Pilgrim Baptist Church, which was built between 1890 and 1891, is notable for its glorious history, its architectural significance, its cultural contributions, for the people who spoke there, for the people who were eulogized there and for the people who sang there. Located at 3301 South Indiana Avenue, at 33rd and Indiana, on Chicago's South Side, in the heart of the Bronzeville neighborhood, it originally was constructed for a synagogue, Kehilath Anshe Ma'arav. A Baptist congregation moved into the building in 1922. Pilgrim Baptist Church is credited as the birthplace of gospel music in the 1930s. Thomas A. Dorsey, the Father of Gospel Music, was the music director at the church for decades. Mahalia Jackson, Aretha Franklin, the Staples Singers and the Edwin Hawkins Singers performed at the church. Bessie Coleman was a member of the congregation. The funeral for world heavyweight champion boxer Jack Johnson was held there in 1946. The champion of the Civil Rights Movement, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., delivered sermons at the church. In 2006, the building was gutted by a fire, leaving only the brick and stone of the outer walls still standing and determined to be structurally sound. Reconstruction plans are ongoing. The congregation meets in a building across the street. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and designated as a Chicago Landmark in 1981.