History of the African-Americans in Philadelphia
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This article documents the history of African-Americans or Black Philadelphians in Philadelphia. Recent 2010 estimates by the
U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
put the total number of people living in Philadelphia who identify as Black or African-American at 644,287, or 42.2% of the city's total population. People of African descent are currently the largest
ethnic group An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
in Philadelphia. Originally arriving in the 17th century as enslaved Africans, the population of African Americans in Philadelphia grew in the 18th and 19th centuries to include numerous free black residents who were active in the abolitionist movement and as conductors in the Underground Railroad. In the 20th and 21st centuries, Black Philadelphians actively campaigned against discrimination and continued to contribute to Philadelphia's cultural, economic and political life as workers, activists, artists, musicians and politicians.


History


1639 to 1800

Enslaved Africans arrived in the area that became Philadelphia as early as 1639, brought by European settlers. In the 1750s and 60s, when the slave trade increased due to a shortage of European workers, 100 to 500 Africans came to Philadelphia each year. In 1765, there were about fifteen hundred black Philadelphians; of these, one hundred were free. By the time the American Revolution broke out in 1775, slaves were one-twelfth of the roughly 16,000 people who lived in Philadelphia./ Black people served on both the Loyalist and Patriot sides during the American Revolution. Two on the American side were Cyrus Bustill, who worked as a ship's baker during the Revolution and later became a prominent Philadelphia businessman and activist, and James Forten, who served on a privateer at the age of 14 and became a wealthy sailmaker and abolitionist. Some slaves were freed by their owners and others managed to escape or buy their own freedom. As a result, the free Black community in Philadelphia had grown to over 1,000 by the end of the Revolution in 1783, while enslaved residents numbered 400. The Pennsylvania Abolition Society was founded by white Quakers in 1775 and eventually became a biracial organization. In 1780 a policy of gradual emancipation was instituted in Pennsylvania. The Quakers immediately established a Burying Place For All Free Negroes or People of Color in Byberry Township. This African Burial Ground remains an obscure anomaly, forgotten today much the same as the day it was placed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places. Most of the Black population in Philadelphia were free by 1811, although some remained enslaved until the 1840s. The free community was joined by runaways from the South and refugees from the
Haitian Revolution The Haitian Revolution (french: révolution haïtienne ; ht, revolisyon ayisyen) was a successful insurrection by slave revolt, self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue, now the sovereign state of Haiti. The revolt ...
. Richard Allen and Absolom Jones founded the
Free African Society The Free African Society, founded in 1787, was a benevolent organization that held religious services and provided mutual aid for "free Africans and their descendants" in Philadelphia. The Society was founded by Richard Allen and Absalom Jones. It ...
in 1787, a mutual aid society, and Allen, with his wife
Sarah Allen Sarah Allen is a Canadian actress. She studied acting at the National Theatre School of Canada and graduated in 2002. ''Being Human'' Allen is perhaps best known for playing vampire Rebecca Flynt on SyFy's '' Being Human''. For the role, ...
, established the Bethel African Methodist Church in 1794. During the
1793 Philadelphia Yellow Fever Epidemic During the 1793 yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia, 5,000 or more people were listed in the official register of deaths between August 1 and November 9. The vast majority of them died of yellow fever, making the epidemic in the city of 50,000 ...
, Black residents were mistakenly believed to be immune to the disease, so they worked as carriers of the dead and tended to the sick and dying inside their homes. Kidnapping of free Black residents to be sold back into slavery was a risk that continued into the 19th century, especially for children.


