Anshei Lubavitch Synagogue - Boston, MA
Posted by: 
Metro2
N 42° 21.590 W 071° 03.952
19T E 329873 N 4691796
This site,now a Museum, was once th eFirst African Baptist Church of Boston. It served as a synagogue from the late 19th century to 1972.
Waymark Code: WMNRY7
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 04/27/2015
Views: 3
Wikipedia (
visit link) informs us:
"The African Meeting House, also known variously as First African Baptist Church, First Independent Baptist Church and the Belknap Street Church, was built in 1806 and is now the oldest black church edifice still standing in the United States. It is located in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, adjacent to the African American Abiel Smith School. It is a National Historic Landmark...
History
Church
Portrait of Thomas Paul
Before 1805, although black Bostonians could attend white churches, they generally faced discrimination. They were assigned seats only in the balconies and were not given voting privileges.
Thomas Paul, an African-American preacher from New Hampshire, led worship meetings for blacks at Faneuil Hall. Paul, with twenty of his members, officially formed the First African Baptist Church on August 8, 1805. In the same year, land was purchased for a building. The African Meeting House, as it came to be commonly called, was completed the next year. At the public dedication on December 6, 1806, the first-floor pews were reserved for all those "benevolently disposed to the Africans," while the black members sat in the balcony of their new meeting house...
Synagogue (late 19th century - 1972)
At the end of the 19th century, when the black community began to migrate to the South End and Roxbury, the building was sold to a Jewish congregation, Anshei Lubavitch. They were the new immigrants in the city and living on Beacon Hill and in the North End. It served as a synagogue until 1972, when it was acquired by the Museum of African American History and adapted as a museum.
Museum (c. 1972-present)
It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1974.
The African Meeting House houses the Museum of African American History, which is a museum "dedicated to preserving, conserving and accurately interpreting the contributions of African Americans in New England from the colonial period through the 19th century," according to the Museum's website. The African Meeting House is open to the public. This site is part of Boston African American National Historic Site."