Black Philadelphia Antebellum Timeline: Part 2 -1818-1838

One of the first things freedom seekers wanted when they secured their freedom in Philadelphia was education for their whole family.

In response, many Black educators opened their own schools. The Quaker school opened by Anthony Benezet moved to Raspberry Street and grew. Private benefactors also opened schools.

Public school education began in 1818 in Philadelphia but  due to racial discrimination , the first Black public school didn't open until three years later, on St. Mary's Street (now Rodman). The Pennsylvania Abolition Society was instrumental in pushing city officials to fund a Black public school.

The school, however, was in such bad shape by the mid 1820s that two anonymous Black women  wrote a scathing article  in the Freedom's Journal decrying the state of Black public education.

This set off a series of changes where Black public schooling was centralized in the Lombard Street School in 1828. James Bird served two stints as principal and the school is also known as 'Bird's school'.

School interior photo courtesy of  PhillyHistory.org , a project of the Philadelphia Department of Records. School exterior from  The Public School Buildings of the City of Philadelphia.  

In 1810, there were 5 private schools for Black children.

By 1838, there were 23 private and public schools in Philadelphia.

Some children attend school daily and some attended school just on Sunday (Sabbath school). Some children attended both schools. 3025 children were eligible to attend school in 1838 and the Census Report indicated the following attendance - approximately 60%.

Black food businesses were in operation in Philadelphia as early as the 1770s. Cyrus Bustill was a baker during the American Revolution, and opened a bakery on 56 Arch street in the years after. Eugene Baptiste operated a small to-go business from his home on Willing's Alley starting in 1818 (Source,  Bernice Dutrieuille Shelton Papers,  HSP)

Within the social stability of the Black Metropolis Black owned waiting-catering experienced a boom. A few Black waiters built their own catering firms. These catering firms became very large established industries that continued to exist up to the 20th Century.

Robert Bogle was one of the earliest Black owners of a restaurant. There is a famous 1837 poem by Philadelphian Nicolas Biddle praising Bogle.

Bogle's restaurant on 8th and Samson was one of the first Black owned restaurants in the country. His culinary artistry, refined mannerism, and service knowledge opened the door for other Black owned food industry businesses.

In 1818, he sold his restaurant to Pierre Augustin, who had come to Philadelphia from Haiti. The Augustin family married into the Baptiste and Dutrieulle families, and together they created one of the largest dynastic catering companies in the United States.

Black Philadelphia catering can claim the refinement of ice cream thanks to Black chef Augustus Jackson who lived on Goodwater Alley (now St. James Place). Jackson figured out how to make ice cream that would not spoil quickly. For this reason, Jackson is credited as the father of modern ice cream.

Other famous caterers in the Black Metropolis include George Johnson, Thomas Dorsey and Henry Minton.

Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal church and African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas were the first Black churches in Philadelphia. But by 1796, Zoar Methodist Episcopal church had opened in Northern Liberties. It wasn't long before more churches were up and running.

Presbyterian

Presbyterian minister John Gloucester started to build his congregation as early 1807 by preaching on the street. By 1811 the church had its first building on 7th and Shippen (now Bainbridge). By 1838, there were two Black Presbyterian congregations and buildings. Learn  more history here.  

Baptist

Black Baptist congregations were originally started in 1809 with the founding of First African Baptist but struggled and split without a permanent leader. The arrival of Reverend James Burrows in 1832 seemed to stop the splitting of the congregations. There were already three Baptist congregations by the time Burrows arrived. Union Baptist, the church home of  Marian Anderson , was the third. Learn more history  here .

Islam

While we don't have a record of Muslims meeting in a physical building in Philadelphia, we do have evidence that Islam was practiced in the United States in this period. In 1807 Muslim Mohammed Yaro (Yarrow Marmout) was freed in Washington, DC and white Philadelphian Charles Wilson Peale painted his portrait in 1819. Yarrow built a large family and it's assumed they were also Muslim. Read more  history here. 

African Religious Traditions

While many formally enslaved African people converted to Western religions, many kept their traditional African religious practices to conduct in the home. Haiti is rich in African religious traditions and it is likely those traditions were practiced by Haitians in Philadelphia. Archeological digs of the homes of formally enslaved African people continue to surface the religious items used by practitioners of African religions.

