St. John

African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a predominantly African American Methodist denomination. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology and has a connexional polity. The African Methodist Episcopal ...

was the first church for

African Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

, organized in

North Omaha North Omaha is a community area in Omaha, Nebraska, in the United States. It is bordered by Cuming and Dodge Streets on the south, Interstate 680 on the north, North 72nd Street on the west and the Missouri River and Carter Lake, Iowa on the ...

in 1867. It is located at 2402 North 22nd Street in the Near North Side neighborhood. The building is listed on 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 ...

. The building was constructed in the center of Omaha's North Side in the Prairie School architecture style. Prairie School architecture is rare, and this architectural gem in urban Nebraska is particularly unusual for being designed and built in the 1920s, after the Prairie Style's rapid loss of popularity beginning after 1914.

About

Organized in the fall of 1865, the first minister of St. John was Rev. W. T. Osborne, who was also the first African American minister in Nebraska. The first meetings being held at a private residence on Capitol Avenue and Ninth Street in present-day downtown Omaha. After worshiping for a short time on Harney Street, the church moved to Douglas and Fifteenth Streets until the summer of 1865. That year a lot was purchased on the corner of Eighteenth and Webster Streets in

Near North Omaha The Near North Side of Omaha, Nebraska is the neighborhood immediately north of downtown. It forms the nucleus of the city's African-American community, and its name is often synonymous with the entire North Omaha area. It is bordered by Cuming S ...

. The original church was built for $1,000. The longest standing member of the church was Mrs. Eliza Turner, who until her death in 1938 regularly attended St. John's for seventy years. Today St. John hosts a thriving congregation, and the church serves in a variety of capacities to the surrounding community.

Pastors

*Rev. J. H. Hubbard, 1866 to 1868 *Rev. W. B. Ousley, 1868 to 1869 *W. L. Harrod, 1869 to 1870 *William Sexton, 1870 to 1871 *G. W. Gaines, 1871 to 1873 *J. W. Braxton, 1873 to 1875 *B. F. Watson, 1875 to 1876 *J. A. Fouche, 1876 to 1878(n.d.) Lee.

Architecture

St. John's has been housed in three different churches. The second church was located at North 25th and Grant Streets, and was notably designed by Omaha's first African American architect, Clarence W. Wigington, which was built around the turn of the century. When the congregation outgrew that building, they located a new place to build at 2402 North 22nd Street, St. John A.M.E. Church

building A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and func ...

was designed by local

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Frederick S. Stott in 1921 in the

Prairie School Prairie School is a late 19th- and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped ...

style. In 1947 an auditorium was added, and additional rooms were finished in 1956. The building is remarkable for its reflection of the progressive attitude of its congregation at a time when traditional values in

religious architecture Sacral architecture (also known as sacred architecture or religious architecture) is a religious architectural practice concerned with the design and construction of places of worship or sacred or intentional space, such as churches, mosques, ...

were prevalent. The building is recognized as an important contribution to the Prairie School style, and was added to the

in May 1980.

Notable members

St. John's has been host to several members who are notable in local and national history. They include: * Ophelia Clenlans, civil rights leader in Omaha * Harrison J. Pinkett, the first University trained lawyer in Nebraska and a civil rights leader in Omaha *

W. H. C. Stephenson W. H. C. Stephenson (c.1825 – April 6, 1899) was a doctor, preacher, and civil rights activist in Virginia City, Nevada, and Omaha, Nebraska. He was probably the first black doctor in NevadaHornsby Jr. Alton. ''Black America: A State-by-State ...

, a doctor and civil rights leader in Omaha

References

External links