Documenting the Architectural History of the African Methodist Episcopal Church: A Case Study

Join us for&nbsp;<em>Documenting the Architectural History of the African Methodist Episcopal Church: A Case Study</em>, with Columbia University doctoral student&nbsp;Charlette Caldwell. This session illustrates Philadelphia and its environs as a crucible for Black self-reliance through property. Many AME church leaders supported property ownership as an avenue for respectability, appealing to those with economic and political influence despite historical limitations placed on Black Americans. This idea of Black respectability coupled with land ownership is significant in the property acquisition and eventual founding of the Bethel AME Church of Germantown and its connection with the Montier Family, a Black family whose ancestral ties to the first mayor of Philadelphia led to economic stability not afforded to most Black Americans.

Charlette Caldwell (MSHP '16) is a Ph.D. student and provost diversity fellow studying the history and theory of architecture at Columbia University. Her research focuses on understanding the historical evolution of “selfhood” and “personhood” reflected in architecture created by, or patronized by, historically marginalized groups through the creation of “vernacular” or “ordinary” buildings in nineteenth-century United States. Caldwell received a Bachelor of Architecture from Syracuse University and a Master of Science in Historic Preservation from Weitzman. She continues to work part time in Philadelphia on various preservation projects.

This program is part of the Changing the Face of the City speaker series, a collaboration between the Weitzman School of Design and The Carpenters' Company, and curated by Francesca Ammon. Throughout this year, we will present a series of programs and events that explore the intersection of historic preservation and urban planning/renewal through the lens of equity and social justice. “Changing the Face of the City” was the phrase renowned urban planner Edmund Bacon used to describe Philadelphia’s renaissance in his classic 1967 book Design of Cities, unintentionally alluding to the literal consequences of many preservation, planning, and renewal efforts.

If you require any accessibility accommodation, such as live captioning, audio description, or a sign language interpreter, please email news@design.upenn.edu to let us know what you need. Please note, we require at least 48 hours’ notice. If you register within 48 hours of this event, we won’t be able to secure the appropriate accommodations.