Record Source: Other PACSCL Partners / Subject: African Americans / Place: Philadelphia (Pa.) / Year: <span class="from" data-blrl-begin="1950">1950</span> to <span class="to" data-blrl-end="1999">1999</span> - Philadelphia Area Archives Search Results

Start Over Record Source Other PACSCL Partners Subject African Americans Place Philadelphia (Pa.) Year 1950 to 1999

Extent:: 50.0 linear feet
Abstract:: Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, located at 6th and Lombard Streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was established as Bethel Church in 1794 by Richard Allen (1760-1830). Allen was a former slave who purchased his freedom in 1783 and preached to African Americans in various Mid-Atlantic states until settling in Philadelphia in 1786, where he became a leader of the city's African American community. Bethel and other black Methodist congregations united in 1816 to organize the African Methodist Episcopal Church in America. Allen was appointed its first bishop and Bethel Church became Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, the mother church of the denomination. As of 2016, Mother Bethel remains a prominent and progressive congregation. Its current church building, dedicated in 1890, still sits on the land purchased by Allen in the 1790s, making it the oldest parcel of real estate in the United States continuously owned by African-Americans. The Mother Bethel...(see more)

Held at: Richard Allen Museum Archives [Contact Us]

Extent:: 10.0 linear feet
Abstract:: St. Peter Claver Roman Catholic Church of Philadelphia fills a unique position in the history of the Catholic Church in America. In 1886, African American Catholics from three local Philadelphia churches, having grown tired of the discrimination they faced at their home churches, united together as the Peter Claver Union with the goal of creating a “Church for Colored Catholics” in Philadelphia. The organization was officially recognized by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in 1889 and found a home for their parish in 1892 in the former Fourth Presbyterian Church located at 12th and Lombard Streets. Due to a perceived lack of continued need for an African American Catholic Church, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia suppressed the parish in 1985. The St. Peter Claver Roman Catholic Church records house the institutional records of the St. Peter Claver Roman Catholic Church of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This collection, which dates from 1904 to 2009, with bulk dates of 1980 to 1994,...(see more)

Held at: Temple University Libraries Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection [Contact Us]

Extent:: 1.25 linear feet
Abstract:: Emanuel C. Wright was the son of Major Richard R. Wright Sr., a former slave and founder of National Freedom Day. Shortly after the death of his father in 1947, Emanuel Wright took over his father's position as president of the National Freedom Day Association. The Emanuel C. and Dorothy Wright papers, 1931-1983, include clippings, pamphlets, and typed papers about African American figures and events in the African American community; material relating to National Freedom Day; and information about family history.

Held at: African American Museum in Philadelphia [Contact Us]

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