PHOENIX- The senior pastor at First Institutional Baptist Church, Dr. Warren H. Stewart Sr. was celebrated at a street sign dedication ceremony alongside his family, city officials and congregants last Friday morning, an honor typically reserved for leaders who have passed away.
A sign that reads “Dr. Warren H. Stewart, Sr. Way” now hangs at the intersection of 12th and Jefferson streets.
“We hope that everyone who drives through Phoenix will be reminded of the important contributions you have made to our city, our state, and our country,” Mayor Kate Gallego said.
The city council adopted the ceremonial sign in their formal meeting on Aug. 31 according to the meeting’s results. The city’s ceremonial sign procedure says that it’s intended to “supplement existing street name signs” to honor people of “significance.”
Stewart is considered a civil rights leader for the African American community in Arizona due to his religious efforts during the 1980’s and 1990’s, one of the most notable being his leadership while establishing a state holiday for Martin Luther King Jr. in Arizona, according to the Historical League. His efforts proved to be successful as the 1992 election ballot amendment, Proposition 300, passed with roughly 62 percent of the vote according to state records.
Arizona was the last state to make Martin Luther King Jr. Day a state holiday despite numerous efforts to do so, according to Arizona State Library.
Stewart has been serving as a pastor at First Institutional Baptist Church since 1977. The church celebrated both its 117th anniversary as well as Stewart’s 45th anniversary working there.
First New Life Church Senior Pastor Aubrey Barnwell said that Stewart has provided “hope” to members of the community over the years.
“As a prophetic visionary, Pastor Stewart sees past the trouble and turmoil in our city, our state, our country, and even the world, and continues to provide a message of hope,” Barnwell said.
“He sees past what it is and sees what it could be, and speaks about it with boldness and great tenacity. On a personal level, I can attest that Pastor Stewart also sees in others what we may not see in ourselves,” he continued.
Stewart himself reflected on the history of the neighborhood of First Institutional Baptist Church, in which he said that “single family houses owned and occupied by middle class Black Americans” were on streets that were “lined Jefferson, Adams, Washington, Madison” when he first moved to the city.
Stewart further added that as mayors, the city council or city managers change and people adapt to the 21st Century, “may we never forget this historic African American neighborhood.”
“May we never take off any of the city maps, the names of Booker T. Washington and Eastlake Park neighborhood,” Stewart said.
Contact the reporter at carcand@asu.edu.
