Allen University: Founded in 1870
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Richard Allen, first Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, History of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, 1891.
Founded in 1870 - Location: Columbia, South Carolina
Allen University was founded by the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) in 1870. It’s hard for me to think of another institution (outside of the Federal Government) that has supported and established more institutions of higher learning than the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
It cannot be overstated that the AME Church had a lasting and phenomenal impact on the lives of many Black Americans. It was the first independent African-American religious denomination in the country and it was formed at a time when slavery was still raging throughout the European-controlled Western world.
In 1816 the AME Church was officially established and Richard Allen became its first bishop. Throughout the 1830s and 1840s many bishops rose to prominence in the Church such as Richard Allen (himself, the first bishop), Bishop Paul Quinn, Bishop Henry McNeal Turner and Bishop Daniel Payne.
In 1870, the Columbia Conference of the AME Church purchased 150 acres of land in Cokesbury, South Carolina. The institution was named after Bishop Daniel Payne who was a strong advocator for education in the Church.
After ten years the school was moved to Columbia, SC and renamed Allen University after the Church’s first bishop, Richard Allen.
Richard Allen and Daniel Payne cast such a long and historic light through American history that they are worthy of more study.
Daniel Payne
Daniel Payne was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1811, but he was not enslaved. His father was born to free parents, in Virginia, but when his dad was nine years old, he was tricked into going aboard a ship a with cake and sweets. He was amused on the ship until the ship set sail. He was then taken to Charleston and sold into slavery.
Daniel’s mother was of Native American and Black heritage and she helped to instill in him a love for religion.
Daniel’s father remained in slavery until he was grown and was able to buy his freedom for $1,000. You never know just what a person goes through.
Daniel’s father passed when he was 4 years old and his mother passed away when he was nine.
He grew up to eventually become the leader and Bishop, of the African Methodist Church. His strong ties to education led him to, at times, despise traditional African-American dances and songs that inevitably emerged in the Church.
Yet, Payne was one of the most prolific statesmen, educators and builders of the AME Church. He became the first president of Wilberforce University, thus becoming the first African-American president of a college or university.
That is why Allen University was first named after him.
The man, who Allen University is currently named after, has an even more interesting life.
Richard Allen
Richard Allen was born in slavery, in Philadelphia, in February of 1760 and he and his family were sold into Delaware.
When Richard became older he and his brother began attending Methodist meetings. He convinced his owner to allow a preacher to speak in their home and as a result, his owner began to question slavery and to believe that his owning slaves made him wrong in the eyes of God…so he let Richard and his brother buy their freedom.
After working at any job he could find, Allen continued in his devotion to God and was licensed to preach. He began traveling in Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania on the Methodist circuit. In 1786 he came to St. George’s Methodist Church, in Philadelphia, where he was asked to preach an early morning service for black churchgoers.
He was one of several people who helped to start the Free African Society which offered support to free Blacks in the city of Philadelphia by way of services that were often offered to other citizens of Philadelphia. For instance, many Blacks could not get money or insurance when family member died, or when they became ill. They were also not allowed to go to schools and it was also customary for Black people to be buried in unmarked graves in Philadelphia.
This was especially true for Black people who came to Philadelphia having escaped from slavery or having been granted their freedom in some way.
Richard Allen and the Free African Society provided help to people in need during life changing events, such as deaths in a family, marriages, sicknesses and more.
But, what he would do next would have even a more far-reaching impact on the lives of many Americans
One day, while attending service at St. George’s Methodist Church in Philadelphia, Allen and several of its Black members entered the church to sit down. It is said that the church had recently added a new gallery and Blacks were not going to be allowed in certain areas.
When Allen and others walked into the church a prayer was started and they went to where they assumed their seats would be. As they kneeled down to pray a trustee of the church began to pull one of them up off of his knees saying, “You cannot kneel here.”
The man replied, “Wait until prayer is over.”
But, the trustee would not wait. He called another man over to help him and that man starting tugging on another African-American man to pull him up too!
After the prayer was over, Richard Allen and several other African-Americans left the church as a group. They were leaving the church, but they were walking into history.
A group of these people would go on to form the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas and another group would go on to establish the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the first independent African-American denomination in the country and Richard Allen was its first leader.
By 1880, 400,000 people were members of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and today it is said that it has well over two million members. In addition to that, it still operates close to 20 theological seminaries, colleges and university in the United States and in Africa, including several well-known HBCUs:
Edward Waters College in Jacksonville, FL
Morris Brown College in Atlanta, GA
Paul Quinn College in Dallas, TX
Wilberforce University in Wilberforce, Ohio
and Allen University in Columbia, South Carolina.
References:
African Methodist Episcopal Church. Institutions of Higher Education. Accessed October 15, 2022. https://www.ame-church.com/directory/institutions-of-higher-education/
African Methodist Episcopal Church. Our Church. Accessed October 15, 2022.
Allen, Richard. The Life and Gospel Labors of the Rt. Rev. Richard Allen. Philadelphia: Martin & Boston, 1833.
Barga, Michael. Free African Society. VCU Libraries: Social Welfare History Project. Accessed October 16, 2022. https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/eras/colonial-postrev/free-african-society/
Payne, Daniel. Smith, C.S. ed. Recollections of Seventy Years. Nashville: Publishing House of the A.M.E. Sunday School Union, 1888.
Payne, Daniel. History of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Nashville: Publishing House of the A.M.E. Sunday School Union, 1891.
Smith, Danita. Stories about Black History: Vol. 2. Maryland: Red and Black Ink, LLC. https://searchblackandeducation.com/stories/2017/9/18/rv0r9pzeih6ylxc5paskcglt4bxi0i