1

Corinne and Vince Bryant Jr.
1939
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

2

Shirley Brown recalls her early experiences as a child at the church in the 1930s:

"Well, we did everything down there. We'd go to church … we'd have our junior missionary meetings and Mrs. Holland always let us do crafts next door in the parsonage, and even when Reverend Holland married the second time after Mrs. Holland died, Rachel Holland would let us come there and do craftwork. We'd never have to go home after school and be by ourselves - well, I was never by myself; I had a big family. It's just that everything was done in the church. We had picnics and we were able to play out in the back yard of the church and down in the basement of the church …That was just our second home away from home."

3

Reverend John Christie Holland.
1950
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

4

One of the best-known and most beloved ministers of Stewart Memorial was the Reverend John Christie Holland. Jessie Beattie, in her biography entitled "John Christie Holland: Man of the Year" details the life of the man who was revered inside and outside the Black community. Reverend Holland was born in Hamilton on Christmas day, 1882. His parents were former slaves from Maryland who had met in Hamilton and were married in 1873. Tom Holland, John's father, had already started a small flour and feed store on the corner of Gore and Mary Streets. He then bought a small brick cottage beside the feed store. There he and Henrietta set up house. John was the fifth of nine children who survived to adulthood. During his teenage years, John Holland decided to go to college and study for the ministry. As it turns out, this would be a long and arduous process.

In the meantime, John Holland married Josephine Idenia Johnson, from Oakville, in 1901. The couple both worked various jobs so that John could save enough to study at university. They even lived and worked in New Jersey for a few years with John's brother William and his family. The couple, with the addition of a son they named Gilbert, moved back to Hamilton, after which another three children were born: Gladys, Alfreda, and Oliver.

5

John Holland on the T. H. & B. Railway
1940
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

6

In 1916, John Holland began working for the T. H & B. Railway as a porter at the station, quickly advancing to Pullman car attendant and finally to the position of attendant on the private car which was used by the president of the company. His association with the company would last 33 years. Holland also continued to study for the ministry by correspondence. He became an ordained minister in 1924 through the A.M.E. Conference at Paine Theological Seminary in Wilberforce, Ohio. He had been working part-time at Stewart Memorial on weekends: singing in the choir, teaching and acting as superintendent in the Sunday School. He also preached when the regular pastor was absent. By all accounts, he made a tremendous mark on all those who knew him, from the young children who attended Sunday School at the church, to the President of the railway company where he was an employee.

Shirley Brown, speaking of Reverend Holland, remembers the man:

"Well, like I say, everybody liked Reverend Holland - everyone. I don't think I've ever heard, even to this day, I've never heard anyone say anything bad about Reverend Holland. He was like a father figure to all the ones at Sunday school who didn't have a father, because there were a lot of us that grew up just with our mothers. But he was a very gentle, kind person - I don't think I could ever say enough about Reverend Holland. He was just a gentle, gentle man."

7

As a young boy Joe Rhodes recalls the impact Reverend Holland had on him and that he was "just a tremendous human being":

"Well, I remember he was a very gentle, great man. Actually he was a major influence on my life because when I was five and six years old in the neighbourhood where I was living, the kids wanted to fight and be very abusive, and he would come actually to our home … and we would read the bible and he would talk to us, and he just made us feel good about getting our life together and keeping our life together…. "I don't remember all the words he said but he sort of reassured us that life was going to be okay. He reassured us that there are ways and means."

8

Joe Rhodes outside 255 West Ave. Hamilton, Ontario.
2004
255 West Ave, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Credits:
Photo by Adrienne Shadd

9

Rhodes attests to the powerful sway that Reverend Holland and the church represented in his young life.

"Stewart Memorial was jam packed at all times. The people were lined up outside when Reverend Holland was there and we had just a tremendous choir, and him and the enthusiasm of the church was just exciting. He just made you feel good about yourself. And even though I was very young at the time, I could feel that…. my mother thought after that I was going to be a minister …."

10

Stewart Memorial Church choir
1950
Stewart Memorial Church, John St. Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

11

Pastor Holland remained in an assistant role without pay until 1936. Reverend Claude Stewart, from Barbados, was the minister at the church from 1926-36. Just before his death in 1936, he summoned Reverend Holland to his side and begged him to take over the leadership of the struggling congregation. This the latter pledged to do. But it would not be easy. The church was deep in debt, the building in a bad state of repair and the church property was being listed for tax sale. Moreover, it was the height of the depression. The old adage that Black workers were the 'last hired and the first fired,' had not changed. Many of the membership were unemployed.

Holland immediately approached the business community of Hamilton. With his quiet power of persuasion he enlisted the help of Hamilton's business elite, who organized a tag day to raise money for the church. The proceeds - over $1500 - were enough to pay the tax arrears and the mortgage interest, with a small balance left for repairs to the building. Although this took care of the immediate problems, a longer-term solution was to establish a Visitors' Night on the first Sunday of every month when the business leaders and others from the wider community would attend the little church on John Street and add to the collection plate. Visitors' Night was an important evening at Stewart Memorial and the choir became known far and wide for the beautiful spirituals it sang.

12

Stewart Memorial Church Choir, ca. 1940. From John Christie Holland: Man of the Year, opp. p. 50
1940
Stewart Memorial Church, John St. Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

13

Shirley Brown recounts her memories:

"Because everything [about Visitor's Night] was special. We would always come out from the back room and we would march around the front by the altar and up into the choir loft. And we only did it on the first Sunday of every month. And when church was over, we'd come down again, march in front, they'd say the closing prayer, we'd go in the back room and take our robes off.

14

Reverend Claude Stewart.
1930
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Credits:
Courtesy of Stewart Memorial Church