Some of America's earliest independent African-American organizations began in Philadelphia

In 1787, just before the Constitutional Convention first met, a spirit of self-determination inspired the founding of the Free African Society in Philadelphia. The Society was the first African-American organization to be established on the basis of self-reliance, and its specific purpose was to help people of African descent who were in need. Its articles declared that free Africans and their descendants in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, or elsewhere would contribute one shilling a month for the benefit of one another and to aid the needy of the Society. Two churches, among the first independent African-American churches in America, grew out of the Society. Absalom Jones organized the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas in 1792, and it was dedicated in 1794 at its original location on Fifth Street below Walnut Street. Richard Allen, a Methodist, led the organization of Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, whose first building was dedicated in 1794 on a lot he owned at Sixth Street near Lombard Street. That church continues to thrive at the same location, making it the oldest parcel of land continuously owned by African Americans.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania · United States