St. Philip's Episcopal Church is a historic

Episcopal Episcopal may refer to: *Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church *Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese *Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name ** Episcopal Church (United State ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

located at 204 West 134th Street, between

Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard Seventh Avenue – co-named Fashion Avenue in the Garment District and known as Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard north of Central Park – is a thoroughfare on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is sout ...

and Frederick Douglass Boulevard in the

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

neighborhood of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Its congregation was founded in 1809 by free African Americans worshiping at Trinity Church, Wall Street as the Free African Church of St. Philip. First located in the notorious Five Points neighborhood, it is the oldest black Episcopal parish in New York City., pp. 242-43 Historically, it was extremely influential both while located in lower Manhattan and as an institution in Harlem, and many of its members have been leaders in the black community. In 2020, it reported 188 members, 111 average attendance, and plate and pledge income of $224,827.

History

Previous buildings

The first church foundation stone was laid in 1819, and the first rector, serving from 1826 to 1840, was the Rev. Peter Williams, Jr., a leading abolitionist and the first African-American Episcopal priest in New York. He was one of three blacks who served on the first executive committee of the American Anti-Slavery Society.Kyle T. Bulthuis. ''Four Steeples over the City Streets: Religion and Society in New York’s Early Republic Congregations'', NYU Press, 2014, pp. 151-152
/ref> In the 1820s other men in the church were also upwardly mobile, beginning to gain financial success primarily in the service industry and joining abolitionist and other reform groups. They stressed education and promoted "character, respectability, and uplift." In the following decades Black Episcopalians continued to build on their church connections, with some creating a niche in marine trades, where white Episcopalians owned ships and served as captains. Some achieved professional status as teachers and doctors, and others had businesses as grocers and restaurateurs. The first two sites were located on 122 Centre Street. In 1822, a brick building replaced the original wood frame church, which had been damaged by fire. It was renovated twice because of damage suffered in social unrest. In 1834 the church was vandalized by whites. During the American Civil War, it suffered damage by New York City police using it as a barracks for militia and police during the 1863 New York City draft riots. Demographic changes continued as New York expanded and the city developed uptown. New waves of immigrants settled in the oldest housing, and more established residents moved north along the island. Along with its congregation, St. Philip's relocated uptown, by 1886 having a site on 25th Street.Church History
St. Philip's Harlem (Accessed 2 August 2010) It sold this property c.1909 for $600,000. With this money it bought the site of the current church, as well as 10 apartment buildings on West 135th Street in Harlem. This area had previously been restricted to whites only. Some moved beyond the city limits into the developing railroad suburbs. The

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular architecture, for ex ...

of the current church came from the church on 25th Street. Like many other churches, St. Philip's had considerable stability in its leadership through the mid-20th century. Rev. Hutchens C. Bishop was rector for 47 years, from 1886 until 1933. Bishop's son, Shelton Hale Bishop, served as rector from 1933-1957.

Current building

The present church building was designed by architects

Vertner Woodson Tandy Vertner Woodson Tandy (May 17, 1885 – November 7, 1949) was an American architect. He was one of the seven founders (commonly referred to as "The Seven Jewels") of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity at Cornell University in 1906. He was the first Afr ...

and

George Washington Foster George Washington Foster (1866–1923) was an early African-American architect. He was among the first African-American architects licensed by the State of New Jersey in 1908, and later New York (1916). Foster partnered with Vertner Woodson Tan ...

of the firm

Tandy & Foster Tandy & Foster was an American architectural firm active from 1908 to 1914 in New York and New Jersey, based in New York City. Founded in 1908 by Vertner Woodson Tandy (1885–1949) and George Washington Foster (1866–1923). Tandy was the firs ...

. Both were prominent African-American architects: Tandy was the first African-American architect licensed to practice in

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

and Foster was among the first licensed by the

State of New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware Ri ...

. The church was built in 1910-1911 in the Neo-Gothic style. ''See also:'' The church was designated as a

New York City Landmark The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...

in 1993, p.203 and was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2008.

Parishioners

Notable parishioners of St. Philip's include, in the 19th century: Thomas Jennings, Thomas Downing, his son

George T. Downing George T. Downing (December 30, 1819 – July 21, 1903) was an abolitionist and activist for African-American civil rights while building a successful career as a restaurateur in New York City; Newport, Rhode Island; and Washington, D.C. His fath ...

, Dr. James McCune Smith, and

Alexander Crummell Alexander Crummell (March 3, 1819 – September 10, 1898) was a pioneering African-American minister, academic and African nationalist. Ordained as an Episcopal priest in the United States, Crummell went to England in the late 1840s to raise money ...

.Bulthius (2014), ''Four Steeples'', p. 152 In the 20th century, such political and cultural leaders as professor and public intellectual

W. E. B. Du Bois William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ( ; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American-Ghanaian sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up in ...

;

Thurgood Marshall Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American civil rights lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1967 until 1991. He was the Supreme Court's first African-A ...

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

Legal Defense Fund attorney and Supreme Court Justice; and poet and playwright

Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. One of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called jazz poetry, Hug ...

were also members of the church.

References

Notes

External links

*
Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Philip's Episcopal Church, Harlem African-American history in New York City Churches in Harlem Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan Gothic Revival church buildings in New York City Episcopal church buildings in New York City Religious organizations established in 1809 Churches completed in 1910 20th-century Episcopal church buildings 19th-century Episcopal church buildings Demolished churches in New York City Demolished buildings and structures in Manhattan Five Points, Manhattan Harlem 1809 establishments in New York (state) New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan