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Gulfside United Methodist Assembly
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gulfside United Methodist Assembly is a Mississippi, United States, church recognized as a State Historic Site for its importance in local Black history.
In 1923, at the time of its founding, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was strictly segregated along racial lines, mirroring American Society.
Until Gulfside, there were no accommodations of any kind for any person of color along the entire Gulf Coast. There was no place a person of color could use the beaches or swim. Constance Baker Motley used Gulfside as her base of operations during the court sessions to integrate the Law school at University of Mississippi Law School. Judge Marshall came there to work with other NAACP lawyers. Leontyne Price sang there because it was one of a few places where she could sing opera to her own people in the South.
The reunification of Northern and Southern Methodist denominations in 1968 with the formation of the United Methodist Church led to a decline at Gulfside, as historically African-American congregations were no longer restricted to using Gulfside as their conference center. Gulfside was significantly damaged by Hurricane Camille in 1969, and was in the midst of a revitalization when its facilities were completely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in August, 2005.
The early years
The Gulfside Chautauqua and camp meeting ground was physically realized on April 16, 1923. Its founder,
Bishop Robert E. Jones, was the first Black to be a general superintendent of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Gulfside was incorporated on January 24, 1924. The incorporators were some of the most prestigious Black leaders in Methodism at that time.
It is said that Bishop Jones was speaking at Lakeside Assembly, a White Methodist campground in Ohio, when he got the idea for Gulfside. Why not have a meeting place for Black Methodists in his own district encompassing West Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Waveland, Mississippi was a resort town, centrally located on the Gulf Coast, 55 miles (89 km) from Bishop Jones' main office in New Orleans. Through the aid of churches and individuals, Bishop Jones raised approximately $4,000 to purchase land in Waveland. He bought 300 acres (1.2 km2) and leased 316 acres (1.28 km2) from the state.
There was only one building standing on the whole of the 616 acres (2.49 km2). It was called the Jackson House because it had once housed family members of President Andrew Jackson. It was a magnificent old mansion with very large rooms filled with antique furniture. The structure could not be seen from the beach. Large oak trees surrounded the house hiding it from view. The edifice stood some 8 to 10 feet (3.0 m) above the ground. The first floor had a wraparound porch that was wide enough to be used for meetings.
Bishop Jones marshaled his force of 14 preachers and local craft workers and set about putting the deteriorated structure into a livable condition. The open area under the porch was eventually closed in to become a kitchen, dining room and sweet shop. A screened in pavilion with dirt floor was built where meetings could be held. There was a makeshift dirt road leading to the Jackson House area. But when it rained, the road flooded and turned to mud., so most people walked the three miles (5 km) through the woods from the train station to the Jackson House.
In those first two decades, under the leadership of Bishop Jones, Gulfside blossomed into a pivotal point of the New Orleans area and the surrounding region. In the early days, events at Gulfside took place in the spring and summer months from April through August. Some of the activities included the Young Men's Christian Association, Conference Summer School for Town and Country Pastors, Summer School of Theology for aspiring ministers, Boys' Camp and Girls' Reserves, 4-H, and Scouting events, and picnics sponsored by groups throughout the region. The summer events culminated with Bishop Jones' Area Council Meeting. The only activity that spanned the entire year during Gulfside's early years was a Poor Boy's school. This was probably the first and most significant program that Bishop Jones instituted at Gulfside. Dr. J. H. Graham puts it in his book, Black United Methodist Retrospect and Prospect: "This school enables deprived functional illiterates to develop salable skills. Several have gone on and entered the Christian ministry." They studied regular text books as in any public school and they learned crafts. The boys had to work from 9 to 12 and after [lunch] would go to class until 4 p.m.
Bishop Jones' tenure at Gulfside, which spanned the Great Depression, was speckled with threats of foreclosure.