Catholic

With the influx of Haitians after the Haitian revolution, the Black Catholic population grew. In the early 1800s, Haitian Black people attended the Catholic congregations of Old. St. Joe's and Old. St. Mary's churches. Later in the 1800s, St. Peter Claver became an important Black Catholic church.  Learn more history here.  

Methodist

Methodist congregations also grew as splits occurred in the leadership at Mother Bethel A.M.E. Two Methodist churches were built a stone's throw from Mother Bethel A.M.E. They were both called Wesley, but one was a physically larger building so it was called Big Wesley, and the smaller church was called Little Wesley. Read m ore history here.  

During the First Emancipation of 1776, when the Society of Friends ('Quakers') decided to emancipate enslaved people, the Pennsylvania Abolition Society encouraged former enslavers to also provide labor training (Sinha 114), though only a small portion actually did.

Freedom seekers coming in from the South brought with them skills originally learned in Africa. This included tailoring, metalworking and woodworking.

Many formally enslaved people moved into labor contracts called 'indentures', as part of a gradual (rather than immediate) emancipation. Job skills were also acquired during these indentures.

James Forten provides an example of the Journeyman-apprentice relationship where a skilled tradesperson would train a younger person in the same trade. While records are scarce, we can assume that this type of training occurred due to the large volume of advanced journeymen noted in the  1838 Register of Trades. 

By 1838, over 168 trades were listed in the PAS Census in 15 industries. Explore  this data in our visualization here.  

Photo Source: Courtesy The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, PAS Collection, AMS 134, Analysis of Census Facts.  See the full analysis booklet here.  

The Coachman and Porters created their own benevolent societies. Their stated purpose was to aid sick members but they may have also functioned as a way to discuss labor strategy.

Additionally, Historian Bruce Laurie indicates that Black workers had a labor monopoly in some industries in the early 1830s. (see  Laurie  page 65).

There is also evidence that Black Philadelphians formed regional economic networks. This share from the Agricultural and Mechanics Association was owned by Jacob. C. White, Sr. in 1840.

Photo Source: Courtesy The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, PAS Collection, AMS 136, Facts on Beneficial Societies & Schools.

Beneficial societies were members-only groups that provided social and financial support to members. For this reason they were also called 'mutual aid' societies. The first Black beneficial society in Philadelphia was the Free Africa Society formed in 1789. Many others soon followed. They organized generally along gender; womens and mens groups. Some were formed as part of a church. Others were formed from existing social networks.

Beneficial societies required a level of moral behavior and members could be removed if they did not follow the rules. They provided economic support such as providing payments to sick members and helping to pay for proper burials.

Historian W.E.B. Du Bois suggested that beneficial societies originated from Obeah organizations; African religious organizations that assisted with burial rights. He believed that they were the foundational unit for Black social and political organizing, and Black institution building.  Read more here. 

That these societies were popular and important is indicated by their wealth and membership. Half of all working Black adults in Philadelphia, 7,448 people, joined and paid dues to one of 80 societies. Holdings were substantial, amounting to approximately $550,000 in today’s terms.

Photo: Courtesy Hathi Trust. Beneficial Societies from the 1838  Report on the Present State of the Colored People of Philadelphia.  

The Daughters of Africa minute book provides fascinating insight into the workings of a beneficial society. Started in the early 1820s, the society grew to a membership of about 30 women by the early 1830s.

This page shows payments being made for members who are sick and cannot work.

Photo Source: Courtesy the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. AMS 35, Box 14.  Leon Gardner Collection. 

The Colored Convention movement began in Philadelphia in 1830.

As a hub of Black entrepreneurship, intellectual thought leadership, education and emancipation activities, Philadelphia was a logical place for convention delegates to travel safely and comfortably to the conference.

Colored conventions continued to be held up to the 1860s in Philadelphia, New York, Pittsburgh and other cities. See   The Colored Conventions Project for great information   on the conventions.

