Homage to Reverend Bailey of Monrovia’s Second Baptist Church

ReverendGeorge Godfrey Bailey was a good man. His main focus was on Monrovia’schildren. Councilmember Larry Spicer remembers his mentor fondly, “He alwaystold the youth that no matter what he was doing, he would stop everything tohelp because we were his number one priority.” On the 115^thanniversary of his birth, we remember G.G. Bailey.

Bailey wasMonrovia’s Second Baptist Church’s 13^th pastor. Monrovia’s Second BaptistChurch (SBC) was founded in 1902 by a group of 13 African Americans at the homeof Pinkie and Willie Watkins on Maple Avenue. Today, SBC on Shamrock Avenuecontinues to serve a primarily African American congregation with several youngfamilies.

ReverendBailey did not have an easy childhood himself. Bailey was one of nine children ofa family from Bastrop, La. This was cotton country on the western edge of aLouisiana swamp. Today, it is a town of 11,000 that’s 73% African American witha median household income of $21,000. Young Bailey was small in stature, buthad a large thirst for knowledge. He attendedMoorhouse Parish Training School in Bastrop and Arkansas Baptist College, anHBCU. He worked as a dining car waiter, a butler, a janitor, an insurance salesperson,and a chef. At 29 years old, he decided to head to California — on foot.

When he came to pastor SBC in Monroviaduring World War II, there were 117 names on the membership list, $200 in thetreasury, and an indebtedness of $1,100. Bailey turned things around. In thepost-War period, the church membership grew exponentially and the physical infrastructureof the church grew exponentially. The Baileys lived in Monrovia and were activein its Red Cross, Job Resources Education Center, Human Relations Committee,Monrovia Ministerial Association, as well as the Western Baptist StateConvention.

Bailey was soinvested in children. Betty Fisher Thomas said about growing up in 1950sMonrovia: “Reverend Bailey had the patience of Job. He literally helped raisedus as he was there day and night. A lot of the [African American] mothers weredomestic servants, and they were working hard. Many of them listed ReverendBailey as the emergency contact for their children. Mrs. Eva Bailey washospitality itself.” Many of the children would swing by the church five toseven days a week.

Councilmember Larry Spicer remembersthat when he was 13, “Reverend Bailey usedto walk with the kids on my block to church on Sunday mornings. We always knewwhen he was coming because we could hear the sound of his shoes popping as hecame down the street. He walked with his jacket thrown behind his shoulder andas he approached us, he would give each of the kids a ‘Good Morning’ hug.Together we all headed to Second Baptist Church. Along the way we would make aquick stop at his brother-in-law, Earl Newton’s house, so he could join us onthe walk to church. Mr. Newton would always bring all the kids bags of candyfor the walk.”

When race riots broke out at MonroviaHigh in the 1960s, Bailey was there every day to try and restore harmony. Andin 1971, when 13-year old Mark Edward Allen was found dead, it was ReverendBailey who wept at the sight of the body in the basement of the Monrovia PoliceDepartment. Allen, a student at Clifton, had been arrested for allegedlyshoplifting earlier that day. James Mikell said, “Reverend Bailey saw the markson [Allen’s] neck and he began to cry. There were fingermark bruises on hisneck, as if [the boy] had been choked.”

ReverendBailey did not live in simple times; the 1950-60s were a tumultuous period ofrace relations in Monrovia — and all of America. But Bailey had a simple goal:do good, especially for children. His formula works.

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