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Charles Street Meeting House by Troy Fergus |
This building is part of the black history trail in boston, and is one of the oldest landmarks in the area.The Charles street meeting house was a center of abolitionist struggle and thought from the early 19th century all the way into the Emancipation and Reconstruction era. Franklin Douglas an aboltionist orator urged his listeners to reject slavery and the fugitive slave law, right here within these very walls. The first congregation here, a baptist congregation, built this building in 1807. From that time until now the original exteriro of this building remains intact, despite going through 3 different congregations and a civic organization. In just a few years, 2007 will make this entire building exactly 200 years old! A historic landmark in the heart of Beacon Hill with nearly as unique and interesting life happening on the inside as well as the outside.
The first tenants were a baptist church organization called The Third Baptist Church. Like all of the churches in Boston at this time, this church was segregated. A wealthy white abolitionist, decided to test this policy by inviting his black friends to sit in his pew, but instead of acceptance a scandal and a controversy erupted, prompting Gilbert and a few of his friends to found Tremont Temple, the first integrated church in the United States of America. So although the Third Baptist church was not directly involved in promoting freedom within these church walls, they were at least connected indirectly. Segregation also did not stop the church opening it’s doors to prominent Abolitionist speakers like Frederick Douglas.
In his autobiography, “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave”, Douglass mentions a religion that is unique to the United States A religion with the form of virtue, but lacking a true substance. He invokes the four woes that Jesus levelled against the Pharisees and hypocrites of his day which sadly were comparable to the church that used to inhabit this very building, for not 15 years after the publishing of his autobiography with it’s description of American religion was a member of the Third Baptist Church tossed out of the congregation and forced to start a new church, simply because he had invited some black frends to sit in his pew one day. For although the congregation entertained abolitionist speaker the “more weighty matters of the law” would have compelled them to integrate their church at his invitation. Douglass states specifically, “ They attend with Pharisaical strictness to the outward forms of religion, and at the same time neglect the weighteir matters of the law, judgement, mercy, and faith.”
The next tenants and quite possibly the the most famous were the First African Methodist Episcopal Church that bought it in 1876, as white parishioners were leaving Beacon Hill for other part of the city. The congregation that took part in the abolition movement, the A.M.E. Congregation decided to move to a new location in West Roxbury when many of its parisioners started moving to that area.
This congregation started arriving soon after Emancipation lured by opportunity in the north, and their numbers allowed them to purchase this building from the departing Third Baptist Church, perhaps hearing of Boston from the same way Douglass had from a member of southern society that was still a part of it, and yet on the fringes at the same time, like the Irish seaman that told Douglass while he was still a boy to “run away to the north”. Interestingly, the only time that Douglass mentions a sect of Christianity is when the professed member of it was the most brutal and all those times the Methodist sect, was named. The A.M.E. Church it seems was coming from that same tradition, so it is notable they chose this building as their home in Boston. In actuality the Methodist Church as illustrated by Douglass and others had some serious shortcomings. The founding of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1918 happened because it’s founding minister,who was a black man, was mistreated. Also in 1844 the anti and pro-slavery factions of The Methodist Episcopal Church engaged one another and ended up in the creation of The (pro-slavery) Methodist Episcopal Church, South composed entirely of southern states. Not content with this, five years after the civil war, The M.E.C. , South voted to remove or segregate all of their black constituents from the other church members and set-up a new church for them called The Colored Methodist Episcopal Church.
The Charles Street Meeting House was home to the First African Methodist Church until 1939 when it left for more conveniant accomodations in Roxbury. The Church was then sold to Unitarian Universalist Association which kept it until 1978.
So like Douglass, this church had one-hundred and eighty degrees. From an intolerance represented by the Third Baptist Church, to an improvement represented by the black Methodist congrgation, to the ultimate in tolerance, the Unitarian-Universalist, where anything is accpetable and right. Douglass too describes his life in life altering circumstances from bad to best, from abject slavery, to education under the shadow of slavery and finally to freedom in the north.In rhi way thinking of the progress of one is thinking about the progress of another, and during you’re your visit remember that this building may be completely changed from what it was on the interior from Douglasss day, In terms of purpose and usefulness, It’s work as was Dougless’s has been carried on to completion.
Today this building no longer has a religious or political purpose as it is used primarily as a home, an office and art gallery space. There have also been two additional floors installed and because all of the building is privately owned, most of this building is closed off to the public, which means us. John Sharratt an architect and now the owner bought the building in 1980 when it was in a dilapitated condition. If you are an art fan there are several exhibits of first-rate work available to peruse and buy. Please, Enjoy your visit!
