“Bronzeville’s historic First Church of Deliverance, a Chicago landmark that is one the city’s few examples of streamline Art Moderne architecture, has been awarded a $150,000 preservation grant by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
“The money will help the congregation complete a comprehensive preservation and maintenance plan for the 86-year-old church at 4315 S. Wabash Ave.
“‘First Church of Deliverance is a sanctuary where gospel music soared and Black modernist architecture came alive,’ Brent Leggs, executive director of the trust’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, said.
“The First Church of Deliverance funding was among five grants totaling $750,000, announced Tuesday by the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund’s Conserving Black Modernism initiative. Co-funded by the Getty Foundation, the grants are intended to preserve modernist buildings designed by Black architects.
“Built in 1939 and recognized for its minimalist, horizontal polychromatic exterior and iconic twin towers above its main entrance, First Church of Deliverance was designed by Walter T. Bailey, a Kewanee native who was the state’s first licensed Black architect.
“Bailey and structural engineer Charles Sumner Duke, who was also Black, converted a plain single-story hat factory into the two-story showstopper.
“Here’s a twist: To create the church’s modern look, Bailey clad the building in terra cotta, a material best known for its ability to be molded to replicate historicist architectural details like column capitals and Greek acroteria.
“Bailey and Duke also brought the streamline look inside the church, giving the pulpit and choir loft walls curved surfaces and stainless steel trim.
“The congregation has already done some important repairs, including restoration of the church’s facade and its picturesque oak front doors, under a $228,000 grant in 2019 from the Chicago Department of Planning and Development’s Adopt-a-Landmark fund.” (Bey, Chicago Sun-Times, 7/25/25)
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