By Tara Fischer

Staff Writer

(July 2, 2026) The lawn of the Calvin B. Taylor House Museum will be the site of sermons, exhibits, and music next week in recognition of the inaugural Rev. Charles Albert Tindley Day, a newly proclaimed celebration to honor the Berlin-born gospel music composer.

The Berlin mayor and council meeting last week declared July 7 “Rev. Tindley Day” in Berlin, in recognition of his life and influence. Tindley was born in the area on July 7, 1851, and despite limited opportunities, became a noted African American gospel music pioneer, preacher, and civil rights activist.

Tindley was the son of an enslaved father and a free mother. Through self-education and unwavering faith, he is known today as an influential preacher, hymnwriter, and community leader.

Sometimes to referred to as the “Prince of Preachers,” he founded one of the largest Methodist congregations serving the African American community on the East Coast —Tindley Temple United Methodist Church in Philadelphia.

Tindley died in 1933 having established a musical legacy that continues to this day. Among his compositions was “I’ll Overcome Someday,” which later served as the foundation for the civil rights anthem, “We Shall Overcome.”

Another of his songs, “Stand By Me,” later became associated with the famous recording by Ben E. King. Five of Tindley’s hymns continue to appear in Methodist hymnals used around the world.

Next Tuesday, the Taylor House will celebrate the first “Rev. Tindley Day” with exhibits and audio-visual material on the facility’s lawn. The event will be held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and will be hosted in collaboration with the Germantown School and the nonprofit, Beach to Bay Heritage Area.

According to Taylor House Executive Director Melissa Reid, the Germantown School is loaning the museum its pop-up exhibit on the locally born reverend. The exhibit will be stationed in the downstairs heritage room for the whole week.

The Taylor House’s permanent Tindley exhibit will also be available for viewing.

Reid said the museum’s Tindley collection was created in partnership with local black historian Clara Small and Arnold Downing, Berlin’s retired police chief. The exhibition features audio-visual materials including Tindley’s famous sermons and videos of the Tindley Family Choir, a chorus of the reverend’s descendants, performing in front of downtown Berlin’s Tindley mural.

These archived recordings will be projected onto a screen on the museum’s lawn during Tuesday’s event.

“Our goal is to use that audio-visual material and actually have it projected onto a screen on the lawn like we do our movies,” Reid said.

Reid added that while normally closed on Tuesdays, the museum will be open to welcome residents and visitors to the two Tindley collections.

The Seaside Sweets truck will also be onsite with Chesapeake Bay Farms ice cream.

The Taylor House director said the goal of the event is to teach individuals from Berlin and the surrounding areas about Tindley, who she maintained is sometimes underappreciated by the community.

Reid noted that Stephen Decatur, a naval officer born in Worcester County to a father who served during the Revolutionary War, is recognized more than Tindley, despite having loose ties to the Eastern Shore.

“Everything around us is named after Stephen Decatur,” she said. “And Decatur was only born here. He just happened to be here because his father was here during the Revolutionary War helping on the Eastern Shore. He was not part of our community. He was born here and moved on.”

Reid added that despite Tindley’s relocation to Philadelphia, he remained committed to aiding Berlin’s African American congregations.

“Rev. Tindley did move on but came back frequently to Berlin and helped support places like [St. Paul United Methodist Church] and helped the local community here,” Reid said. “To me, Rev. Tindley exemplifies the ultimate American story of pulling yourself up…he taught himself to read, put himself through night school and became a beloved humanitarian both in Philadelphia and Berlin. He to me exemplifies everything we would want community members to be.”

The museum hopes to build on Tindley Day. Reid said that the facility’s mission is to add local gospel singing and continue strengthening the relationships between the Germantown School, the Taylor House, and the area’s churches.

“[Tindley’s] story is really crucial to the history of Berlin,” Reid said.

The creation of Tindley Day by the town grew out of a suggestion by local historian Greg Purnell and was facilitated by Beach to Bay Heritage Area.