The following words by Chaplain T.G. Steward, buried interestingly within a 1904 book about colored troops, gives first-hand insight into the impact of the conventions.

"It is difficult to estimate the bold and daring spirit which inaugurated the Colored Convention of 1830. It was the right move, originating in the right quarter and at the right time"

"In looking to the important results that grew out of this convention, the independence of thought and self-assertion of the black man are the most remarkable. Then, the union of purpose and union of strength which grew out of the acquaintanceship and mutual pledges of colored men from different States."   Chaplain T.G. Steward  

Most institutions for higher education barred Black people during the 1820s and 1830s. Notable exceptions were Dartmouth and Oberlin. To meet the demand for higher level learning, Black Philadelphians formed literary, artistic and intellectual societies.

These societies used current issues of the day as the content upon which papers, speeches and debates helped to sharpen the literary and speaking skills of its members.

The most famous of these societies was the Banneker Institute. Located in what was both Absalom Jones' house and the first Prince Hall Lodge in Philadelphia (409 South 11th Street), the Banneker Institute served to develop writing and speaking skills for men. One of the most famous Banneker Institute members was Octavius Catto.

J.P. Burr founded the Demonsthenian Institute which produced a newspaper called the Demonsthenian Shield in 1839. The Gilbert Lyceum had similar activities as the Banneker Institute but expanded its membership to women, while the Minerva Literary Society was entirely female.

The 1838 Report on the PAS Census listed the following societies.

Learn more about the  Literary Societies. 

The literary societies were also spaces for discussing the sciences. Educator, artist, feminist and activist Sarah Mapps Douglass attended the literary societies and shared her interest in the natural sciences.

She was leading her own school in 1837 and in her classroom she kept a natural history cabinet to train her students.

She went on to lead the teaching of sciences at the Institute for Colored Youth later in her life. The book Fugitive Science: Empiricism and Freedom in Early African American Culture provides more detail.

Photograph Source:  An early 18th-century German Schrank with a traditional coral display, Naturkundenmuseum, Berlin. LoKiLeCh, CC BY 3.0 License, via Wikimedia Commons 

Black musicians, artists and craftspeople found both the stability to practice their crafts and a market for their work in the Black Metropolis. Notably, seven people identified their occupation as 'musician' in the 1838.

This concert program from 1837 shows the type of music that people would have listened to at that time. In addition to musicians, there were 'quilt makers', 'cabinet makers', and 'basket weavers'. Below we explore just a few of the artists in the Black Metropolis.

Frank Johnson

Frank Johnson was a well-known musician throughout the United States whose reputation spread even to England, where he was invited to play for the Queen.

He lived at the corner of 6th and Pine. Johnson's band employed many musicians and by 1838 there was enough interest in the arts that musicians were able to have continuous work though teaching and through providing concerts - like the concert shown in this program from 1837.

Thomas Gross

Thomas Gross was a cabinet maker who lived on Pine Alley (now Kater street). He made a variety of goods, some of which have survived. His 'Double Chest' is on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Its possible that Black Brass Founder (Brass artist) Mathew Black, who is also in the 1838 Census and who had a close relationship with Gross, may have provided the brass work on the chest. Here we can see economic and artistic cooperation due to social networks in the Black Metropolis. Gross was one of thirteen people who identified as cabinet makers in the 1838 census.

David Bustill Bowser

Grandson of Cyrus Bustill and raised in the Black Metropolis, David Bustill Bowser became a sought after artist in the 1840s and 1850s in Philadelphia.

His neo-classical romantic style is apparent in this firemans hat.

Bowser's cousin, Robert Douglass, Jr., studied under Thomas Sulley, trained at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, and taught at the Institute for Colored Youth.

Photo: Source The Leon Gardiner Collection, Courtesy The Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

Ideas needed to be printed to spread far and wide.

The African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church started printing hymnals as early as 1837 and expanded into newspaper and book printing at 631 Pine Street.

The AME Book Concern was one of the first African American owned book shops in the nation.  The Christian Recorder , printed here starting in 1854 and still in publication, is the oldest African American newspaper in the country.

Read books published by the AME Book Concern   here  .

Source: Photo Courtesy  New York Public Library