June 25, 2024
“The simple brick building nestled in Smith Court on Boston’s Beacon Hill reveals little to the passerby to indicate its grand place in history. Yet, not only is the African Meeting House the only extant church building for blacks in America; for nearly a century it was also the political, social, educational, and religious epicenter of the black community in Boston and throughout New England.”
–Robert C. Hayden, “The African Meeting House in Boston,” 1987.
The Chapel Camp tour of the African Meeting House took place last Sunday. The stories of community building, witness, and activism are told there in the letters, articles, books, historical photos, and cultural artifacts as well as by welcoming guides. We took the regular tour of the building that served as schoolhouse, community meeting space, churches of various denominations, and public meeting hall in which speakers communicated their passion for freedom and equality, justice and education.
The House was founded by the African Society in 1806. People who had previously gathered in private homes to worship established the First Baptist Church, led by minister Thomas Paul. Paul’s work during his time in Boston included eloquent preaching, active care of his parishioners, travel (mission work in Haiti), and being part of the creation of New York’s Abyssinian Baptist Church. He left to be pastor there in 1829. During his time at the church, two controversial movements were simmering: colonization in Africa and the abolition of slavery.
The history of the school began with the story of William C. Nell, a student there in the 1820s. He led blacks and whites in petitioning the Boston School Committee for equal rights for black students, and, in 1855, the first desegregation of Boston schools began, necessitating the closing of the Meeting House school. This created an opportunity to renovate the building, readying it for abolitionist activity and further development of community education programs.
The first abolitionist speaker at the House was Maria Stewart. She was followed by others, among them William Lloyd Garrison, Lewis Hayden, Frederick Douglass, and Charles Sumner. Garrison founded the New England Anti-Slavery Society in 1832 with a fiery speech at the African Meeting House.
One last historical note: with the migration of Europeans to the West End of Beacon Hill, other changes occurred. The Jewish congregation of Anshei Lubavitch purchased the building in 1898 and converted it to a synagogue. From 1904-1972, the site was enlivened again by communal worship until its reopening as the African Meeting House in 1972 and its designation as a National Landmark in 1974.
–Mary Beth Clack, Mary Blocher, Cindy Coldren, Pat Krol, Liz Levin
–Published in This Week @Emmanuel Church June 26 & July 3, 2024