Reverend John Jasper
Rev. John Jasper founded Richmond's Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Church in 1867 to house his growing congregation of freed slaves. A preacher slave before the war, Jasper achieved national fame in 1878 when he first delivered his "The Sun Do Move" sermon. People of all races flocked to Richmond and Jasper's church to see his unique combination of zeal, imagery and oratory. He would deliver his famous sermon, always in the dialect of the American slave, more than 250 times before his death including before the joint Virginia General Assembly. One of several biographies of Jasper, none currently in print, is available through UNC's Document South collection.
--Curtis Lyons, Head, Special Collections and Archives.