Some of America's earliest independent African-American organizations began in Philadelphia

Some of America's earliest independent African-American organizations began in Philadelphia. .

We, the free Africans and their descendants, of the City of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, or elsewhere, do unanimously agree, for the benefit of each other, to advance one shilling…a month…to hand forth to the needy of this Society… , From the Articles of the Free African Society , May 17, 1787

, The year 1787 was a time of beginnings. Just before the Constitutional Convention first met, a spirit of self-determination inspired the founding of the Free African Society. The Society was the first African-American organization to be established on the basis of self-reliance. Its specific purpose was to help people of African descent who were in need., Two churches, among the first independent African-American churches in America, were born of the Society. The African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas was organized by Absalom Jones in 1792 and dedicated in 1794. Its original location was on Fifth Street, below Walnut Street., Richard Allen, a Methodist, led the organization of Mother Bethel AFrican Methodist Episcopal Church. Its first building was dedicated in 1794, on a lot Allen owned at Sixth Street near Lombard Street. The church continues to thrive at the same location, making this the oldest parcel of land continuously owned by African Americans.