First African Methodist Episcopal Church (Oakland, Calif.) collection, 1922-2015, bulk bulk 1950s-1970s

Printable guide [HTML]

Summary

Creators:
First African Methodist Episcopal Church (Oakland, Calif.) and East Bay Negro Historical Society
Abstract:
The First African Methodist Episcopal Church of Oakland began in 1858, and is the first and oldest African American church in the East Bay. The First African Methodist Episcopal Church (Oakland, Calif.) Collection includes administrative records, correspondence, church service bulletins, events programs, photographs, and collected newspaper clippings.
Extent:
2 linear feet (3 boxes + 1 oversized box)
Language:
Languages represented in the collection: English
Preferred citation:

First African Methodist Episcopal Church (Oakland, Calif.) collection, MS 173, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library. Oakland, California.

Background

Scope and content:

The First African Methodist Episcopal Church (Oakland, Calif.) Collection includes administrative records, correspondence, church service bulletins, events programs, photographs, and collected newspaper clippings. Administrative records consist of the Lay Organization by-laws, meeting minutes, patron lists and financial reports. Correspondence consists of informational letters to church members, memos and reports to and from various church reverends, and collected papers of Conference Branch President Minnie Fletcher. Photographs are of bishops, pastors, and members of the church, including numerous posed, large group shots of choir members and the congregation with the presiding reverend, and images of church building interiors and exteriors. The collection is arranged into seven series: history, correspondence, minutes of the Banquet Committee meetings, Lay Organization, Relocation Services scrapbook, published material, photographs, and clippings. The collection gives an overview of religious history in Oakland for more than a century, including details about social functions and services that the church provided to the community, and is a resource for those studying religion in the African American community in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Biographical / historical:

The First African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church of Oakland was the first African American church to be founded in the East Bay, and the only one in Oakland for more than three decades. It was the first school for minorities in Oakland, since only white children were allowed to attend public schools at this time. The A.M.E. Church also acted as the cultural center of the African American community, hosting not only the first church and school, but social and political clubs, events, and festivals. The First A.M.E. Church of Oakland began in 1858 by a small group of Oakland residents, and is the oldest African American church in Oakland. The church founders purchased the Carpenter School House in 1863, which became the first church building. At this time the church was called Shiloh A.M.E. Church, and it also acted as a school for minorities; the teacher was one of the A.M.E. church founders, Elizabeth Flood. In 1884, Reverend James Grisby led the congregation to a larger church building on 15th Street in Oakland, known as the Fifteenth Street Church. In 1949, Reverend H. Solomon Hill became pastor, and in 1954, led the congregation to a new church building at 3701 Telegraph Avenue, where it was renamed the First African Methodist Episcopal Church. Since then, the church has been renovated and improved numerous times, notably surviving the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

Senior pastors of the First A.M.E. Church of Oakland:
  • Reverend John Lane 1863-1874
  • Reverend J.B. Sanderson 1874-1884
  • Reverend James Grisby 1884-1896
  • Reverend J. Alen Viney 1896-1900
  • Reverend Oscar E. Jones 1900-1910
  • Reverend F. Jesse Peck 1910-1915
  • Reverend J.M. Brown 1915-1922
  • Reverend Nelson Pryor 1922-1927
  • Reverend T. Dean Scott 1927-1932
  • Reverend Daniel G. Hill 1932-1943
  • Reverend Pearl Bryant 1943-1945
  • Reverend Justus E. Roberts 1945-1949
  • Reverend Dr. H. Solomon Hill 1949-1960
  • Reverend J. Russell Brown 1960-1971
  • Reverend Edward S. Foust 1971-1977
  • Reverend George R. Reid 1977-1981
  • Reverend L. Fisher Hines 1981-1986
  • Reverend Dr. Frederick Ormonde Murph 1986-1996
  • Reverend Dr. Harold R. Mayberry 1996-
Acquisition information:
Accession 2014-028 was donated to the African American Museum Library at Oakland by the First African Methodist Episcopal Church of Oakland in September 2014. Accession 2014-027 was collected by the East Bay Negro Historical Society.
Processing information:

Processed by Jennifer Pickens on December 31, 2014.

Arrangement:

Series I: History Series II: Correspondence Series III: Minutes of the Banquet Committee meetings. 1931 Series IV: Lay Organization. circa 1960 Series V: Relocation Services scrapbook. 1954 Series VI: Published material Series VII: Photographs Series VIII: Clippings

Rules or conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

No access restrictions. Collection is open to the public.

Materials are for use in-library only, non-circulating.

Terms of access:

Permission to publish from the First African Methodist Episcopal Church (Oakland, Calif.) Collection must be obtained from the African American Museum & Library at Oakland.

Preferred citation:

First African Methodist Episcopal Church (Oakland, Calif.) collection, MS 173, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library. Oakland, California.

Location of this collection:
659 14th Street
Oakland, CA 94612, US
Contact:
(510) 637-0198
aamlo@oaklandlibrary.org
Website