Ramah Baptist Church

Ramah Baptist Church, located in the Calhoun area of Lowndes County, has long been a spiritual and social hub for Black farmers in the southeastern part of the county. Founded in a time when African Americans faced systemic oppression and violence, the church not only provided a sanctuary for worship but also became a center of community resilience and activism.

In the early 20th century, Ramah Baptist Church’s pastor wrote a letter to Booker T. Washington, the famed educator and civil rights leader, informing him of the violence that had followed the lynching of Theo Calloway, a Black man who had been brutally murdered by a White mob. The pastor detailed the subsequent series of murders and terror that gripped the Black community and shared the congregation's prayers for protection and a school for their children. Calloway’s lynching, like many others in the Jim Crow South, was part of a larger pattern of racial violence designed to suppress and control Black populations. Washington’s support was sought as a means of securing both educational and social justice, underscoring the church’s role in advocating for its congregation’s safety and future.

By 1965, Ramah Baptist Church had opened its doors to civil rights activism, hosting a mass meeting on April 11 of that year. This gathering, which came during a period of increased tension and racial violence in Lowndes County, marked a significant moment in the church’s history. Though the meeting helped activate parts of the local community, inspiring new involvement in the Civil Rights Movement, it did not immediately lead to other churches in the area following suit. Many congregations remained hesitant to involve themselves in the activism that Ramah Baptist had bravely embraced, knowing that such participation could lead to violent reprisals.