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Join us for Documenting the Architectural History of the African Methodist Episcopal Church: A Case Study, a virtual lecture with Charlette Caldwell of Columbia University. An architectural history of the African Methodist Episcopal Church illustrates Philadelphia and its environs as a crucible for Black self-reliance through property. Many AME church leaders supported property ownership as an avenue for respectability, appealing to those with economic and political influence despite historical limitations placed on Black Americans. The idea of Black respectability coupled with land ownership is significant in the property acquisition and eventual founding of the Bethel AME Church of Germantown and its connection with the Montier Family. The Montier Family was a Black family whose ancestral ties to the first mayor of Philadelphia led to economic stability not afforded to most Black Americans.
The event is part of the Carpenters' Company of Philadelphia's "Changing the Face of the City," a series of programs and events that explore the intersection of historic preservation and urban planning/renewal through the lens of equity and social justice. Renowned urban planner Edmund Bacon used the phrase "Changing the Face of the City" to describe Philadelphia's renaissance in his classic 1967 book "Design of Cities," unintentionally alluding to the literal consequences of many preservations, planning, and renewal efforts. The Presenting Sponsor of "Changing the Face of the City" is Premier Building Restoration.
