Fountain Trees

The roots of Fountain Street Church date to 1824 when the region's original Baptist mission established itself to convert the Ottawa Native Americans. A lengthy history of institutional squabbles between themselves and other area Baptists eventually culminated in the two factions' reunion in 1869 to create Fountain Street Baptist Church (so named for the building they erected on the east side of downtown Grand Rapids). Following the ministry of John L. Jackson, the church selected John Herman Randall, a young graduate of the new University of Chicago Divinity School. Over his ten-year ministry, Randall effectively converted Fountain Street Baptist Church from "traditional" to "progressive,"…

Coming early in Wishart's career at FSC, the furniture workers' strike began as an effort to organize the furniture-making factories then critical to Grand Rapids. When the union's demands for a nine-hour day, pay by the hour, and a ten percent raise of the average wage were denied, Wishart and others intervened to try to prevent a strike with a commission whose report supported management. The workers went on strike for seventeen weeks, but ultimately failed in their efforts. While supportive of labor in principle, Wishart did not approve of union tactics. His "social secretary" (i.e., social worker), Viva Flaherty, was publicly supportive of the workers, making the strike a critical issue…