Photograph of Thomas Lee Griffith, pastor of the Second Baptist Church in Los Angeles from 1921 to 1940. When Griffith began his ministry, Second Baptist Church had relatively few members attending its Maple Street facility. As the congregation grew, Griffith led a campaign to build a larger church at the corner of Griffith Avenue and 24th Street. A proponent of African-American-owned businesses, Griffith hired African-American architect Paul R. Williams to design the new church and black-owned businesses to handle the construction work. The new building opened in 1925 and remains the current site of the congregation.
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