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Catalog Data

Creator:
Anacostia Community Museum  Search this
Howell, Michael W.  Search this
Vance, Jim  Search this
Smithsonian Institution  Search this
Names:
African Methodist Episcopal Church (Philadelphia, Pa.)  Search this
Anacostia Community Museum  Search this
Anacostia Neighborhood Museum  Search this
Free African Society (Philadelphia, Pa.)  Search this
Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church (Philadelphia, Pa.)  Search this
St. George's United Methodist Church (Philadelphia, Pa.)  Search this
Allen, Richard, 1760-1831  Search this
Chew, Benjamin, 1722-1810  Search this
Jones, Absalom, 1746-1818  Search this
Sturgis, Stokely  Search this
Collection Creator:
Smithsonian Institution. Anacostia Community Museum  Search this
Extent:
1 Video recording (AV000961, open reel, 1 inch)
2 Sound recordings (AV003353, AV003356, open reel, 1/4 inch)
Type:
Archival materials
Video recordings
Sound recordings
Drama
Place:
Philadelphia (Pa.)
Delaware
United States
Date:
1994
Scope and Contents:
Michael W. Howell dramatizes Richard Allen's life from his birth into slavery through his establishment of what was to become the modern-day African Methodist Episcopal Church. Events which led to the founding of the Free African Society and Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia are explained.
Short one-man dramatization with still images and narration interspersed. Part of Climbing Jacob's Ladder Audiovisual Records. Complete production: AV000961 [captions burned into image]. Production elements: AV003353 and AV003356 [narration]. AV003356: first minute only [remaining recording related to Twelfth Baptist Church of Boston]. Dated 19941031 [AV000961]. Undated [all other recordings].
Biographical / Historical:
The Times of Richard Allen was created alongside the Climbing Jacob's Ladder: The Rise of Black Churches in Eastern American Cities, 1740 - 1877 exhibition which explored the growth and central role of African American churches during the 18th- and 19th-centuries in the eastern United States: Boston, Savannah, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, and Richmond. The exhibition was organized by the Anacostia Museum and held there from October 1987 to October 1988.;Born a slave in 1760 on the Delaware property of Benjamin Chew and later sold to Stokely Sturgis, Richard Allen was one of the founders of the Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia in 1789. In 1801, his collection of spiritual songs and hymns helped to establish an ongoing tradition of hymn singing at Mother Bethel. Allen also formed the Free African Society, Philadelphia's first black mutual aid society to serve the needs of African Americans regardless of religious beliefs, with Absalom Jones in 1787 after African Americans were segregated during worship services at St. George's United Methodist Church in Philadelphia.;Michael W. Howell collaborated with Smithsonian staff to create The Times of Richard Allen, a one-man dramatization performed by Howell at the Smithsonian's Museum of American History in 1987 to augment the museum's exhibit "After the Revolution: Everyday Life in America, 1780-1800," which focused in part on Allen. [McIntyre, Mike. Accolade for Round House. The Washington Post, Feb. 17, 1987.]
Local Numbers:
ACMA AV003353 ACMA AV003356
General:
Title transcribed from opening credits of video recording.
Series Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Some items are not accessible due to obsolete format and playback machinery restrictions. Please contact the archivist at ACMarchives@si.edu.
Topic:
African Americans  Search this
African American churches  Search this
Churches  Search this
Church history  Search this
Religion  Search this
Methodism  Search this
African American clergy  Search this
Clergy  Search this
Preachers  Search this
Slavery  Search this
Enslaved persons  Search this
Segregation  Search this
Jacob's ladder (Biblical dream)  Search this
Genre/Form:
Video recordings
Sound recordings
Drama
Series Citation:
Climbing Jacob's Ladder audiovisual records, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Identifier:
ACMA.03-036, Item ACMA AV000961
See more items in:
Climbing Jacob's Ladder: the Rise of Black Churches in Eastern American cities, 1740 - 1877 Exhibition Records
Climbing Jacob's Ladder: the Rise of Black Churches in Eastern American cities, 1740 - 1877 Exhibition Records / Series 3: Audiovisual records
Archival Repository:
Anacostia Community Museum Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/qa75d3ab735-6d8a-41b6-8e45-d526ecc9bc13
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-acma-03-036-ref887