St. James A.M.E. Church Collection

St. James A.M.E. Church Collection

This collection contains booklets and programs for various events and services held at St. James A.M.E. Church in Atlantic City. Among the materials are included anniversary booklets from the seventy-fifth anniversary (1950) and the mortgage burning service (1969). Also included are 3 programs from the New Jersey Annual Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, held in Atlantic City in 1971 and 1975. St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church was established in Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1875 by Rev. Jeremiah H. Pierce and was the first Black church in the city. Originally called Bethel A.M.E. Church of Atlantic City, the first services were held in the dining room of the Ocean House at Maryland and Arctic Avenues. By 1878, the church had land on Baltic Avenue near Maryland and was meeting there with Rev. George Jones, followed by Amos Brown, William Taylor, William M. Watson, and James T. Rex. In 1884, the church moved to a one-story building at New York and Arctic Avenues, where it is still located today, and changed its name to St. James. By 1910 the church had expanded to a two-story brick building.