Montgomery in Montgomery County, Alabama — The American South (East South Central)
Union Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church
Montgomery County
Photographed by Mark Hilton, October 25, 2020
1. Union Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church Marker
Inscription.
Union Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church. Montgomery County. In 1881, former slaves Gadson Draw, Frank Felder, Eli Madison, Kate Marshall, and Killis Marshall founded this church. Rev. Solomon S. Seay, Sr., pastor from 1928-1929, was a stalwart in the Civil Rights Movement and served as the third president of the Montgomery Improvement Association. Dr. Hagalyn Seay Wilson grew up in the church and was the first African-American female physician to practice medicine in Montgomery and was a founder of the Fairview Medical Center in 1975. Another church member was a founder of the first African-American surgeon group and was the first African-American man elected to the Montgomery County Board of Education. Longtime member Inez Steele Taylor taught classes to help citizens pass the literacy test required to vote before the Voting Rights Act of 1965. After Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, four student church members integrated the previously segregated Robert E. Lee High School in 1965. In the 1960s, the church served as a designated voting precinct for all elections and it remains so to this day. Many church members fought for equality during the Civil Rights Movement and their contribution is still felt today.
Listed in the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage, August 10, 2017 , Marker erected in 2018 by the Union Chapel AME Zion Church.
In 1881, former slaves Gadson Draw, Frank Felder, Eli Madison, Kate Marshall, and Killis Marshall founded this church. Rev. Solomon S. Seay, Sr., pastor from 1928-1929, was a stalwart in the Civil Rights Movement and served as the third president of the Montgomery Improvement Association. Dr. Hagalyn Seay Wilson grew up in the church and was the first African-American female physician to practice medicine in Montgomery and was a founder of the Fairview Medical Center in 1975. Another church member was a founder of the first African-American surgeon group and was the first African-American man elected to the Montgomery County Board of Education. Longtime member Inez Steele Taylor taught classes to help citizens pass the literacy test required to vote before the Voting Rights Act of 1965. After Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, four student church members integrated the previously segregated Robert E. Lee High School in 1965. In the 1960s, the church served as a designated voting precinct for all elections and it remains so to this day. Many church members fought for equality during the Civil Rights Movement and their contribution is still felt today.
Listed in the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage, August 10, 2017
Marker erected in 2018 by the Union Chapel AME Zion Church
Location. 32° 25.649′ N, 86° 13.341′ W. Marker is in Montgomery, Alabama, in Montgomery County. It is on Old Wetumpka Highway (County Road 74) 0.2 miles south of Brooks Road, on the left when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 3100 Old Wetumpka Hwy, Montgomery AL 36117, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Alabama’s Tri-Counties River Region. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Deep South, and in the Black Belt. Globally, it is in North America, a Gulf of Mexico state, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
2. Union Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church with marker on right between trees.
Photographed by Mark Hilton, October 25, 2020
3. Union Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church
Photographed by Mark Hilton, October 25, 2020
4. Union Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church Marker
Credits. This page was last revised on October 25, 2020. It was originally submitted on October 25, 2020, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 1,020 times since then and 62 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on October 25, 2020, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.
