As the lone arranger at the Bishop Reverdy C. Ransom Library working in an unprocessed archive, a large amount of my time is spent identifying materials and investigating their historical significance. An archivist's guiding assumption as she combs through a box or folder is "These items were preserved because some individual or group found them to be of inherent [historical] value." That inherent value is not always obvious or easy to apprehend. Aged, crumpled, black and white processing, yellowing edges, and sloppy script are good indicators to me that an item is definitely worth taking a deeper look at (hence why I spend hours on Google after reading one church bulletin falling further and further down the African American History rabbit hole....more tales to come). Uncovering the who, what, where, and sometimes why of an item is my favorite archival task.
Who: I found 6 black and white photos of Quinn Chapel A.M.E. church in a folder of photos and letters dated around 1958 in the George A. Singleton Collection. The George A. Singleton Collection memorializes the life and career of African Methodist Episcopal Church educator and pastor, long time editor of the A.M.E. Church Review (1951-1967), elected editor of the denominational journal Christian Recorder (1936-1944), Dean of Turner Theological Seminary at Morris Brown College (1929-1930) and World War I 1st Lieutenant Army Chaplain (1918-1919) George Arnett Singleton. Singleton earned degrees from Allen University (B.A. 1915), Boston University (S.T.B 1922), and the University of Chicago (M.A. 1929, B.D. 1930). He also published numerous pamphlets and a comprehensive history of the AME Church, Romance of African Methodism: A Study of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
What: The photos included shots of a beautiful wood double cross adorned church entry way, dedication stone and various views of the building.
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Where: Here's where things get tricky. The dedication stone names the church as Quinn Chapel A.M.E. Church organize 1869, rebuilt 1870, Rev. E.O. Allen, Pastor. The back of the photos all have some variation of a script inscription noting the photos as belonging to the Singleton Collection, W.P. Quinn as the 1839 founder of the church, and an illegible town name before the word Illinois. The Quinn Chapel I had known to be the foundational church of the state of Illinois is located in Chicago. Neither myself nor Ms. Ayers (Payne Librarian) could make out the chicken scratch. So we pulled out the Encyclopedia of African Methodism. Conference proceedings and booklets from the Fourth Episcopal District (Indiana, Chicago, Illinois, Northwestern, Michigan and Ontario
Conferences) to find references to a Quinn Chapel outside of Chicago. After discovering that the scratch HAD to say "Lovejoy", we hopped on the Google dig and stroke gold.
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Why:
From Wikipedia:
"Brooklyn (popularly known as Lovejoy), is a village in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. Located 2 miles north of East St. Louis, Illinois and 3 miles northeast of Downtown St. Louis, Missouri, it is the oldest town incorporated by African Americans in the United States. It was founded by freed and fugitive slaves from St. Louis, Missouri, led by "Mother" Priscilla Baltimore in the period of 1829 to 1839. Its motto is "Founded by Chance, Sustained by Courage". The current mayor is Mayor Vera Banks-Glasper. Superstar Tina Turner regularly performed at a local club in her early years as an entertainer.
A missionary AME Church was established in the new settlement in 1836.Now known as Quinn's Chapel AME, its congregation is believed to have supported the Underground Railroad and aided fugitive slaves to freedom, together with members of the Antioch Baptist Church established in 1838.
"Brooklyn (popularly known as Lovejoy), is a village in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. Located 2 miles north of East St. Louis, Illinois and 3 miles northeast of Downtown St. Louis, Missouri, it is the oldest town incorporated by African Americans in the United States. It was founded by freed and fugitive slaves from St. Louis, Missouri, led by "Mother" Priscilla Baltimore in the period of 1829 to 1839. Its motto is "Founded by Chance, Sustained by Courage". The current mayor is Mayor Vera Banks-Glasper. Superstar Tina Turner regularly performed at a local club in her early years as an entertainer.
A missionary AME Church was established in the new settlement in 1836.Now known as Quinn's Chapel AME, its congregation is believed to have supported the Underground Railroad and aided fugitive slaves to freedom, together with members of the Antioch Baptist Church established in 1838.
William Paul Quinn, then a missionary of the newly formed African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), visited the settlement in 1836 and helped found the Brooklyn AME church that year. He had been assigned as a missionary that year to what was then called the Northwest, including Indiana and Ohio. Quinn was also active in planting new congregations in Kentucky and Missouri; he later became the fourth bishop of the AME Church. Brooklyn AME Church is thought to be the first AME Church west of the Appalachian Mountains. It is now known as Quinn's Chapel AME Church in his honor.
(Brooklyn, Illinois. (n.d.) In Wikipedia, Retrieved February 16, 2015, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn,_Illinois)
Since accurately identifying the church in the photos I have reached out the executive board of the Historical Society of Brooklyn, Illinois and contact person at the Brooklyn, Illinois Archaeology and Heritage Project with my interest in working together to find a more concrete history of the Quinn Chapel AME and its ties to the first African-American town to be incorporated. I also have plans to contact the church to invite all hands on deck to write a contextualization article to accompany the images.
Since accurately identifying the church in the photos I have reached out the executive board of the Historical Society of Brooklyn, Illinois and contact person at the Brooklyn, Illinois Archaeology and Heritage Project with my interest in working together to find a more concrete history of the Quinn Chapel AME and its ties to the first African-American town to be incorporated. I also have plans to contact the church to invite all hands on deck to write a contextualization article to accompany the images.
More information about the Brooklyn, Illinois Archaeology and Heritage Project and Historical Society can be found here:
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