Mother A.M.E. Zion Church
140 West 137th Street | Harlem | built 1925
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The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1925
The "Freedom Church" completes a sanctuary by Black architect George W. Foster Jr.
Mother A.M.E. Zion, the congregation formed in 1796 by Black members who left the segregated John Street Methodist Church, built this church at 140-148 West 137th Street between 1923 and 1925. Its architect, George W. Foster Jr., was one of the first registered Black architects in the United States. Known as the Freedom Church for its abolitionist work and Underground Railroad ties, it keeps the tomb of founding bishop James Varick beneath the sanctuary.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1946
President Truman receives a delegation marking the church's 150th anniversary
A delegation from the congregation travels to Washington, and President Harry Truman receives the group in honor of the church's sesquicentennial. Organized in 1796, the congregation is considered New York City's first Black church, and its leading role in the abolitionist movement had already earned it the nickname the "Freedom Church." The visit puts a national spotlight on a congregation that has worshipped at its current West 137th Street sanctuary since the mid-1920s.
Source: Village Preservation
- 1993
The city designates Mother AME Zion Church a landmark
The Landmarks Preservation Commission designates the neo-Gothic sanctuary an individual New York City landmark, formally recognizing it as the mother church of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion denomination. Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, and Frederick Douglass had all been affiliated with the denomination, and pastor Benjamin C. Robeson's brother Paul Robeson spoke from its pulpit. The designation protects a building that is the congregation's sixth home since 1796.
Source: Wikipedia
Further reading
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