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Commonwealth Museum   Secretary of the Commonwealth William Francis Galvin
Commonwealth Museum Secretary of the Commonwealth William Francis Galvin

Celebrating Roxbury: Historic Twelfth Baptist Church


Reverend Michael E. Haynes served as pastor of the Twelfth Baptist Church for thirty years and cherished a friendship with Dr. King.


3 Photos of African American politicians and leaders.
  - Images by Anthony W. Lanier, Photographer

Reverend Michael E. Haynes
Born in Barbados, Michael Haynes grew up in Boston and served as minister of the Twelfth Baptist Church from 1964 – 2004. In 1965 he organized the Boston contingent participating in the historic Selma to Montgomery march for voting rights. Reverend Haynes also served three terms in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

A photo of Reverend Michael E. Haynes
A lifetime of service.
- Image by Anthony W. Lanier, Photographer
As a state representative Michael Haynes was instrumental in arranging a visit to Boston by Dr. King, including an address to the legislature in 1965. Program booklet - Martin Luther King, Jr. Convocation and Pre-Inauguration Celebration, Twelfth Baptist Church, January 12, 2009. Del Brook Binns, Photograoher
As a state representative Michael Haynes was instrumental in arranging a visit to Boston by Dr. King, including an address to the legislature in 1965. Program booklet - Martin Luther King, Jr. Convocation and Pre-Inauguration Celebration, Twelfth Baptist Church, January 12, 2009.
- Del Brook Binns, Photographer

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
In the 1950’s, Martin Luther King, Jr. lived near the hub of African-American nightlife while working on his doctoral thesis at Boston University. As a student, he preached frequently at Twelfth Baptist Church. Church Secretary Mary Powell introduced Dr. King to his future wife Coretta Scott King. Dr. King befriended the pastor and preached one of his last sermons in New England from this pulpit.

Reverend Grimes’ name at the top of an 1861 petition to the Massachusetts legislature opposing the federal Fugitive Slave Law.
Reverend Grimes name appears at the top of this 1861 petition to the Massachusetts legislature urging opposition to the federal Fugitive Slave Law and preservation of a Massachusetts statute offering protection.
- Massachusetts Archives
A photograph of Lewis Hayden from the Houghton Library, Harvard University

Reverend Leonard A. Grimes
- Library of Congress

A Distinguished History
Founded in 1840 on Beacon Hill, the Twelfth Baptist Church was known as the “Fugitive’s Church” because pastor Leonard Grimes assisted runaway slaves including parishioner Anthony Burns. In a notorious incident, Burns was captured in Boston and forcibly returned to slavery under the Fugitive Slave Law.