A Progressive Church

This documentary tells the story of the Progressive Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ on Barhamville Road. It focuses on the role of music in the church community & the church's growth. Students included a photograph of the original church building on Waverly Street, taken during 1963 when the Church rented the building out to be used as a mosque at which Malcolm X spoke. The students were the first historians to learn the connection between the church and the mosque.

This video was created by students at C.A. Johnson High School participating in Historic Columbia's Mann-Simons Community Engagement Project. What's the MSCEP? See below to learn more!

The Mann- Simons Community Engagement Project aims to engage US History students with their community & local history through interactive presentations by Historic Columbia staff, tours to historic sites, and immersion in creating their own historic project.

In the 2013-14 school year, students created brief documentaries on local sites. They learned about heir site through historic research and interviews with alumni. As groups, they worked to film and edit the footage themselves.

MSCEP is made possible through the generous support of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.