African Meeting House
Encyclopedia
The African Meeting House, also known variously as First African Baptist Church, First Independent Baptist Church and the Belknap Street Church, was built in 1806 and is now the oldest black church edifice still standing in the United States
. It is located in the Beacon Hill
neighborhood of Boston
, Massachusetts
, adjacent to the African American Abiel Smith School
. It is a National Historic Landmark
.
Thomas Paul
, an African American
preacher
from New Hampshire
, led worship meetings for blacks at Faneuil Hall
. Paul, with twenty of his members, officially formed the First African Baptist Church on August 8, 1805. In the same year, land was purchased for a building. The African Meeting House, as it came to be commonly called, was completed the next year. At the public dedication on December 6, 1806, the floor level pews were reserved for all those "benevolently disposed to the Africans," while the black members sat in the balcony of their new meeting house.
The African Meeting House was constructed almost entirely with black labor. Funds for the project were raised in both the white and black communities. Cato Gardner, a native of Africa, was responsible for raising more than $1,500 toward the total $7,700 to complete the meeting house. A commemorative inscription above the front door reads: "Cato Gardner, first Promoter of this Building 1806." Scipio and Sylvia Dalton also helped organize and raise money to build the church.
The façade
of the African Meeting House is an adaptation of a design for a townhouse published by Boston architect
Asher Benjamin
. In addition to its religious and educational activities, the meeting house became a place for celebrations and political and anti-slavery
meetings.
On January 6, 1832, William Lloyd Garrison
founded the New England Anti-Slavery Society here. During the Civil War
, Frederick Douglass
and others recruited soldiers here for the 54th and 55th Massachusetts regiments.
The African Meeting House was remodeled by the congregation in the 1850s.
, the building was sold to a Jewish congregation. It served as a synagogue
until it was acquired by the Museum of African American History in 1972.
in 1974.
The African Meeting House houses the Museum of African American History, which is a museum "dedicated to preserving, conserving and accurately interpreting the contributions of African Americans in New England from the colonial period through the 19th century," according to the Museum's website. The African Meeting House is open to the public. This site is part of Boston African American National Historic Site
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is located in the Beacon Hill
Beacon Hill, Boston, Massachusetts
Beacon Hill is a historic neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, that along with the neighboring Back Bay is home to about 26,000 people. It is a neighborhood of Federal-style rowhouses and is known for its narrow, gas-lit streets and brick sidewalks...
neighborhood of Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, adjacent to the African American Abiel Smith School
Abiel Smith School
Abiel Smith School, founded in 1835, is a school located at 46 Joy Street in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, adjacent to the African Meeting House. It is named for Abiel Smith, a white philanthropist who left money in his will to the city of Boston for the education of black children. The...
. It is a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
.
Church
Before 1805, although black Bostonians could attend white churches, they generally faced discrimination. They were assigned seats only in the balconies and were not given voting privileges.Thomas Paul
Thomas Paul
Thomas Paul was a Baptist minister in Boston, Massachusetts, affiliated with the African Meeting House and the Education Society for the People of Colour. Paul lived in Boston's Beacon Hill neighborhood. His children included activist Susan Paul....
, an African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
preacher
Preacher
Preacher is a term for someone who preaches sermons or gives homilies. A preacher is distinct from a theologian by focusing on the communication rather than the development of doctrine. Others see preaching and theology as being intertwined...
from New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
, led worship meetings for blacks at Faneuil Hall
Faneuil Hall
Faneuil Hall , located near the waterfront and today's Government Center, in Boston, Massachusetts, has been a marketplace and a meeting hall since 1742. It was the site of several speeches by Samuel Adams, James Otis, and others encouraging independence from Great Britain, and is now part of...
. Paul, with twenty of his members, officially formed the First African Baptist Church on August 8, 1805. In the same year, land was purchased for a building. The African Meeting House, as it came to be commonly called, was completed the next year. At the public dedication on December 6, 1806, the floor level pews were reserved for all those "benevolently disposed to the Africans," while the black members sat in the balcony of their new meeting house.