1800 to Civil War

The growing free Black community was instrumental in making Philadelphia a hotbed of
abolitionism Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The Britis ...
by the 1830s. Wealthy Black entrepreneur James Forten gave white abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison funding so he could start the anti-slavery newspaper ''
The Liberator Liberator or The Liberators or ''variation'', may refer to: Literature * ''Liberators'' (novel), a 2009 novel by James Wesley Rawles * ''The Liberators'' (Suvorov book), a 1981 book by Victor Suvorov * ''The Liberators'' (comic book), a Britis ...
'' and contributed articles to it. Black activists were founders and members of the national biracial group the
American Anti-Slavery Society The American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS; 1833–1870) was an abolitionist society founded by William Lloyd Garrison and Arthur Tappan. Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave, had become a prominent abolitionist and was a key leader of this society ...
, created in Philadelphia in 1833, and the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, created in 1838. In December 1833, after women were excluded from the American Anti-Slavery Society, a group of black and white women, which included Cyril Bustil's daughter Grace Douglass, and James Forten's daughters, Sarah, Harriet and Margaretta launched the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society (PFASS). While some African Americans in Philadelphia worked in professional jobs that catered to the Black community like teachers, doctors, ministers, barbers, caterers, and entrepreneurs, most Black Philadelphians at that time worked at physically demanding and low-paying jobs. They competed with working class whites, especially new Irish immigrants, for jobs, which led to racial conflict. In 1834, a race riot broke started at a local tavern that was popular with both black and white Philadelphians. A white mob attacked Black homes, businesses, and churches. In 1838, another white mob attacked Pennsylvania Hall, where black and white abolitionists were meeting, and burned it down. Also in 1838, Pennsylvania's newly ratified constitution officially disfranchised African Americans. In 1842, white mobs again attacked blacks during the Lombard Street Riots. Despite the risks and racism they encountered, African-Americans continued to come to Philadelphia, since it was the closest major city to the Southern States, where slavery was still legal. In the years leading up to the Civil War, Philadelphia had the largest black population outside the slave states. There were 15,000 black Philadelphians in 1830, 20,000 by 1850, and 22,000 by 1860. Most lived in South Philadelphia near what is today Center City, but there were smaller populations in Northern Liberties, Kensington, and Spring Garden. They came because of Philadelphia's reputation as a thriving political, cultural, and economic center for African Americans. The city was also a major stop on the Underground Railroad, especially for slaves escaping through Maryland and Delaware. Robert Purvis, president of the biracial Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society from 1845–50, was also chairman of the General
Vigilance Committee A vigilance committee was a group formed of private citizens to administer law and order or exercise power through violence in places where they considered governmental structures or actions inadequate. A form of vigilantism and often a more stru ...
from 1852–1857, which gave direct aid to fugitive slaves. With his wife
Harriet Forten Purvis Harriet Forten Purvis (1810June 11, 1875) was an African-American abolitionist and first generation suffragist. With her mother and sisters, she formed the first biracial women's abolitionist group, the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society. Sh ...
, he worked as a conductor of the Underground Railroad. Purvis estimated that from 1831–61, they helped one slave per day achieve freedom, assisting more than 9,000 slaves to escape to the North. They used their own house, then located outside the city, in Byberry Township, as a place where fugitives could hide. Purvis built Byberry Hall across the street from his home, on the edge of the Quaker-owned Byberry Friends Meeting campus, to host anti-slavery speakers. It still stands today.


Civil War to 1900

During the Civil War, eleven African American Philadelphia regiments fought for the North, after the passage of the 1862  Second Militia Act allowing blacks to be enlist in the Army. After the Civil War, African Americans in Philadelphia, including Octavius V. Catto (1839–71), organized to end segregation of the city’s schools and streetcars and regain the right to vote. Their efforts paid off; in 1867, streetcar segregation was ended throughout the state, and legal segregation of schools ended in 1881 (although de facto segregation continued into the 20th century.) The Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gave Pennsylvania Black Americans the right to vote in 1870. But Catto himself was shot and killed while trying to cast his ballot in 1871. In 1879, painter Henry Ossawa Tanner enrolled as the first African American student at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. After travels abroad, he would return to Philadelphia in 1893 to paint his most famous work,
The Banjo Lesson ''The Banjo Lesson'' is an 1893 oil painting by African-American artist Henry Ossawa Tanner. The painting has elements of American Realism and of French Impressionism. It depicts two African-Americans in a humble domestic setting: an old bla ...
. Also in 1893, Philadelphia high school student Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller created an art project that was included in The World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago and led to her future success as a multi-disciplinary artist. The Black population rose to nearly 32,000 in 1880. In 1884, there were approximately 300 black-owned businesses, including the Philadelphia Tribune (started in 1884) and Douglas Hospital (opened in 1895). By 1900, the Black population at 63,000 people, had nearly doubled.Wolfinger, Jame
. "African American Migration"
Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
In 1896 Philadelphia poet, suffragist, and abolitionist Frances Harper helped found the National Association of Colored Women and served as its vice president. By then, she had already had a long career as a published writer, including works like her poem '' Bury Me In a Free Land'', ''Sketches of Southern Life'', and the novel Iola Leroy. Published in 1899 by the University of Pennsylvania and conducted by
W. E. B. Du Bois William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ( ; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American-Ghanaian sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up in ...
, '' The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study'' was the first sociological race study of the African American community in the United States''.'' The aim of the social study was to identify "The Negro Problems of Philadelphia," the problems facing black communities not only in Philadelphia, but all over the country as well. The study focused on Philadelphia's Seventh Ward (currently Center City Philadelphia) and the socioeconomic conditions of black churches, businesses and homes within the neighborhood. Using
statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ''wikt:Statistik#German, Statistik'', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of ...
Du Bois created from his survey data, Du Bois compared the occupation, income, education, family size, health, drug use, criminal activity, and suffrage of black and white residents living in the Seventh Ward and to Philadelphia's other wards. Du Bois used statistical evidence to highlight the socioeconomic inequalities the black community faced and make the black community's suffrage known to whites. In turn, he disproved stereotypes surrounding the black community which were cited as the sources of "The Negro Problem."


