Abyssinian Baptist Church, Harlem

Abyssinian Baptist Church, Harlem

From 1905 Harlem’s black population increased rapidly as part of the Great Migration. So much so, that by the 1920s and 1930s the area became associated with a cultural and artistic movement, known as the Harlem Renaissance, and a new geographical consciousness shaped by emergent forms of Pan-Africanism and Black internationalism. Harlem’s churches were important spaces to facilitate and shape this new politics, and none more so than the Abyssinian Baptist Church, the largest black church in New York. The church’s opening in 1923 was a national event, and it quickly became a co-ordinating centre for many national black organisations. Celebrations were held when, in 1928, the 12-year mortgage that had financed the construction of the building was cleared, less than five years after it had been taken out. The Church’s pastors, Adam Clayton Powell Snr and Adam Clayton Powell Jr, were leading figures in African American life and the latter would become the first black Congressman from New York City. Sites like these became sites of major international events and gatherings, including the 1927 4th Pan-African Congress. They offered spaces to conceive of different kinds of internationalism from that associated with large, governmental organisations.