The African Meeting House was constructed almost entirely with black labor. Funds for the project were raised in both the white and black communities. Cato Gardner, a native of Africa, was responsible for raising more than $1,500 toward the total $7,700 to complete the meeting house. A commemorative inscription above the front door reads: "Cato Gardner, first Promoter of this Building 1806." Scipio and Sylvia Dalton also helped organize and raise money to build the church.
The façade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
of the African Meeting House is an adaptation of a design for a townhouse published by Boston architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
Asher Benjamin
Asher Benjamin
Asher Benjamin was an American architect and author whose work transitioned between Federal style architecture and the later Greek Revival. His seven handbooks on design deeply influenced the look of cities and towns throughout New England until the Civil War...
. In addition to its religious and educational activities, the meeting house became a place for celebrations and political and anti-slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
meetings.
On January 6, 1832, William Lloyd Garrison
William Lloyd Garrison
William Lloyd Garrison was a prominent American abolitionist, journalist, and social reformer. He is best known as the editor of the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator, and as one of the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society, he promoted "immediate emancipation" of slaves in the United...
founded the New England Anti-Slavery Society here. During the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass was an American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman. After escaping from slavery, he became a leader of the abolitionist movement, gaining note for his dazzling oratory and incisive antislavery writing...
and others recruited soldiers here for the 54th and 55th Massachusetts regiments.
The African Meeting House was remodeled by the congregation in the 1850s.
Ministers
- Thomas Paul, ca.1805-1829
- John Peak, ca.1830
- Washington Christian, ca.1831
- Thomas Ritchie, ca.1832
- Samuel Gooch, ca.1833-1834
- John Given, ca.1835
- Armstrong W. Archer, ca.1837
- George H. Black, ca.1838-1840
- John T. Raymond, ca.1841-1845
- William B. Serrington, ca.1848-1849
- William Thompson, ca.1851-1853
- Thomas Henson, ca.1856-1858
- J. Sella MartinJ. Sella MartinJohn Sella Martin was an escaped slave who became a noted abolitionist and a pastor. He was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. His mother was a slave, and his father was the white slaveholder, as was the law at the time that the children of slave women assume the legal status of the mother he was...
, ca.1860-1862 - H.H. White, ca.1864
Synagogue (late 19th c.-1972)
At the end of the 19th century, when the black community began to migrate to the South End and RoxburyRoxbury, Massachusetts
Roxbury is a dissolved municipality and current neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was one of the first towns founded in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630, and became a city in 1846 until annexed to Boston on January 5, 1868...
, the building was sold to a Jewish congregation. It served as a synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
until it was acquired by the Museum of African American History in 1972.
Museum (ca.1972-present)
It was declared a National Historic LandmarkNational Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
in 1974.
The African Meeting House houses the Museum of African American History, which is a museum "dedicated to preserving, conserving and accurately interpreting the contributions of African Americans in New England from the colonial period through the 19th century," according to the Museum's website. The African Meeting House is open to the public. This site is part of Boston African American National Historic Site
Boston African American National Historic Site
The Boston African American National Historic Site, in the heart of Boston, Massachusetts's Beacon Hill neighborhood, interprets 15 pre-Civil War structures relating to the history of Boston's 19th century African-American community, including the Museum of Afro-American History's African Meeting...
.
Further reading
- Paul DeanPaul Dean (minister)Paul Dean was a 19th-century universalist minister. He pastored in Boston, Massachusetts, at the First Universalist Church on Hanover Street and the Central Universalist Church on Bulfinch Street .-Further reading:...
. A discourse delivered before the African Society, at their meeting-house, in Boston, Mass. on the abolition of the slave trade by the government of the United States of America, July 14, 1819. Boston: Nathaniel Coverly, 1819. - George A. Levesque. Inherent Reformers-Inherited Orthodoxy: Black Baptists in Boston, 1800-1873. Journal of Negro History, Vol. 60, No. 4 (Oct., 1975), pp. 491-525.