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Back in the Day: Historic St. James AME Church [1]

['Tammy C. Barney', 'More Tammy C. Barney', 'Verite News']

Date: 2024-01-30  

St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church in Mid-City. Credit: Tammy C. Barney

Historic St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church in Mid-City has received a Preserving Black Churches grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. The $200,000 grant will help with repairs, such as replacing the church’s historic roof spires.

In 1848, free people of color established St. James AME. According to the church’s website, one of the 10 founders was Jordan Bankston Noble, Gen. Andrew Jackson’s drummer during the Battle of New Orleans. The church charter did not allow enslaved people to become members, but that didn’t stop St. James AME from allowing them to attend service or from fighting for their freedom. Police officers closed the church from 1858 to 1862 because members championed the abolishment of slavery.

During the Civil War, the church at 222 N. Roman St. was used as the headquarters for a company of Black Union soldiers under the command of Col. James Lewis. During Reconstruction, Gov. P.B.S. Pinchback and Lt. Governor Oscar J. Dunn (the country’s first Black lieutenant governor) were members of St. James.

The Black Masons of Louisiana and the YMCA for Black men (later named the Dryades Street YMCA) were founded at St. James. The church also established the Bienville School for Black children, renamed the Albert Wicker School in honor of a St. James trustee.

Civil rights protests also were staged at the church. “I remember the first time I visited St. James,” civil rights leader and University of New Orleans Professor Raphael Cassimere Jr., said during a 2014 lecture. “It was in early 1961 and was the staging area for a march that Rev. Avery C. Alexander has called … When I arrived in front of the church, I was more impressed with the exterior than the relatively small number of marchers.”

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[1] Url: https://veritenews.org/2024/01/30/back-in-the-day-historic-st-james-ame-church/

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