Academic Historian

Carol Ann Dennis is Assistant Professor of History at Alabama State University.  She holds an MA and PhD from Auburn University in Alabama, and a BA from Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, Connecticut.  Her research interests include Elites and People of Color in the Atlantic World, African American History, Women’s History, History of the Old South, and Material Culture.

Her presentations include: “Whispers of Freedom: Exploring Laura Beecher Comer’s Diary Through the Prism of the Comer Slaves’ Resistance” at the 98th Annual ASALH Convention of The Association for the Study of African American Life and History, October 2-6, 2013; and “An Invitation to Tea: Ritual and Identity in the British Atlantic World” at the annual conference of the Consortium on the Revolutionary Era at Charleston, South Carolina, March 2010.

Her paper "An Invitation to Tea," winner of the prestigious Colonial Dames Award, was selected for publication and appeared in The Consortium on the Revolutionary Era 1750-1850, Selected Papers 2010, published in 2012.  An active scholar, she is working currently on a book length project which explores the life of Laura Beecher Comer.  Dennis teaches World History and US History.

Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, Washington, D.C. (1821- )

Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal (AME) is the oldest continuously operating black church in the District of Columbia.  Metropolitan AME is also designated by the AME Church (the black denomination founded in 1787 by Richard Allen) as the National Cathedral of African Methodism. Metropolitan AME began … Read MoreMetropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, Washington, D.C. (1821- )

First Baptist Church, Petersburg, Virginia (1756- )

First Baptist Church of Petersburg, Virginia, originally known as the First African Baptist Church, is the oldest continuously operating black church in the state and is the mother church of numerous Baptist congregations in Virginia.  The evangelical anti-slavery message of the equality of all men who were … Read MoreFirst Baptist Church, Petersburg, Virginia (1756- )

Charles Octavius Boothe (1845-1924)

An African American Baptist preacher, educator, author, and tireless advocate for African American advancement and uplift, Charles Octavius Boothe was one of the founders of Dexter Avenue-King Memorial Baptist Church (1877), Selma University (1878), and the Colored Baptist Missionary Convention for the State of Alabama … Read MoreCharles Octavius Boothe (1845-1924)

Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia (1885- )

Founded in 1886 by Pastor John Andrew Parker, a freedman, Ebenezer Baptist Church of Atlanta, Georgia had only 13 members and no church building upon Parker’s passing in 1894 and when Alfred Daniel Williams became its second pastor.  Williams’ powerful sermons and strong leadership skills … Read MoreEbenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia (1885- )

Bethel Baptist Institutional Church of Jacksonville, Florida (ca. 1865- )

Bethel Baptist Institutional Church is the oldest Baptist church congregation in the state of Florida.  At the end of the Civil War, Bethel Baptist Church was recognized by the court in Jacksonville to be a black church, but the history of this church extends well … Read MoreBethel Baptist Institutional Church of Jacksonville, Florida (ca. 1865- )

Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church, New Haven, Connecticut (1844- )

Established on June 7, 1844, Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church of New Haven, Connecticut, is the third oldest black Episcopal Church in the United States.  Born of the righteous indignation of its founding members over continuing acts of racial discrimination meted out by the white vestry … Read MoreSaint Luke’s Episcopal Church, New Haven, Connecticut (1844- )

St. Bartley Primitive Baptist Church, Huntsville, Alabama (1808- )

Instituted in 1808 by enslaved blacks, St. Bartley Primitive Baptist Church of Huntsville, Alabama, exemplifies 206 years of black religious independence.  It was located originally outside the city limits of Huntsville near present day Governors Drive and Madison Street, among the tombstones, dogwoods, and flowering … Read MoreSt. Bartley Primitive Baptist Church, Huntsville, Alabama (1808- )