1900 to 1950s

World War I brought an influx of black migrants from the rural South, who moved to Philadelphia lured by wartime jobs there during The great migration. As a result, the black population of Philadelphia doubled again from 63,000 in 1900 to 134,000 in 1920.Most of the new residents came from rural backgrounds and were working poor. Efforts to build new structures to house the workers were insufficient, so African Americans in search of housing moved into existing houses in white neighborhoods, where they encountered hostility and racism. In July 1918, after two black families on Pine Street were attacked by white neighbors who burned household furnishings, G. Grant Williams, editor of the Philadelphia Tribune, wrote of the “Pine Street war Zone”: “We stand for peace,” he said, and advised Black residents to “stand your ground like men,” adding “You are not down in Dixie now and you need not fear the ragged rum crazed hellion crew... They may burn your property, but you burn their hides with any weapon that comes handy while they engage in this illegal pastime.” Three weeks later, racial violence erupted again which lasted for several days. During the riot, black homes were destroyed by white mobs, three people were killed, one man was nearly lynched, and a white police officer beat up a black man while he was in the hospital. As a result, African Americans in Philadelphia formed the Colored Protective Association, led by Reverend RR Wright Jr., to “have a permanent organization of protection” to fight discrimination in schools, housing, employment and elsewhere, and to investigate cases of police brutality and police collusion with the white rioters. Their efforts eventually led to the removal of the entire police force by the Director of Public Safety. In 1925, the artist and printmaker Dox Thrash moved to Philadelphia, where he would spend most of his career.
Black Opals ''Black Opals'' was an African American literary journal published in Philadelphia between spring 1927 and July 1928, associated with the Harlem Renaissance. Co-founded by Arthur Huff Fauset and Nellie Rathbone Bright, the magazine's contributor ...
, an African American literary magazine associated with the
Harlem Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural revival of African American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s. At the t ...
was published in Philadelphia between spring 1927 and July 1928,. Co-edited by Arthur Huff Fauset and
Nellie Rathbone Bright Nellie Rathbone Bright (March 28, 1898 – February 7, 1977) was an American educator, poet, and author. She taught in Philadelphia public schools, becoming a principal in 1935 and serving until her retirement in 1952. She inspired generations of ...
, the magazine's contributors included Mae Virginia Cowdery,
Jessie Redmon Fauset Jessie Redmon Fauset (April 27, 1882 – April 30, 1961) was an African-American editor, poet, essayist, novelist, and educator. Her literary work helped sculpt African-American literature in the 1920s as she focused on portraying a true image ...
,
Marita Bonner Marita Bonner (June 16, 1899 – December 7, 1971), also known as Marieta Bonner, was an American writer, essayist, and playwright who is commonly associated with the Harlem Renaissance. Other names she went by were Marita Occomy, Marita Odette B ...
, and
Gwendolyn B. Bennett Gwendolyn B. Bennett (July 8, 1902 – May 30, 1981) was an American artist, writer, and journalist who contributed to '' Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life'', which chronicled cultural advancements during the Harlem Renaissance. Though often ...
.
Allan Randall Freelon Allan Randall Freelon Sr. (September 2, 1895 – August 6, 1960), a native of Philadelphia, US, was an African American artist, educator and civil rights activist. He is best known as an African American Impressionist-style painter during the time ...
was the magazine's artistic director. Also in the 1920s, John T Gibson became the wealthiest Black entrepreneur in Philadelphia because of his ownership of the popular Standard and Dunbar theaters and his management of diverse musical and vaudeville acts. The
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
hit Black Philadelphians hard. By 1933, 50% of all Black residents were unemployed. And yet by 1935, African Americans owned 9,855 homes and 787 stores; they were also working in more professional occupations, like physicians ( 200); clergymen ( 250); schoolteachers (553) and policemen ( 219). Their neighborhoods were also becoming more concentrated and more segregated from white neighborhoods. In 1938,
Crystal Bird Fauset Crystal Bird Fauset (June 27, 1893 – March 27, 1965) was a civil rights activist, social worker, race relations specialist, and the first female African American state legislator elected in the United States, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ...
became the first female African American elected as state legislator. Though World War II brought wartime jobs to African Americans, they still faced substandard housing and were not allowed to work on Philadelphia public transit as motormen or conductors until the Federal Government stepped in to pressure the
Philadelphia Transportation Company The Philadelphia Transportation Company (PTC) was the main public transit operator in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from 1940 to 1968. A private company, PTC was the successor to the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company (PRT), in operation since 19 ...
to open up these jobs to them in 1944. From August 1–6, white transit workers responded by staging a massive sickout strike. After pressure from the
NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...
, the Federal Government sent in 5,000 troops to break the strike and keep public transportation running. Philadelphia was a center for the mid twentieth century Golden Age of
Gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is com ...
, attracting performers like the nationally renowned male quartets the 
Dixie Hummingbirds Dixie, also known as Dixieland or Dixie's Land, is a nickname for all or part of the Southern United States. While there is no official definition of this region (and the included areas shift over the years), or the extent of the area it cover ...
  and the
Sensational Nightingales The Sensational Nightingales are a traditional black gospel quartet that reached its peak of popularity in the 1950s, when it featured Julius Cheeks as its lead singer. The Nightingales, with several changes of membership, continue to tour and r ...
, as well as Marion Willliams before she started her solo career.


