*On this date 1841, the A.M.E. Church Review was published. This is the journal of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and arguably the earliest published American Black Journal. It publishes articles on religion, politics, history, and world events. Originally named The A.M.E. Church Magazine, the church’s general book steward, Rev. George Hogarth of Brooklyn, New York, first published it. It was intended to […]
learn moreSamuel David Ferguson, a Black priest and bishop, was born on this date in 1842.
learn more*On this date in 1842, Allen Allensworth was born. He was a Black minister, administrator and educator.
From Louisville, KY, born to slave parents, Phyllis and Levi Allensworth, Allen escaped from slavery at the age of twenty. During the Civil War, he became a civilian nurse in the 44th Infantry’s hospital corps serving in the Nashville campaign. A year later he joined the Navy serving on gunboat in the Ohio River. By 1865, he became a chief petty officer. Allensworth then returned to Louisville, where he converted to the Baptist faith in their Fifth Street Church.
learn moreThis date in 1842 marks the dedication of St. Augustine’s Catholic Church in the Treme neighborhood of New Orleans. Since its dedication, St. Augustine has been a church of the free black citizens of New Orleans, welcoming both free and slave as worshippers.
learn moreThe Sisters of The Holy Family Parish, an African American congregation of pontifical status, was founded on this date in 1842 in New Orleans.
It was founded by a free woman of African descent, Henriette Delille, some 20 years before the Emancipation Proclamation. It was created by Henriette Delille of New Orleans, Juliette Gaudin, born in Cuba of Haitian parents, and Mlle Alcot, a young French woman.
It was started under the direction of Father Etienne Rousselon, Vicar-General of the Diocese of New Orleans.
learn more*Richard Henry Boyd was born on this date in 1843. He was a Black preacher, missionary, entrepreneur, publisher, banker, educator, writer, and Black Nationalist.
learn moreTheophilus Steward was born on this date in 1843. He was a Black clergyman, teacher, and author. Theophilus Gould Steward was born in Gouldtown, New Jersey.
learn more*Harvey Johnson was born on this date in 1843. He was a Black minister and theologian.
learn more*William Robeson was born on this date in 1844. He was a minister and abolitionist. William Drew Robeson was born a slave. His father was Benjamin Robeson, and his mother was Sabra. They were enslaved on the Roberson plantation near Cross Road township in Martin County, North Carolina. He was a descendant of the Igbo people of Nigeria. […]
learn moreHenry Plummer, a Black soldier and chaplain, was born on this date in 1844.
learn more*Black history and the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) are examined on this date in 1845. That summer in Nashville, TN, at the Southern Baptist Convention’s founding, approximately 1 in 3 Southern Baptist church members were black. By 1900, there were virtually no black Southern Baptists. About 1 in 5 Southern Baptist churches are predominantly non-white, […]
learn more*William Pettiford was born on this date in 1847. He was a black minister, educator and business entrepreneur.
learn more*On this date in 1827, we examine the Mormon church and American Slavery with a brief article. On this date, white Mormon Joseph Smith translated the Golden Plates (aka) the Book of Mormon into English. The Latter-Day Saints Mormon movement has had varying and conflicting teachings on slavery. Early converts were initially from the […]
learn more*Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church of Atlanta was founded on this date in 1847.
learn more*Levi Jenkins Coppin was born on this date in 1848. He was a Black minister and editor. From Fredericktown, Maryland, he was the son of John Coppin and Jane Lily. His mother, a free Black woman, taught him to read and write, which was illegal then. After the American Civil War, his mother became the first teacher at a […]
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