On the Perimeter of Two Freedom Struggles, 1930–1936

This chapter analyzes international power struggles during the final years of the Edmistons’ joint ministry. It shows that African Presbyterian leaders gained more authority within the American Presbyterian Congo Mission during the early 1930s in part because of lingering fears about Pan-Africanism and African American civil rights activism. Changes in the authority of African pastors are shown through Congo Mission committee meeting records that describe numerous conflicts between certain pastors and Alonzo Edmiston. The records indicate declining administrative support for Edmiston while his affiliation with Belgian colonial government officials increased. The incidents of isolation and segregation that Edmiston and Brown experienced during these years are compared to the contemporary racial segregation in the couple’s home base of Selma, Alabama. Their personal and professional connections to early civil rights leaders in that city are analyzed through a description of the Edmistons’ final furlough.