Cuttington University in Liberia is the oldest private, coeducational, four-year degree granting institution and the oldest college or university in sub-Saharan Africa. Cuttington’s origins date back to 1887. In that year the Cape Palmas Missionary District of Liberia (of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the … Read MoreCuttington University (1887- )
Patrick Ellis Connery was a legendary radio personality for WHUR-FM’s Sunday Gospel Spirit Show in the Washington, D.C. area for more than four decades. Ellis died on July 16, 2020 in a hospital in Annapolis, Maryland, at the age of 77, from complications due to … Read MorePatrick Connery Ellis (1943-2020)
Michael Bruce Curry is the 27th Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Episcopal Church. Curry was born in Chicago, Illinois on March 13, 1953 to the Rev. Kenneth S. L. Curry, a pastor and social activist, and Dorothy Strayhorn Curry. At age three, he moved … Read MoreMichael Bruce Curry (1953- )
Artemisia Bowden, an educator and civic leader, one of few black women college presidents during the first half of the 20th century, was born on January 1, 1879 in Albany, Georgia, to former slaves Milas Bowden and Mary (Molette) Bowden. The oldest of four children, she was raised originally in Brunswick, … Read MoreArtemisia Bowden (1879-1969)
“Image Ownership: York Minster” In 2005, John Tucker Mugabi Sentamu was installed as the Anglican Church’s Archbishop of York. Sentamu was born on June 10, 1949, the sixth of 13 children of Rev. John and Ruth Walakira in a village outside Kampala, Uganda. Taught by … Read MoreJohn Sentamu (1949- )
Originally established as The African Church, The African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas was founded in 1792 by and for persons of African descent to foster personal and religious freedoms and self-determination. The original African Church was an outgrowth of the Free African Society, a … Read MoreAfrican Episcopal Church of St. Thomas Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1792- )
Henrietta Smith Bowers Duterte (pronounced Dew-tier), the first female undertaker in the nation, was born free in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was one of 13 children born to John Bowers and Henrietta Smith Bowers in July 1817. The Bowers family was originally from Baltimore, Maryland but … Read MoreHenrietta S. Bowers Duterte (1817-1903)
Samuel (“Sammy”) Leamon Younge Jr. was a 21-year-old civil rights activist who was shot to death on January 3, 1966 when he attempted to use a whites-only restroom at a gas station in Macon County, Alabama. He was a navy veteran studying political science at … Read MoreSamuel (“Sammy”) Leamon Younge, Jr. (1944-1966)
St. Philip’s Protestant Episcopal Church was the first African American Episcopal parish in New York City, New York. It was also one of the largest Christian congregations in the United States at one time. The church originated from the meetings of a group of free … Read MoreSt. Philip’s Protestant Episcopal Church, New York City, New York (1809- )
The Church of St. Mark in Brooklyn, New York was originally established by a group of black Episcopalians in 1838. The next year, Dr. Samuel M. Haskins was asked to be rector (pastor), the role he would maintain for 60 years. By April 1841 the … Read MoreThe Church of St. Mark, Brooklyn, New York (1838- )
