Black First of the Day

built in 1806

The African Meeting House, known as the Joy Street Baptist Church, in Boston, Massachusetts.

The African Meeting House, built in 1806 and known as the Joy Street Baptist Church, in Boston, Massachusetts, is the oldest surviving building constructed to serve as a black church. It housed the first black Baptist congregation in Boston, organized in 1805 by Thomas Paul Sr. (1773-1831), who also founded the Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City in 1809. On January 6, 1832, William Lloyd Garrison organized the Anti-Slavery Society in the church basement with the participation of prominent church members.

Sources: Baer and Singer, African-American Religion in the Twentieth Century, p. 26; Logan and Winston, Dictionary of American Negro Biography, pp. 482-83; Lincoln and Mamiya, The Black Church in the African American Experience, p. 25; Smith, Climbing Jacob's Ladder, pp. 48, 51-52.

From Black Firsts: 4,000 Ground-Breaking and Pioneering Events by Jessie Carney Smith, © 2013 Visible Ink Press®. A celebration of achievement, accomplishments and pride.