1950s to Present

The fight against discrimination and segregation in education and employment continued through the 1950s and 60s, with legal battles and protests occurring throughout those years.
Cecil B. Moore Cecil Bassett Moore (April 2, 1915 – February 13, 1979) was a Philadelphia lawyer, politician and civil rights activist who led the fight to integrate Girard College, president of the local NAACP, and member of Philadelphia's city council ...
, president of the local NAACP, was a leading activist during that time, and Reverend
Leon Sullivan Leon Howard Sullivan (October 16, 1922 – April 24, 2001) was a Baptist minister, a civil rights leader and social activist focusing on the creation of job training opportunities for African Americans, a longtime General Motors Board Member, an ...
was instrumental in building Black community and economic power.
Marie Hicks Marie A. Hicks (December 20, 1923 – April 19, 2007) was an African-American activist during the American civil rights movement. Nicknamed "the Rosa Parks of Girard College," Hicks is best known for leading thousands of pickets around th ...
successfully organized demonstrations and brought a lawsuit against Girard College to desegregate that institution. In 1964, a clash between police officers and residents sparked a three day riot. The Sixties saw a rise in the Black Power movement in Philadelphia. Freedom Library on Ridge Avenue in North Philadelphia, started in 1964 by John Churchville, was where Churchville and other activists gathered to form the Black Power Unity Movement in 1965. Another important center of Black Power was The Church of the Advocate in North Central Philadelphia, whose congregation had become increasingly African American. Father
Paul Washington Paul Washington (May 26, 1921 – October 7, 2002) was an Episcopal priest and community activist in Philadelphia. Biography Washington was born in Charleston, South Carolina, the United States on May 26, 1921. He attended the Avery Institute a ...
organized the first Black Power rally in 1966; soon there were rallies all over the city, and the third national conference in Philadelphia attracted 2,000 people. The newspaper ''Voice of Umuja'' came out of the conference. Reggie Schell became the leader of the Philadelphia chapter of the
Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxist-Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, Califo ...
in 1969. Under his leadership, the party held rallies and created food distribution and education programs throughout the city. Black Power spilled onto college and high school campuses, where students demonstrated for more Black faculty and Black studies classes. In 1970, Philadelphia police raids of three offices of Black Power activists at gunpoint, in which they publicly strip searched activists, made international news for their brutality and united the black community in outrage. Later that year, the Panther sponsored Revolutionary People's Constitutional Convention was held at Temple College and attracted 14,000 people. Philadelphia soul was a genre of music that arose in the late 1960s and 70s. Influenced by funk, it was characterized by lush instrumental arrangements with sweeping strings and piercing horns. Fred Wesley described it as “putting the bow tie on funk”. It moved funk more towards the disco sound that would become popular in the late 1970s and influenced later Philadelphia-born music makers like singer Jill Scott. Predominently Black group MOVE was founded in 1972 by
John Africa John Africa (July 26, 1931 – May 13, 1985), born Vincent Leaphart, was the founder of MOVE, a Philadelphia-based, predominantly black organization active from the early 1970s and still active. He and his followers were killed at a residential ...
. The organization lived in a
communal Communal may refer to: *A commune or also intentional community * Communalism (Bookchin) * Communalism (South Asia), the South Asian sectarian ideologies *Relating to an administrative division called comune * Sociality in animals *Community owne ...
