St. Mark's United Methodist Church Collection - NYPL Digital Collections

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St. Mark's United Methodist Church Collection

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Collection Data

Description: The St. Mark's United Methodist Church Collection consist principally of printed matter consisting of anniversary journals and programs. The collection focuses on the years when Reverend John Hicks was pastor, and contains church programs, and programs from services and special events, such as the Annual Debutante Cotillion, and the Business and Professional Club, and church anniversaries.
Names: St. Mark's United Methodist Church (Harlem, New York, N.Y.) (Author)
Dates / Origin: Date Created: 1947 - 1988
Library locations: Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division; Shelf locator: Sc MG 361
Topics: Methodist Church; Hicks, John J., 1915-; African American churches; New York (N.Y.); African American clergy; African Americans -- Religion; African American Methodists; Episcopal churches; Anniversary journals
Genres: Programs; journals (accounts); Fliers (Printed matter); Pamphlets
Notes: Biographical/historical: St. Mark's United Methodist Church in New York City was organized in June, 1871, by Rev. William F Butler. At the time, he was associated with Mother African Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The church was incorporated in 1896. The first several sites of the church were in midtown Manhattan. Under the guidance of pastors Dr. William H Brooks (1897-1923) and Rev. John W Robinson (1923-1931), a site was purchased which was bounded by 137th and 138th Streets and St. Nicholas and Edgecombe Avenues in Harlem. A Gothic-inspired building was completed in 1926. Historically a middle class congregation, St. Mark's was: the first church to form a literary forum for all denominations; the first African American church to become a full member of a white annual conference; the first African American congregation to build a church costing more than half a million dollars; the first African American congregation to have two of its pastors appointed as district superintendents. Several of the church's pastors were actively involved in community service. These include Rev. Brooks, a founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the National Urban League. At the time, Brooks was considered New York City's most politically active African American miister. Rev. Dr. John J Hicks, who commenced his relationship with the church in 1964, was also associated with the NAACP and the Harlem branch of the Young Men's Christian Association, and was involved in community service in other ways as well. By the mid-1940s, St. Mark's had developed a strong social work agency. In 1958, educational and social service programs were developed to reach people of all age groups, and in 1969 the church formed the Harlem Social Action Research Institute to ensure the establishment of social services through community relations, education, and action, and to create links with other churches to achieve these goals.; Content: Photographs transferred to Photographs and Prints Division.; Ownership: 1989 Riley, Juanita R. 2190 Madison Ave, #9B, New York, N.Y. 10037 Gift
Physical Description: Extent: .4 lin. ft. (1 archival box)
Type of Resource: Text; Still image
Identifiers: NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b11543680; MSS Unit ID: 20615; Accession number: SCM89-13; Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): d333e1e0-c61f-012f-6f18-58d385a7bc34

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