In 1953, Gordon Parks returned to Chicago on assignment for Life magazine with the charge of photographing the Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church on the city’s Near West Side. This would be the first assignment for which he was on record as writer as well as photographer. The photographs he took and the essay he wrote were never published by Life. Nevertheless, the surviving body of work exemplifies Parks’s unique ability to capture a sense of community. Through these images and text, Parks tells a story about Black religious life that speaks to universal humanity. Parks was uniquely able to express these ideas through his engagement with his subjects. In 1953, one of those individuals was the Metropolitan Church’s celebrated pastor, the Reverend Ernest F. Ledbetter, Sr.

On May 20, 2025, at The Gordon Parks Foundation’s Annual Awards Dinner and Auction, we honored the family of Reverend E. F. Ledbetter, including his son, Reverend Ernest F. Ledbetter, Jr., and grandson, Reverend Dr. Ernest F. Ledbetter III, D.Min. Together, they are following in the footsteps of the senior Reverend Ledbetter, whom Parks photographed in 1953, and carrying on his legacy in Chicago. For the 2025 publication Gordon Parks: Pastor E. F. Ledbetter and the Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church, 1953, published by The Gordon Parks Foundation, Howard University, and Steidl, they have also opened their family's archives, and contributed an insightful tribute that illuminates the life and legacy of Reverend E.F. Ledbetter, Sr.

Reverend Ledbetter Sr.’s son and grandson, Reverend Ledbetter, Jr. and Reverend Dr. Ledbetter III, have likewise carried on his legacy and traditions. In a moving tribute to their father penned included in the same volume, they expressed his lasting impact:

Sometimes it is hard for me to believe that I was so blessed to have such a father. It has been many years now since September 8, 1969, when he made his transition from time to eternity. Hardly a day goes by that people don’t tell me of some way my father touched their lives. I was born in 1958, and it is utterly amazing how much historical ground was covered by this tall oak in the ministerial forest. My mother often told stories of me coming home from school asking her if it was true that we lived in the ghetto; some of the children from school were more than happy to inform me of the idea that we lived in poverty. I do not know if I thought we were rich, but I certainly didn’t think we were poor. And I really didn’t believe we were living in a ghetto. We lived in the parsonage of Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church.

On Sunday, September 7, 1969, he preached from John 9:4: “I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day; the night cometh, when no man can work.” His topic was “I Must Do All I Can While I Can.” That afternoon he gave my sister Patricia away in marriage and came home for pictures and the reception dinner. The last time I saw him was the morning of September 8, 1969. The National Baptist Convention in America was held each year the week of Labor Day. This year it would be in Tampa, Florida. Dad had flown all over the world, but it wasn’t his favorite mode of travel. He had train reservations, and he and Mom would be leaving that day. Mrs. Barner was a trusted helper to my mother. Whenever they went away Mrs. Barner would stay at the house with us. That morning, I knocked on the door and said bye to my father. He was still in his pajamas and in bed. I heard him reply and I left for school. Somewhere around 63rd Street, still in Chicago, on the train on the way to Florida, Dad made his transition from earth to glory. The irony of this is that his favorite song to sing was “I’m Going Home on the Morning Train.” This is exactly what he did. Thank you, Daddy, for birthing me into such a great legacy, in which I have raised my son as well. We are eternally grateful for your love and your legacy, which continue to open doors for both of us.