African Meeting House

The African Meeting House is one of Boston’s most treasured buildings. It was constructed in 1806 and still stands today as the oldest existing Black church in America.

As the years went on, the community saw a need to expand the church’s duties beyond religion and to become a bigger community hub centered on events and education. Some of the most important figures of the abolitionist movement spoke here, including William Lloyd Garrison, Maria Stewart, Wendell Phillips, Sarah Moore Grimké, and Frederick Douglass.

At the tail end of the 20th century, Trust for Public Land stepped in to help the African Meeting House pursue its next chapter: expanding into an adjacent building. We worked with the house’s organizers to acquire an additional space, which would become the Education and Technology Center, providing public access to documents and artifacts. The expansion is helping the museum fulfill its mission of showcasing the organization of the African American community in the formative years of the republic.

TPL is proud of its sweeping projects involving thousands of acres in faraway places. But these cultural gems in urban areas often have an enormous impact too, and we’re proud to play our part.