Introduction
One of the most important agencies for maintaining cohesion and rendering social welfare was the church. In slavery, the church played a vital role in attending to the spiritual and social needs of slaves as well as aided in the successful escape of slaves to freedom. The institution of Jim Crow laws in the post Civil War era necessitated continuing the tradition of uplift and protest. Churches established or supported homes for the aged and for orphans in addition to organizing day nurseries, kindergartens, gymnasiums and social and literary clubs.