setting in West Philadelphia, following philosophies of anarcho-primitivism. In 1978, a standoff between MOVE and the Philadelphia police resulted in the death of one police officer and injuries to sixteen officers and firefighters. Nine members were convicted of killing the officer and received life sentences. In 1985, another conflict resulted in a police helicopter dropping a bomb onto the roof of the MOVE compound, a townhouse that was located at 6221 Osage Avenue. The ensuing fire killed six MOVE members, and five of their children, and destroyed sixty-five houses in the neighborhood. The police bombing was strongly condemned. The MOVE survivors later filed a civil suit against the City of Philadelphia and the PPD and were awarded $1.5 million in a 1996 settlement. Other residents displaced by the destruction of the bombing filed a civil suit against the city and in 2005 were awarded $12.83 million in damages in a jury trial. In 1982, Mumia Abu-Jamal, a Philadelphia activist and journalist, was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1981 murder in Philadelphia of police officer Daniel Faulkner. He became widely known while on death row for his writings and commentary on the U.S. criminal justice system. After numerous appeals, his death penalty sentence was overturned by a Federal court, with the prosecution agreeing in 2011 to a sentence of life imprisonment without parole. Many Philadelphia activists of the mid to late 20th century went on to achieve political power. In 1975, Cecile B. Moore won a seat on the City Council.
C. Delores Tucker Cynthia Delores Tucker (née Nottage; October 4, 1927 – October 12, 2005) was an American politician and civil rights activist. She had a long history of involvement in the American Civil Rights Movement. From the 1990s onward, she engaged in a ...
(1927-2005) became the first black Pennsylvanian appointed to the office of the secretary of state. David P. Richardson (1948-1995) was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1972. In 1984,
W. Wilson Goode Woodrow Wilson Goode Sr. (born August 19, 1938) is a former Mayor of Philadelphia and the first African American to hold that office. He served from 1984 to 1992, a period which included the controversial MOVE police action and house bombing ...
(b. 1938) became Philadelphia’s first black mayor. Goode’s administration was followed by black mayors John Street (b. 1943) and Michael Nutter (b. 1957). Despite the persistence of problems like unemployment and high public school dropout rates, the black community in Philadelphia in the early 21st century continued to attract new residents and contribute its talents and energy to the city. In 2010, its total population stood at 657,343 people or 43.4 percent of Philadelphia's entire population.


Institutions

The African American Museum in Philadelphia is located in Center City. Th
Aces Museum
honors WWII veterans and their families. Th
Colored Girls Museum
founded by Vashti DuBois, is dedicated to the history of Black women and girls. Th
National Marian Anderson Museum
celebrates the life of the notable opera singer Marian Anderson. The Paul Robeson House hosts tours of Robeson's former residence.


Geography


20th century

Circa 1961 Society Hill was a majority black and low income neighborhood, but by 1976 it became gentrified and mostly white with the remaining black population residing in about three or four high-rise apartment buildings with high rents. '' Black Enterprise'' wrote that a possible reason why wealthier blacks opted not to move to Society Hill was "Unpleasant memories of the old neighborhood". By then many blacks were moving to Wynnefield, with many originating from Cobbs Creek and Overbrook; the new residents of Wynnefield had recently become middle class."Blacks in Philadelphia." p. 44. Also Circa 1976 many African-Americans resided in
Powelton Village Powelton Village is a neighborhood of mostly Victorian, mostly twin homes in the West Philadelphia section of the United States city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is a national historic district that is part of University City. It extends ...
. The majority originated from other states and held professional positions, including artists, graduate students, musicians, teachers, and writers.


