108-110 Calhoun Street (Emanuel AME Church)

Archive

-

Historic Charleston Foundation

Name/Title

108-110 Calhoun Street (Emanuel AME Church)

Entry/Object ID

CALHOUN.108-110.01

Scope and Content

The original congregation of this church, consisting of free blacks and slaves, was organized in 1791 as the Free African Society, which built a church in the vicinity of Hanover and Amherst Streets. The congregation joined in 1818 the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the name was changed to the Bethel Circuit. Morris Brown, a free black preacher, led the movement in Charleston to organize black Methodists into an independent organization. The Bethel Circuit, in 1818, had about 1,000 members. In 1822, after the alleged Denmark Vesey plot was discovered, the church was investigated because Vesey had been a founder. The church was burned as a result of the controversy. It was rebuilt and continued in operation until 1834, when a law closed all black churches. Morris Brown was found innocent of any connection with the alleged plot but he was pressured into leaving the state and went to Philadelphia. The congregation met in secret until 1865, when it was formally reorganized. The name Bethel was changed to Emanuel by Rev. Richard Cain, a black minister from the north. A church was built in 1872 on the present site. It was damaged by the 1886 earthquake and was razed and replaced in 1891 by the present structure in the Gothic Revival style, credited to builder Henry Zacharias. File contains newspaper articles (including DYKYC); house history from Information for Guides of Historic Charleston; house history from City of Charleston Tour Guide Training manual; excerpt from Historic Churches of Charleston (Lilly, 1966); excerpt (photo) from News & Courier section on Hurricane Gracie (1969); excerpt from Charleston: Yesterday and Today (Trouche, 2009); Hurricane Hugo Damage Assessment survey; copies of photographs ca. 1900s; staff research notes (handwritten); "statement of significance" and "project summary" attached to a partially completed funding request to repair the steeple after Hurricane Hugo.

Collection

Historic Charleston Foundation Property Records

Acquisition

Accession

CALHOUN.108-110

Source or Donor

108-110 Calhoun Street (Emanuel AME Church)

Acquisition Method

Collected by Staff

Lexicon

Search Terms

Churches/Synagogues/Houses of Worship, Calhoun Street, Ansonborough, African American history / Black history, National Register of Historic Places, Emanuel A.M.E. Church (Charleston, S.C.), Church buildings--South Carolina--Charleston, African American churches--South Carolina--Charleston

Legacy Lexicon

Object Name

Property File

Archive Details

Archive Size/Extent

1 File Folder

Archive Notes

Finding Aids: Index to Property Files Level of Description: Folder

Location

Location

Shelf

Property File Shelves

Room

Margaretta P. Childs Archives

Building

Missroon House

Category

Permanent

Date

February 7, 2023

Location

Container

PF Box 17

Shelf

Prop File Shelves, Property File Shelves

Room

Margaretta P. Childs Archives

Building

Missroon House

Category

Permanent

Relationships

Related Entries

Notes

2005.019.13, 2005.019.14, 2016.019.1, CALHOUN.108-110.02a-c, CALHOUN.108-110.03, CALHOUN.108-110.04a-l, HUGO.002.003

Created By

admin@catalogit.app

Create Date

May 10, 2006

Updated By

admin@catalogit.app

Update Date

February 17, 2023