Christ Church Neighborhood House explores lives of free and enslaved Black people who worshipped there in colonial times
Christ Church Neighborhood House reveals a lesser-known history in Colonial Philadelphia by exploring the lives of Black people, both free and enslaved, who worshipped at "The Nation's Church."
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Philadelphia tourism bureaus have long told the story of the famous and prominent who once worshipped at Christ Church of Philadelphia during colonial times.
There were George Washington, the nation’s first president; Benjamin Franklin, scientist, publisher, and signer of the Declaration of Independence; and, of course, Betsy Ross, who legend has it sewed the first American flag.
But this summer, Christ Church, founded in 1695, and which calls itself “the Nation’s Church,” is embarking on a historically based arts project to recognize the free and enslaved Black people who also worshipped at the church at 20 N. American St.
“Christ Church Neighborhood House is pulling back the curtain on a lesser-known history in the City of Brotherly Love,” began an email announcement by Christ Church of a two-phase project to reveal findings of recent research about exactly who attended The Nation’s Church.
An arts project called “Groundings: An Exhibition” will open at 7 p.m. Friday and run through the end of the year, said Hannah Opdenaker, the former interim director of the Christ Church Preservation Trust. The exhibit is free.
Documents revealed Black worshippers at Christ Church
Opdenaker said that in 2021, the preservation trust was digitalizing the church’s baptism, marriage, and burial records and came across documents about four Black people who worshipped there. She said three of them may be buried in the historic Christ Church Burial Ground where Franklin is also buried.
Malkia Okech, who curated Groundings, said: “Burial records and other sacramental records at Christ Church generally state if Black individuals accounted for were free or enslaved. If they were enslaved, they are recorded in relation to who owned them. Visitors will be able to directly interact with these digitized records in the show.”
Opdenaker said Christ Church received a grant from the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage in 2023 and will be taking all the years of research and archives and presenting the stories of the everyday acts of resilience and survival by Black people, free and enslaved.
“We see freed people, we see enslaved, we see paupers, and we see Philadelphia’s elite, all worshipping here,” she said.
“But we just hear the stories of a select few. This is really a chance to dive into the ordinary people’s lives, as opposed to the famous.”
For example, she noted that Absalom Jones, the Philadelphia African Episcopal cleric who protested the treatment of Black worshippers at St. George’s Methodist Episcopal Church with fellow minister Richard Allen, founder of the African Methodist Episcopal church, was ordained as a minister at Christ Church.
The first phase will be the Groundings exhibit opening Friday at the Christ Church Neighborhood House. It will be an exhibit of actual archival records and visual arts, including paintings, collages, and sculptures, she said.
The second phase of will be On Buried Ground, a performance of storytelling, dance, and spoken word that will be presented as part of the Fringe Festival from Sept. 4-14.
Archives presented with art
Okech, who describes herself as a community archaeologist, and who works as a storyteller, archivist, and memory worker, was brought on to curate Groundings. She commissioned work from four artists for the exhibition:
Misty Sol, who created a portrait of Alice of Dunk’s Ferry, a Black enslaved woman who was known as a storyteller who operated the ferry in Bucks County. Alice, who is said to have been born enslaved in 1694, was believed to have been the first Black child whose birth was recorded in Philadelphia. She died in 1802 at 108, although some reports say she was born in 1686 and lived to be 116 years old. She worshipped at Christ Church her entire lifetime and reportedly rode a horse to the church when she was 95.
Theodore A. Harris has created collages that will play with historical images that challenge the white gaze.
Intisar Hamilton created a floating sculpture that represent the children of the burial ground.
And Destiny Crockett created a triptych showing her representation of children of the burial ground.
Groundings: An Exhibition opens at 7 p.m. Friday, July 26, at Christ Church Neighborhood House, 20 N. American St., Philadelphia, 19106. The exhibit continues through Dec. 2024. Admission is free.