ring! A Concert To Benefit Free the Slaves,” slated for Jan. 11, featuring the Impressions, Naomi Shelton & The Gospel Queens and members of The Dap-Kings.
In February of 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. preached a sermon on “The American Dream,” echoed just months later in his famous “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington, D.C. Oral tradition and several published memoirs tell us that slaves seeking passage to Canada may have hidden in the tunnel-like basement beneath the Plymouth Church sanctuary – still a part of the structure today.
From the earliest days of its founding in 1847 by active anti-slavery Congregationalists, with Henry Ward Beecher as its first called minister, Plymouth served as a center of abolitionist activists and the most prominent ministry in the second half of 19th century America. Beecher was a master at creating public events to strengthen the fight against slavery. He staged mock “auctions” at Plymouth, urging the congregation to purchase the freedom of actual slaves. During one service, he trampled the chains that had bound John Brown. He invited famous anti-slavery advocates to speak at the Church, including William Lloyd Garrison, Sojourner Truth, Wendell Phillips, Charles Sumner and Frederick Douglass.