People, Locations, Episodes

Alexander Walters, Bishop, and Activist born

*Alexander Walters was born on this date in 1858.  He was a Black clergyman and civil rights leader.   Walters was born in Bardstown, Kentucky, the oldest son of Henry and Harriet Walters. He was educated at a private school taught by a number of teachers. In 1871 he moved to Louisville, Kentucky where he worked as a waiter […]

The First AME Church (Oakland, CA) Opens

*The founding of the First African Methodist Episcopal (FAME) Church of Oakland, California, is celebrated on this date in 1858.  This house of worship emerged in the eastern part of the Bay Area, founded by members of the Black community in Oakland at the time, but it wasn’t until 1863 that they had a physical […]

Katherine Drexel, Catholic Educator born

*Katharine Drexel was born on this date in 1858.  She was a white-American heiress, philanthropist, catholic sister, and educator.   Katharine Mary Drexel was born Catherine Mary Drexel in Philadelphia, the second child of investment bankers Francis Anthony Drexel and Hannah Langstroth.  Her mother died five weeks after her baby’s birth. For two years, their […]

Joseph A. Booker, Minister born

*Joseph Booker was born on this date 1859. He was a Black editor, educator, minister and community leader.

The Foster AME Church is Founded

*The founding of Foster Memorial AME Zion Church in 1860 is celebrated on this date.

Ernest A. Lyon, Minister, and Diplomat born

*Ernest Lyon was born on this date in 1860. He was a Black minister, educator, and diplomat. Ernest A. Lyon was born on the coast of Belize, British Honduras, to Emmanuel Lyon and Ann F. Bending. As a child, Lyon attended an English school in Belize. His father died when he was young; Lyon “became a Christian […]

LuLu Fleming, Medical Missionary born

*Louise Cecelia Fleming was born on this date in 1862. She was a Black medical missionary.

From Hibernia Clay County, Florida she was born a slave and was nicknamed LuLu. She attended Shaw University, graduating as class valedictorian in1885. Fleming was the first African American woman to be commissioned for work in Africa by the Woman’s American Baptist Foreign Missionary Society. Two years later Fleming left America, stopped in Europe and then began working as a missionary for five years in Palabala, Congo (now Zaire).

The First Baptist Church of Georgetown is Founded

The First Baptist Church of Georgetown was founded on this date in 1862. It is one of the oldest Black Baptist churches in the Washington, D. C. area.

Preacher Collins Williams donated land at 29th and O streets, NW, to build a small church known as “The Ark.” Williams and his wife Betsey had led religious meetings in Georgetown in private residences.

John E. Ford, Minister born

*John E. Ford was born on this date in 1862. He was a Black minister and businessman.

From Owensboro, KY John Elijah Ford was the eldest of fifteen children of Isom and Anne Helm Ford. Nine of his siblings died at birth or childhood diseases and he was the only one born in Kentucky. His family moved to Chicago when he was a child where he grew up near 33rd and Dearborn Street. His brothers and sister were, Gerogie, Dotie, Lola, Vertel (Bud) and Milton. Ford graduated from high school as the only black in his class and was proficent in Latin with good grades.

A. D. Williams, Minister born

*On this date, in 1863, A. D. Williams was born.  He was a Black minister and civil rights, activist.  From Greene County, Georgia, Adam Daniel Williams was the son of a slave preacher Willis and his wife, Lucretia Williams. He celebrated his birthday the day after the effective date of the Emancipation Proclamation. He spent […]

George Freeman Bragg Jr., Minister born

*George Freeman Bragg, Jr. was born on this date in 1863. He was an African American minister and activist.

Lena Mason, Minister, and Poet born

Lena Mason, a Black minister and poet, was born on this date in 1864.

She was born in Quincy, Illinois of parents, Reida and Vaughn, who were stanch Christians. Young Mason became a Christian at a very early age, attending the Douglass High School of Hannibal, MO. She also attended Professor Knott’s School in Chicago. She married George Mason in 1883, had six children with only one daughter surviving to adulthood. Mason entered the ministry at the age of 23. During her first three years of ministry she preached to whites exclusively.

Adam Clayton Powell Sr., Clergyman born

Reverend Adam Clayton Powell, Sr., was born on this date in 1865. He was an African American clergyman and author.

Saint Philip A.M.E. Church in Georgia Opens

Saint Philip A.M.E. Church was established on this date in 1865, the oldest A.M.E. Church in the state of Georgia.

It was Organized by the Reverend A. L. Stanford in Savannah, Georgia, at the close of the Civil War. Later that year the Sunday school began. In September 1896, a storm demolished the building, and the church was a mass of ruins. During its interim, the Odd Fellow’s Hall was secured for worship. Saint Philip officers and members of Trinity Methodist Church moved to purchase property on West Broad and Charles Streets.

Zion Baptist Church (Denver) is Founded

*Zion Baptist Church was founded on this date in1865. It is one of the oldest African American churches west of the Mississippi.

Zion Baptist church was founded by a small group of people that came from other territories and towns to Colorado with limited resources, filled with determination. Rev. William Norrid was Zion’s first Pastor. In 1867 Zion purchased 2 lots located at 20th and Holladay (now Arapahoe) Streets and built their first house of worship.