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 Black American Abiel Smith School. It is a National Historic Landmark.
History
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, a Black 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 first-floor pews were reserved for all those "benevolently disposed to the Africans," while the black members sat in the balcony of their new meeting house.
Ministers
Thomas Paul, c. 1805–1829
John Peck, c. 1830
Washington Christian, c. 1831
Thomas Ritchie, c. 1832
Samuel Gooch, c. 1833–1834
John Given, c. 1835
Armstrong W. Archer, c. 1837
George H. Black, c. 1838–1840
John T. Raymond, c. 1841–1845
William B. Serrington, c. 1848–1849
William Thompson, c. 1851–1853
Thomas Henson, c. 1856–1858
J. Sella Martin, c. 1860–1862
H. H. White, c. 1864
School (1806–1835) In the early 1800s, Primus Hall had established a school in his home. He sought funding from the community, including Black American sailors, to pay for expenses to run the school. Unsuccessful in attempts to establish a public school with the city of Boston in 1800, he moved his school to the African Meeting House by 1806. Hall continued fund-raising to support the Black American school until 1835.
Besides inspiring Boston's Black Americans to pursue justice and quality in education, the school offered them opportunities for employment and economic growth, which in turn provided funds for future generations of Black American Bostonians to pursue higher education.
The Abiel Smith School was built in 1834 following the donation of $2,000 (~$ in ) by Abiel Smith. The primary and grammar school was the first building built as a public school for Black Americans in the country. In 1835, all Black American children in Boston were assigned to the Smith school, which replaced the basement school in the African Meeting House.
Civic activities (1832 and Civil War) The African Meeting House became known as the Black Faneuil Hall during the abolitionist movement. 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.
Synagogue (late 19th century – 1972) At the end of the 19th century, when the black community began to migrate to the South End and Roxbury, the building was sold to a Jewish congregation, Anshei Lubavitch. They were the new immigrants in the city and living on Beacon Hill and in the North End. It served as a synagogue until 1972, when it was acquired by the Museum of African American History and adapted as a museum.
Museum (c. 1972–present) It was declared a National Historic Landmark 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.
Adjacent to the African Meeting House, is the Education and Technology Center. The Trust for Public Land assisted in the acquisition of the building when the museum needed space to expand.
Construction and remodeling
Funds for the African Meeting House 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.