Join CFA and Landmarks Illinois at Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church (MMBC) in Garfield Park this June for a celebration of the documentary arts and historic preservation!
The event will feature a tour of MMBC followed by a panel discussion centered on the legacy and future of this church and the myriad methods of preservation that can ensure its legacy.
This panel discussion will feature Scheherazade Tillet (2025 Gordon Parks Foundation Fellow), Michal Raz-Russo (Programs director at the Gordon Parks Foundation and a CFA board member), and Nancy Watrous (Founder and Executive Director of Chicago Film Archives) and will be moderated by Amber Delgado (Easements and Advocacy Associate at Landmarks Illinois).
❯❯❯❯❯ CFA will present selected home movies from our Ernest F. Ledbetter Family Collection as part of the program.
WHEN
Saturday, June 13 from 3 PM – 6 PM
WHERE
Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church
2151 W Washington Blvd, Chicago, IL
ADMISSION
Free with registration
Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church (MMBC) is a City of Chicago Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The congregation at MMBC has called 2151 W Washington Blvd their home since 1947. In addition to its architectural significance, it is also famous for having been photographed by renowned photographer Gordon Parks. In 1953, Life magazine sent Parks to Chicago to photograph Reverend Ernest Franklin Ledbetter, Sr. and his congregation at the Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church. Although the story was never published in the magazine, the visit resulted in some of Parks’s best-known photographs, ranging from images of Sunday services to scenes from the surrounding community.