“Give me Liberty or Give me Death”

St. John's Church, home of Patrick Henry's famous speech, "Give me liberty, or Give me death"

2401 East Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23223

St. John’s Church, a National Historic Landmark, became famous as a living memorial to American liberty when over 100 Virginia colonial leaders, including Patrick Henry, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Richard Henry Lee, and Peyton Randolph met here in March of 1775 to avoid the wrath of Royal Governor Lord Dunmore in Williamsburg. St. John’s Church was the only building in Richmond suitable to hold the delegates. Patrick Henry’s famous “Give me Liberty or Give me Death” speech was delivered on 23 March 1775 inside the church. Henry’s timely resolutions passed by a narrow margin and the American Revolution began the following month when shots were fired at Lexington and Concord.

Because of its historical importance, principally as the site of Patrick Henry’s famous speech, the church building inspired the designation of a historic district, the St. John’s Old and Historic District, created by an act of Richmond City Council. The neighborhood began to stabilize and new residents were attracted to the area and to St. John’s. Many of the beautiful old homes of Church Hill have been restored.

Today, one of the challenges of St. John’s Church is to reach out more effectively to this dynamic neighborhood community, both as a historic site and especially as a place of worship. St. John’s seeks to regain the sense of Christian mission to a revitalizing neighborhood and to understand its historic commitment to proclaiming the gospel to all.


http://www.virginia.org/site/description.asp?AttrID=48121&t=eNews&eM=H2&eNL=stjohnschurch