Quinn Chapel AME Church, also known as Quinn Chapel of the A.M.E. Church, houses

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

's first African-American congregation, formed by seven individuals as a

nondenominational A non-denominational person or organization is one that does not follow (or is not restricted to) any particular or specific religious denomination. The term has been used in the context of various faiths, including Jainism, Baháʼí Faith, Zoro ...

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group that met in the house of a member in 1844. In 1847, the group organized as a congregation of the

African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Methodist denomination based in the United States. It adheres to Wesleyan theology, Wesleyan–Arminian theology and has a connexionalism, connexional polity. It ...

, the first independent black denomination in the United States. They named the church for Bishop

William Paul Quinn William Paul Quinn (10 April 1788 – 21 February 1873) was born in Belize and immigrated to the United States, where he became the fourth bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the first independent black denomination in the United S ...

. In the years leading up to the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, the church played an important role in the city's

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

movement. It was as a stop on the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

, serving those escaping slavery from the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...

. Then located at the present site of the

Monadnock Building The Monadnock Building (historically the Monadnock Block; pronounced ) is a 16-story skyscraper located at 53 West Jackson Boulevard in the Chicago Loop, south Loop area of Chicago. The north half of the building was designed by the firm of B ...

in downtown Chicago, the

1871 Great Chicago Fire The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago, Illinois during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left mor ...

destroyed the original church. The congregation subsequently met for many years in temporary locations before purchasing the present site in 1890. The current structure, designed by

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Henry F. Starbuck and built in 1892 at 2401 South Wabash Avenue, reflects the area's late 19th-century character. The church was designated as a

Chicago Landmark Chicago Landmark is a designation by the Mayor and the City Council of Chicago for historic sites in Chicago, Illinois. Listed sites are selected after meeting a combination of criteria, including historical, economic, architectural, artist ...

August 3, 1977, and was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

September 4, 1979. Considered architecturally significant, the church is featured in such books as ''Chicago Churches: A Photographic Essay'' by Elizabeth Johnson (Uppercase Books Inc, 1999) as well as ''Chicago Churches and Synagogues: An Architectural Pilgrimage,'' by George A. Lane (Loyola Press 1982). In 1992, Quinn Chapel joined with three other nearby churches to foun
The Renaissance Collaborative
: a non-profit organization devoted to saving the historic Wabash YMCA and fulfilling the needs of the Bronzeville community.

References

External links

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Library of Congress Historic American Buildings
19th-century Methodist church buildings in the United States African Methodist Episcopal churches in Illinois Churches in Chicago Chicago Landmarks Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in Chicago Churches completed in 1892 Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois {{Chicago-struct-stub