A Brief History of Mother Emanuel AME Church

Blessed with a rich but controversial history, its most recent history throws a dark cloud on its total existence. Mother Emanuel is one of the few black churches founded in the South prior to the American Revolutionary War, dating back to 1817. This makes it the oldest of its kind in the United States, south of Baltimore. Harassment - by not only the white authorities of Charleston but also the white-dominated churches who discriminated against their own African membership and the independent Black churches in the Charleston community - occurred from their inception.

The AME (African Methodist Episcopal) denomination came into existence in 1816 in Philadelphia. The Emanuel Church’s founders, Denmark Vesey and Morris Brown, faced much oppression. Vesey was charged and executed for the slave uprising in July 1822. Morris Brown was convicted and remained in prison for many years but was ultimately released whereupon he fled to Pennsylvania.

Biased rules were legislated upon the black church in an attempt to control their membership. Some of these were that worship sessions could only take place during daylight hours, white membership was to be predominant and black literacy was forbidden.

The slave uprising in 1834 resulted in the outlawing of all black congregations. After a fifty-year transition period, when the churches were once again allowed to assemble, Richard H Cain was installed in 1865 as the pastor of Emanuel and Morris Brown AME churches.

The church had many periods of construction and reconstruction throughout its long history. It was built on the North side of Calhoun, then known as “Boundary Street,” because blacks were not allowed on the South side. From 1865-1872 the reconstruction of the church occurred as a wooden structure, designed by Robert Vesey (son of Denmark). The Great Earthquake of 1886 caused much damage and by 1891, John Henry Devereux had begun the brick and stucco construction.

 Over the next 60 years, the church became weathered and aged and in 1951, a renovation was completed, once again ringing in at $47,000 (today $454,000), earning Mother Emanuel AME Church’s outstanding achievement award from Charleston Chamber of Commerce. After Hurricane Hugo swept in, the tin roof was replaced for interlocking copper shingles and a new steel-framed steeple was erected. In 1998, the church added a gold-leaf weather vane to its new copper-clad steeple.

Throughout the year, many notable speakers have graced the church with their words: Booker T Washington (1909—raise awareness of the human condition), Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. & Rev. Wyatt T Walker, SCLC (1962—urging voter registration) and Coretta Scott King (1969—marched in support of the hospital worker strike). Every year, the Emancipation parade hosted on January 1st ends at Mother Emanuel.

In 2008 there were 1,600 members registered with a total capacity of up to 2,500. The church is very involved in community outreach. Notably, they are involved with the interfaith crisis ministry and other charities. Mother Emanuel AME Church is an avid participant in local arts by hosting art shows and concerts.

June 17th, 2015 was a day that will remain a tragedy in everyone’s memory due to the hate crime committed against this peaceful organization. This event spurred the opposite response bringing the community and the church even closer. The church leadership and family members of the victims unified in preaching a message of peace rather than violence. #CharlestonStrong was the result of these efforts.

Today, still standing at 110 Calhoun Street in downtown Charleston, it has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places. For over 200 years MEAME has spread the gospel and has maintained “faith and strength and dedication to the work of Christ that [they] have been called to.” It boasts a beautiful building and still stands as a resilient testament to its time.

~ David Joyner and Kristen N. Granet