Minutes of the North Ohio Annual Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church . . .

Toledo, Ohio: [The Conference], 1924. 9” x 6”. Stapled thin card wrappers. Pp. 63. Very good: wrappers gently split at staples and tips but holding firmly, former owner's signature to top edge; mild corner crease throughout.

This is a rare book of proceedings from an annual meeting of the North Ohio Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), the first independent Black denomination in the United States.

AME grew out of the Free African Society established by Richard Allen, Absalom Jones and others in Philadelphia in 1787. Per its Centennial Encyclopaedia published in 1916, “The founders saw their race ostracized, segregated, enslaved and crushed” and strove to “encourage free religious thought and action,” “to enlighten, evangelize and to lift up mankind.” By 1836 the church had reached Ohio and eight years later founded its first school, Union Seminary, near Columbus. In 1856, AME founded Wilberforce University, the first college owned and operated by African Americans and one of the largest and most prestigious HBCUs in the country.

This book documents the 1924 session of AME's North Ohio Conference, with presiding bishop Joshua H. Jones. Born into slavery, Jones became the first African American elected to the Columbus Board of Education in 1892 and served as president of Wilberforce from 1900 to 1908. Along with detailed minutes of daily conference activities, the book holds names and reports of officers and committees such as the Ministers Wives' Association, “Evangelists” and missions: “We need men and women who are bold as St. Paul of old to speak for the cause.” A “Report on Christian Education” listed a number of new “beacon lights of learning” such as Paul Quinn College and Morris Brown, and a “State of the Country” report noted “a healthy improvement” in “industrial, economic, moral and religious” conditions – “But eternal vigilance is still the price of liberty.” The book notes countless churches, members and donations, and the last few pages hold tables of financial data, with every district, town and pastor in the conference listed. Its former owner, Veeta Jackson, was listed among the donors from Alliance, Ohio.

Rich coverage of an Ohio conference of an important African American denomination. We were unable to locate any holdings in OCLC. Very good. Item #8674

Price: $400.00