Student Historian

Willie Brenc is a 2013 graduate of the University of Washington (B.A. Political Science and History). In fall 2014 he began  attending Stanford Law School. As an undergraduate, Willie studied a variety of topics and conducted intensive research projects on affirmative action and United States-South Africa relations.

First Baptist Church, St. Louis, Missouri (1817- )

First Baptist Church in St. Louis, founded as First African Baptist Church, is the oldest continuously operating black church in Missouri. The precursor to the church was founded by John Peck and James Welch, two white Baptist missionaries sent west in 1817 by the Baptist … Read MoreFirst Baptist Church, St. Louis, Missouri (1817- )

St. Philips Moravian Church, Winston-Salem, North Carolina (1822- )

St. Philips Moravian Church is the oldest continuously operating black church in North Carolina. St. Philips is also the only historically black Moravian church in the United States. The Moravians were a Christian sect established by immigrants from the Moravia region of what is now … Read MoreSt. Philips Moravian Church, Winston-Salem, North Carolina (1822- )

St. Augustine Catholic Church, New Orleans, Louisiana (1841- )

St. Augustine Catholic Church of New Orleans was the first black church in Louisiana and the first black Catholic church in the United States. In the 1830s a group of free African-American New Orleanians began organizing to create a Catholic church in Tremé, a historically … Read MoreSt. Augustine Catholic Church, New Orleans, Louisiana (1841- )

African Zion Baptist Church, Malden, West Virginia, (1852- )

“Image Ownership: Public Domain” The African Zion Baptist Church is the first African American church in what is now West Virginia (West Virginia was a part of Virginia until 1863) and was the church of Booker T. Washington. The church is located in Malden, West … Read MoreAfrican Zion Baptist Church, Malden, West Virginia, (1852- )

St. Mark African Methodist Episcopal Church, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (1869- )

St. Mark African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, the first African American church in Wisconsin, was founded in Milwaukee as the First African Methodist Episcopal Church by Ezekiel Gillespie and seven other men and women. Gillespie desired to establish a “Church of Allen,” referring to Richard … Read MoreSt. Mark African Methodist Episcopal Church, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (1869- )