Basilica restoration uncovers pre-Civil War balcony for freed slaves

Published: 2005-01-05

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- Restoration work on Baltimore's basilica has uncovered the original balcony in the rear of the 198-year-old building where freed slaves were allowed to worship before the Civil War. "It's a significant discovery," said Mark J. Potter, executive director of the Basilica of the Assumption Historic Trust, noting that it brought more light to bear on the basilica's history in keeping with the restoration theme, "Restore the Light." The 40-foot-long balcony provided black worshippers with the best view of the sanctuary, even though they were segregated from the rest of the congregation, said restoration architect John G. Waite, an expert on the history of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. And, he said, while all the old cathedral's pews were rented to worshippers, the ones in the balcony were free to their black occupants. "When you consider how the balcony was used it was actually a very progressive thing to do in those days because other churches weren't letting blacks through their doors in the first place," Waite said.

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