The following are short descriptions of the major institutions which have contributed to the shaping of African American history. These encyclopedia entries serve as a starting point for much more inclusive descriptions and discussions that appear in other sources. For additional information please consult the print or website sources cited in the entry.
Image Ownership: Public domain The First African Methodist Episcopal Church of Oakland, California emerged in the eastern part of the Bay Area in 1858. The congregation itself was founded by members of the black community in Oakland at the time, but it wasn’t until 1863 … Read MoreFirst AME Church, Oakland, California (1858- )
Image Ownership: Public domain The Hall of Negro Life, the first official recognition of African American achievements by a world’s fair in the United States, was a featured and well-visited part of the Texas Centennial Exposition at Fair Park, Dallas, Texas, in 1936. Early in … Read MoreHall of Negro Life, Texas Centennial Exposition, 1936
Mount Zion Baptist Church, originally named Second Baptist Church, was founded in 1909 by an African American religious study group under the leadership of Reverend Sandy Lyons, and established on North Hartford street of Tulsa, Oklahoma. At first, the church didn’t have it’s own building … Read MoreMt. Zion Baptist Church, Tulsa, Oklahoma (1909- )
"Image Ownership: Public Domain" The A. Philip Randolph Institute was founded by and named for labor leader Asa Philip Randolph, who was the longtime president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters union. Randolph and his friend and fellow activist Bayard Rustin founded APRI in … Read MoreA. Philip Randolph Institute (1965- )
Organized in 1836, the Witherspoon Street Church is one of the oldest African American Presbyterian congregations in New Jersey. On March 10, 1836, 90 out of 131former African American members of the Nassau Presbyterian Church were released from the congregation to form their own church. … Read MoreWitherspoon Street Church (1836– )
"Image Ownership: Public Domain" Pearl High School, the most prominent black high school in Nashville, Tennessee, for nearly one century, opened its doors in the fall of 1883 on South Summer Street (now Fifth Avenue South). The first public school for blacks in Nashville, it … Read MorePearl High School (1897–1983)
Women at Walden University, No Date “Image Ownership: Public Domain” Walden University was a historically black co-educational college in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1865 as a school for freedmen under the sponsorship of northern Methodist Episcopal Church missionaries. In late 1865, the Reverend … Read MoreWalden University (1865–1925)
Clark Memorial United Methodist Church is the oldest black United Methodist Church (UMC) in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1865 the Methodist Episcopal Church sent Bishop Davis W. Clark to Nashville to reorganize the Negro mission at Andrew Chapel, located on Franklin Street in South Nashville. The … Read MoreClark Memorial United Methodist Church (1865– )
The Wormley House, ca. 1884 “Image Ownership: Public Domain” Just one block away from President’s Square, now Lafayette Square, in Washington, D.C. stood the Wormley House, one of the most prominent private hotels and social clubs of its time, and the only one owned by … Read MoreWormley House (1871–1893)
Laura Towne and the First Penn School Students in an Outdoor Classroom, 1862 "Image Ownership: Public Domain" Formerly The Penn School, The Penn Center is an African American cultural and educational center located on St. Helena Island, South Carolina. In 1862 during the second year … Read MoreThe Penn Center (1862 – )