"Tremont, along with First Baptist Church and Steward Chapel, those churches became the nerve center of the (civil rights) movement," local historian Andrew Manis said.
Manis, a Middle Georgia State College history professor, authored the book "Macon Black and White: An Unutterable Separation in the American Century."
"Whoever was pastor of these churches, especially a church like Tremont, which was downtown, would have some significant influence in the black community of a city like Macon from the 1880s on," he said.
said Tremont is a historic building that should be preserved.
, who is white, says that because many of the white churches in Macon did not support integration during the civil rights movement, he
proposes a kind of reparation so to speak.
"Put some money in a pot to preserve the building. ... Let white congregations lead the way in that, and if that would happen then this silly idea of replacing a historic church with a (Dunkin' Donuts) could lead to some action on the part of the white community in Macon."
said that could be an opportunity for white churches to say: "We were wrong then, but we can be right now."