Dr. John Bowman (“J.B.”) Banks was the first Black physician to practice medicine in Natchez, Mississippi. He recruited Dr. Albert Woods Dumas, the second Black physician to practice in the city. Together with four other businessmen, they founded an African American bank in Natchez called … Read MoreJohn Bowman Banks (1862-1911)
In October, 1834 riots broke out in New York City spurred by a confluence of events: the fiery oratory of abolitionist Protestant ministers (many of whom were also nativist and anti-Catholics); the growing social assertiveness of former enslaved people and of free-born African-Americans in the … Read MoreThe Anti-Abolition Riots (1834)
The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church is an historically African American Protestant denomination based in New York City, New York. Also known as the Freedom Church, the AMEZ was officially recognized in 1821, but the foundations for Zion’s founding began in the late 1700s. In 1796, due to … Read MoreAfrican Methodist Episcopal Zion (AMEZ) Church (1821- )
Early 19th Century African American Methodists in Cincinnati, Ohio initially worshipped at the local Methodist Episcopal churches, but were treated in a discriminatory manner. In response to this treatment Rev. James King and Rev. Phillip Brodie, after contacting leaders of the new AME Church denomination … Read MoreAllen Temple African Methodist Episcopal Church, Cincinnati, Ohio (1824 – )
The Columbus Avenue African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Zion Church in Boston, Massachusetts is most famous as the site of the July 30, 1903 Boston Riot. Although it is not the oldest African American church in the state of Massachusetts, it represents a critical moment in … Read MoreColumbus Avenue African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, Boston, Massachusetts (1838- )
Big Bethel African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church is the oldest African American church in Metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. Like Wheat Street, First Congregational, and the King’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, Bethel A.M.E. has been a religious, social, economic, and cultural pillar of the African American community in … Read MoreBig Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Atlanta, Georgia (1847- )
James Varick was the founder and first bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. Varick was born to a slave mother near Newburgh, New York. His father was Richard Varick, a free black man who was originally from Hackensack, New Jersey. Varick grew up … Read MoreJames Varick (1750-1827)