21st century

From 1990 to 2010, Black residents moved in significant numbers away from the core areas of North and West Philadelphia to Southwest Philadelphia, Overbrook, the Lower Northeast, and elsewhere. The number of Black residents in zip code 19120—which includes the neighborhoods of
Olney Olney may refer to: Places Australia * Olney Parish, New South Wales England * Olney, Buckinghamshire, a town near Milton Keynes, England United States * Olney, Alabama * Olney, Georgia - see List of places in Georgia (U.S. state) (I–R) * Ol ...
and Feltonville and abuts
Montgomery County Montgomery County may refer to: Australia * The former name of Montgomery Land District, Tasmania United Kingdom * The historic county of Montgomeryshire, Wales, also called County of Montgomery United States * Montgomery County, Alabama * Mon ...
-rose from 9,786 in 1990 to 33,209 in 2010, an increase of 239 percent.


Religion

The
African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas The African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas (AECST) was founded in 1792 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as the first black Episcopal Church in the United States. Its congregation developed from the Free African Society, a non-denominational group f ...
, established in 1792, was the first house of worship created by and for black people in the United States. While the
St. George's United Methodist Church St. George's United Methodist Church, located at the corner of 4th and New Streets, in the Old City neighborhood of Philadelphia, is the oldest Methodist church in continuous use in the United States,
had initially allowed black worshipers in the main area, its black worshipers left after the church moved them to the gallery area by 1787."Blacks in Philadelphia." p. 36.


Education

The first school for Black males was established by the Pennsylvania Abolition Society in 1794. In 1813, the Society constructed the school building Clarkson Hall on Cherry Street, and in 1854, created Lombard Street Infant School as an aid to working parents. In 1976 66% of all students of the School District of Philadelphia were black; this number was proportionally high since whites of all economic backgrounds had a tendency to use private schools. Wealthier blacks chose not to use private schools because their neighborhoods were assigned to higher quality public schools.


