Freedom Seeking and New Life Building

An Active Political Population

As a new arrival, you would quickly come to realize that this community was involved in many levels of political organization.

Leaders in the Black community began to recognize a need for a local, regional and national political organizing as early as 1830 with the first Colored Convention.

By 1832, Black men were excercising voting power.

By 1838 Black leaders organized and fought to maintain the right to vote. St. Paul's Lutheran Church, in addition to being the first Black Lutheran congregation in the United States was also the site of many of these organizing meetings. A meeting here is documented in  The Appeal of the 40,000. 

See the full history of the 1838 fight against disenfranchisement here  https://www.1838blackmetropolis.com/post/uncovering-the-forgotten-story-the-hidden-civil-rights-movement-of-1838 

Location: 310 Quince Street

Multiple Safe Houses

Your journey to Philadelphia must include a place to stay.

There were multiple safe houses in Philadelphia. One account from 1841 listed 168 people in 12 houses in one night (see  Smedley, Page 348) .

This home, once occupied by A.M.E Reverend Jeremiah Durham and his family, was where Harriet Jacobs stayed when she first arrived in Philadelphia.

In her book,  Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl  she writes this:

"At daylight, I heard women crying fresh fish, berries, radishes, and various other things. All this was new to me. I dressed myself at an early hour, and sat the window to watch that unknown tide of life."

 Learn more about how we found this house.  

Location: 1016 Waverly Street (formerly 6 Barley Street)

Large Scale Underground Railroad Organizing

One thing you'll find out quickly is just how many people, routes and ways are involved in rescuing people from enslavement.

This house, once occupied by William Whipper and Steven Smith, also served as an Underground Railroad stop.

Whipper and Smith were wealthy Black entrepreneurs and they used their wealth to purchase above ground railcars to transport Freedom Seekers to Philadelphia from Columbia, PA.

 Read more about Smith and Whipper and above ground railcars.  

Location: 919-21 Lombard Street

Multiple Churches to Join

Most new arrivals in Philadelphia would join a church right away.

Lombard Central Presbyterian Church was the third Black Presbyterian church in the Black Metropolis. There were 16 churches  listed in the 1838 Report on the Present State.  

Built in 1844, it was an active church until the congregation moved to West Philadelphia in the 1930s.

Location: 832-836 Lombard Street

A Municipal Center For On-Going Support

At some point you may need financial help. Maybe you'll need help for rent, or help to pay the doctor. You might also want to start a group and need a public room to rent.

This site is where you would come.

Black organizations used two townhomes at this site in service to the community. Benezet Hall (508 South 7th Street) was where many organizations got their start and it was also home to Black phlantrophic and economic associations.

512 South 7th Street was home to multiple Black Beneficial Societies and a Masonic lodge.

This site was also the convention center for the 1833 Colored Convention.

 Read more about the history of this site.  

Location: 508 South 7th Street and 512 South 7th Street

Social Support To Launch into a New Life

If you are a woman, you might start your new life here, at the Moral Reform Retreat, a shelter founded by Black women for Black women in 1843, and led by  Hetty Reckless , who was a Freedom Seeker herself.

Here you would have a safe place to call home, learn to read and write, learn skills and eventually be placed into a safe place for you to continue to work.

Location: No longer standing. Was at the corner of 7th and Lombard.

A Community of Underground Railroad Agents

You would quickly find that there were hundreds, maybe thousands, of people working to bring enslaved people to freedom.

This house, 412 South 7th Street, is mentioned in William Still's Underground Railroad.

Rachel Myers lived here with her family. She attended Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church.

In the Underground Railroad, this is the site where a box with a woman who had shipped herself to freedom, was delivered.

 Read this incredible story.  

Location: 412 South 7th Street.

Books and Higher Education

If you want to, there are ways to get higher education as well.

In 1838 there were multiple Black literary groups. Later, in 1852, the Institute for Colored Youth opened it's doors for high school and early collegiate level education.

By 1840, this site, the A.M.E Book Concern was printing bibles and hymnals. They eventually branched into printing the Christian Recorder newspaper, which is still in publication, as well as history books.

Location: 631 Pine Street.

Medical Support

If you get sick, there are people who dedicate their lives to medical assistance.

The 1838 census listed 29 people who had a medical occupation. This included two physicians, Dr. Belfast Burton and Dr. James. J.G. Bias, 3 midwives, 14 nurses, 2 "Indian" doctors, 4 bleeders and 2 dentists.

In 1860, this site, 606 Pine Street, was home to a Black doctor, Dr. James J.G. Bias, and a Black dentist, Dr. Joseph Brister.

That means that this site could have been a medical clinic for the Black community a decade before the opening of Mercy-Douglass hospital.

 Dr. Bias and his wife Eliza had a long history of assisting Freedom Seekers . Dr. Brister's son James was the first Black graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.

Location: 600, 602, 605, 606 and 610 Pine Street.

A Culture that Loves the Arts

You most likely will hear music as you walk through the streets and alleyways of the 1838 Black Metropolis.

This site was home to  Frank Johnson , a world recognized composer and band leader. Raised in Philadelphia, in this neighborhood, Johnson helped to popularize the cotillion and his band was sought out in white and Black communities.

Johnson also organized concerts featuring vocal and instrumental artists. The would perform works by Johnson but also popular classical works.

Location: Historical marker at 6th and Pine.

Schools for the Children

Your children can attend school.

This is the location of the Lombard Street Public School. Over 500 Black children attended school here daily starting in 1823.

This is where Octavius Catto went to school.

In 1838 there we 23 private and public schools for Black children in Philadelphia. Most of the private schools were started by Black teachers who also taught the classes. The 1838 PAS census lists 11 teachers.

Location: No longer standing. Corner of Addison and South 6th Street.