A view of Mt. Moriah Baptist Church on Carnes Avenue and Boston Street. (Andrea Morales)
A detail of the stained glass at St. John Missionary Baptist Church. (Andrea Morales)
A view of New Hope M.B. Church on Enterprise Street. (Andrea Morales)
Orange Mound, one of Memphis' most historic neighborhoods, has the unique distinction of bearing six churches that are over 100 years old.
Related: "Keeping the faith: Beulah Baptist Church has served Orange Mound since 1904"
Among those historic congregations are Mt. Moriah Baptist Church and Mt. Pisgah C.M.E Church, which were both organized in 1879. Many of these churches, such as Beulah Baptist Church, St. John's Baptist Church, Mt. Gilliam Baptist Church and New Hope Baptist Church supported conversations about equality in the 1940s and during the Civil Rights Movement. Civil rights leader Benjamin Hooks led meetings about desegregation at New Era M.B. Church.
Today, these pillars protect Orange Mound's legacy as one of the first places that African-Americans could purchase homes by continuing to instill the community with pride and harmony.
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Andrea Morales is a documentary photographer based in Memphis. Born in Lima, Peru, she grew up in Miami, earned a B.S. in journalism from the University of Florida and an M.A. in photography from Ohio University. Working for different newspapers moved her to cities and newsrooms of all size, including the El Sentinel in South Florida, the Lima News in NW Ohio and The New York Times in NYC. Most recently, she was on staff as a photographer at the Concord Monitor in New Hampshire, where she covered barn dances, ox pulls and presidential elections, all with equal joy.