Notable residents


18th–19th centuries

* Richard Allen, religious leader, author, journalist *
Sarah Allen Sarah Allen is a Canadian actress. She studied acting at the National Theatre School of Canada and graduated in 2002. ''Being Human'' Allen is perhaps best known for playing vampire Rebecca Flynt on SyFy's '' Being Human''. For the role, ...
, abolitionist, underground railroad conductor, missionary * Cyrus Bustill, 18th century entrepreneur, abolitionist and community leader *
Jabez Pitt Campbell Jabez Pitt Campbell (February 5, 1815 – August 9, 1891)Campbell, Jabez Pitt. Ancestry.com. was an American minister, activist, philanthropist and the eighth bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), the first independent African- ...
, abolitionist, and the 8th Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church *
Amy Matilda Cassey Amy Matilda Williams Cassey (August 14, 1809–August 15, 1856) was an African American abolitionist, and was active with the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society. Cassey was a member of the group of elite African Americans who founded the Gil ...
, activist, and abolitionist *
Joseph Cassey Joseph Cassey (1789–1848) was a French West Indies-born American businessman, real estate investor, abolitionist, and activist. He prospered as a barber, and as well as a wig maker, perfumer, and money-lender. He lived in the historic Cassey Hou ...
, businessman, abolitionist, and activist * Octavius Catto, educator and Civil Rights activist *
Rebecca Cole Rebecca J. Cole (March 16, 1846August 14, 1922) was an American physician, organization founder and social reformer. In 1867, she became the second African-American woman to become a doctor in the United States, after Rebecca Lee Crumpler three ...
, doctor and social reformer * Rebecca Cox Jackson, founder of a Shaker community in Philadelphia *
Nathaniel W. Depee Nathaniel W. Depee (1812 – June 19, 1868) was an American activist, abolitionist, and merchant tailor. He was active in the Underground Railroad, and in Black politics in Philadelphia in the 1830s through 1860s. Biography Nathaniel W. Depee ...
, activist, and abolitionist * Frederick Douglass, social reformer, writer, and abolitionist *
Charlotte Vandine Forten Charlotte Vandine Forten (1785–1884) was an American abolitionist and matriarch of the Philadelphia Forten family. Biography Forten née Vandine was born in 1785 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1805 she married James Forten (1766–1842 ...
, abolitionist * James Forten, early 19th century businessman and abolitionistWinch, Julie,
''A Gentleman of Color: The Life of James Forten''
New York: Oxford University Press, 2002, p. 16.
*
Margaretta Forten Margaretta Forten (September 11, 1806 – January 13, 1875) was an African-American suffragist and abolitionist.Alexander, Leslie''Encyclopedia of African American History, Volume 1''ABC-CLIO (2010), p. 1045.Alexander, Leslie
''Encyclopedia of African American History, Volume 1''
ABC-CLIO (2010), p. 1045.
* Grace Douglass, abolitionist *
Sarah Mapps Douglass Sarah Mapps Douglass (September 9, 1806 – September 8, 1882) was an American educator, Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist, writer, and public lecturer. Her painted images on her written letters may be the first or earliest survivi ...
, 19th century educator *
Richard Theodore Greener Richard Theodore Greener (1844–1922) was a pioneering African-American scholar, excelling in elocution, philosophy, law and classics in the Reconstruction era. He broke ground as Harvard College's first Black graduate in 1870. Within three ye ...
, professor, lawyer, scholar *
Charlotte Forten Grimké Charlotte Louise Bridges Forten Grimké (August 17, 1837 – July 23, 1914) was an African American anti-slavery activist, poet, and educator. She grew up in a prominent abolitionist family in Philadelphia. She taught school for years, including d ...
, 19th century civil rights activist, woman's rights activist *
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (September 24, 1825 – February 22, 1911) was an American Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist, suffragist, poet, Temperance movement, temperance activist, teacher, public speaker, and writer. Beginning in 1 ...
, abolitionist, suffragette, poet, author *
Jarena Lee Jarena Lee (February 11, 1783 – February 3, 1864) was the first woman preacher in the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME). Born into a free Black family, in New Jersey, Lee asked the founder of the AME church, Richard Allen, to be a preac ...
, preacher * Absalom Jones, minister, abolitionist, and founder of Free African Society *
John McKee John McKee may refer to: * John McKee (politician) (1771–1832), American politician * John McKee (American football) John Sasser McKee (July 16, 1877 – April 22, 1950) was an American college football coach and physician. He served as the hea ...
, philanthropist, property owner *
Zedekiah Johnson Purnell Zedekiah Johnson Purnell (c. 1813–1882) was an African-American activist, businessman, and editor. He served as the editor of the literary journal '' The Demosthenian Shield''. In the 1840s, Purnell emerged on the national stage as an outspoken ...
, activist, and businessman *
Harriet Forten Purvis Harriet Forten Purvis (1810June 11, 1875) was an African-American abolitionist and first generation suffragist. With her mother and sisters, she formed the first biracial women's abolitionist group, the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society. Sh ...
, abolitionist * Robert Purvis, abolitionist, lived most of his life in Philadelphia *
Sarah Louisa Forten Purvis Sarah Louisa Forten Purvis (1814–1884) was an American poet and abolitionist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She co-founded The ''Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society'' and contributed many poems to the anti-slavery newspaper ''The Liber ...
, abolitionist, suffragist *
William B. Purvis William B. Purvis (12 August 1838 – 10 August 1914) was an African-American inventor and businessman who received multiple patents in the late 19th-century. His inventions included improvements on paper bags, an updated fountain pen design, impr ...
, inventor and businessman * Stephen Smith, businessman, philanthropist, preacher, real estate developer, and abolitionist *
William Whipper William Whipper (February 22, 1804 – March 9, 1876) was a businessman and Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist in the United States. Whipper, an African American, advocated nonviolence and co-founded the American Moral Reform Socie ...
, businessman and abolitionist *
Peter Williams Jr. Peter Williams Jr. (1786–1840) was an African-American Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal priest, the second ordained in the United States and the first to serve in New York City. He was an Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist ...
, pastor and abolitionist


