132 West 138th Street ("Odell M. Clark Place")
New York, N.Y. 10030
http://www.abyssinian.org

Organ Specifications: 132 West 138th Street (since 1902) ► V/66 Schantz Organ Co., Op. 1498 (1978) ► III/35 M.P. Möller, Op. R-396 (1950)  • II/5 Wicks Organ Company, Op. 1843 (1938) – Chapel ► III/24 M.P. Möller, Op. 3516 (1923) 166 Waverly Place (1856-1902) • II/10 Labagh & Kemp (1885)

The Abyssinian Baptist Church was organized in 1808, a time when slavery was a fact of life in America. Though slavery had been flickering in New York, the early church members were the survivors of the half freedom status of the New York Colony. A few black Americans and members of the First Baptist Church, then located on Gold Street, refused to accept racially segregated seating for worship. Out of this protest, Rev. Thomas Paul, a minister from Boston, founded the Abysinnian Baptist Church at 44 Anthony Street, now Worth Street. It was the first African-American Baptist Church in New York State. After several years, the church moved to Broadway Tabernacle, then to Thompson Street and Spring Street Hall.

Saying goodbye to the old church on Waverly Place (1907)

In 1856, the church again sought a permanent place of worship and purchased property at 166 Waverly Place, during an era when Greenwich Village was an African-American hub in the city.

Following the black population uptown, the church moved, in 1902, to 242 West 40th Street, into the former Fourth German Mission Reformed Dutch Church.

In 1908, the Rev. Adam Clayton Powell, Sr., began a long tenure as Abyssinian's pastor. Under Rev. Powell's leadership, Abyssinian moved to Harlem, building the present church at 132 West 138th Street. The Tudor Gothic building, contructed between 1922-23 at a cost of $400,000, was designed by Charles W. Bolton & Son, and features European stained glass windows and a pulpit of Italian marble. Following his father's retirement in 1937, the Rev. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., became Abyssinian's charismatic and influential pastor. Membership in the church swelled to 10,000, making it the largest and most influential black church in New York, and the largest Baptist church in the world. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. is remembered as an ardent part of the Black Revolution, a New York City councilman, and the first African-American elected to the House of Representatives, where he served for fourteen terms.

Today, Abyssinian Baptist Church continues its leadership role in Harlem through the Abyssinian Development Corporation, which funds the creation of apartment units for the elderly and homeless in conjunction with the New York City Partnership.