20th–21st centuries

* Julian Abele, architect * Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller, artist * Henry Ossawa Tanner, painter * Bessie Smith, blues singer and actress *
Alain LeRoy Locke Alain LeRoy Locke (September 13, 1885 – June 9, 1954) was an American writer, philosopher, educator, and patron of the arts. Distinguished in 1907 as the first African-American Rhodes Scholar, Locke became known as the philosophical architect ...
, Harlem Renaissance philosopher, journalist, author, scholar * Raymond Pace Alexander, Lawyer and civil rights activist * Rex Stewart, cornetist/trumpeter, journalist, disk jockey, publisher * Billie Holiday, singer * Ethel Waters, Singer, comedienne and actress * Marian Anderson, contralto opera singer *
Crystal Bird Fauset Crystal Bird Fauset (June 27, 1893 – March 27, 1965) was a civil rights activist, social worker, race relations specialist, and the first female African American state legislator elected in the United States, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ...
t, first African-American female state legislator (elected 1938) *
Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely r ...
, basketball player * Michael Nutter,
Mayor of Philadelphia The mayor of Philadelphia is the chief executive of the government of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as stipulated by the Charter of the City of Philadelphia. The current mayor of Philadelphia is Jim Kenney. History The first mayor of Philadelphia, ...
*
John F. Street John Franklin Street (born October 15, 1943) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 97th Mayor of the City of Philadelphia. He was first elected to a term beginning on January 3, 2000, and was re-elected to a second term beginn ...
, Mayor of Philadelphia * Luckey Roberts, pianist and composer * Teddy Pendergrass, Singer, songwriter and drummer * Ed Bradley, News correspondent * Wilt Chamberlain, basketball player * Will Smith, rapper, actor *
Guion S. Bluford Guion Stewart Bluford Jr. (born November 22, 1942) is an American aerospace engineer, retired United States Air Force (USAF) officer and fighter pilot, and former NASA astronaut in which capacity he became the second person of African descent to ...
, astronaut, scientist, pilot * Kevin Hart, actor, comedian *
Patti LaBelle Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American R&B singer, actress and businesswoman. LaBelle is referred to as the " Godmother of Soul". She began her career in the early 1960s as lead singe ...
, singer, actor *
Judith Jamison Judith Ann Jamison (pronounced JAM-ih-son) (born May 10, 1943) is an American dancer and choreographer. She is the artistic director emerita of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Early training Judith Jamison was born in 1943 to Tessie Brown Ja ...
, ballet dancer, choreographer * Jill Scott, singer * Sherman Hemsley, actor *
Solomon Burke Solomon Vincent McDonald Burke (born James Solomon McDonald, March 21, 1936 or 1940 – October 10, 2010) was an American singer who shaped the sound of rhythm and blues as one of the founding fathers of soul music in the 1960s. He has been ...
, singer *
W. Wilson Goode Woodrow Wilson Goode Sr. (born August 19, 1938) is a former Mayor of Philadelphia and the first African American to hold that office. He served from 1984 to 1992, a period which included the controversial MOVE police action and house bombing ...
,
Mayor of Philadelphia The mayor of Philadelphia is the chief executive of the government of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as stipulated by the Charter of the City of Philadelphia. The current mayor of Philadelphia is Jim Kenney. History The first mayor of Philadelphia, ...
* Mumia Abu-Jamal (born Wesley Cook) * Bill Cosby, Comedian and actor * Raymond Pace Alexander, lawyer, judge and politician * Lil Uzi Vert, rapper * Eve, rapper, singer, actress, and television presenter * Meek Mill, rapper *
Beanie Sigel Dwight Equan Grant (born March 6, 1974), better known by his stage name Beanie Sigel, is an American rapper from South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He first became known for his association with Jay-Z and Roc-A-Fella Records, releasing his debut ...
, rapper


See also

* Arch Street Friends Meeting House * Vigilant Association of Philadelphia *
Demographics of Philadelphia At the 2010 census, there were 1,526,006 people, 590,071 households, and 352,272 families residing in the consolidated city-county of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The population density was 4,337.3/km2 (11,233.6/mi2). There were 661,958 housing u ...
* Puerto Ricans in Philadelphia *
History of the Jews in Philadelphia Jews in Philadelphia can trace their history back to Colonial America. Jews have lived in Philadelphia since the arrival of William Penn in 1682. Colonial History Jewish traders have operated in southeastern Pennsylvania since at least the 1650s. ...
* History of Irish Americans in Philadelphia * History of Italian Americans in Philadelphia * African Americans in New York City


References

* "Blacks in Philadelphia." (November 1976). '' Black Enterprise''. Start p. 36.


Notes

{{Portal bar, Philadelphia Ethnic groups in Philadelphia African-American cultural history History of Philadelphia