From Abyssinian to Zion

From Abyssinian to Zion
Author: David W. Dunlap
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 466
Release: 2004-05-12
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 0231500726

From modest chapels to majestic cathedrals, and historic synagogues to modern mosques and Buddhist temples: this photo-filled, pocket-size guidebook presents 1,079 houses of worship in Manhattan and lays to rest the common perception that skyscrapers, bridges, and parks are the only defining moments in the architectural history of New York City. With his exhaustive research of the city's religious buildings, David W. Dunlap has revealed (and at times unearthed) an urban history that reinforces New York as a truly vibrant center of community and cultural diversity. Published in conjunction with a New-York Historical Society exhibition, From Abyssinian to Zion is a sometimes quirky, always intriguing journey of discovery for tourists as well as native New Yorkers. Which popular pizzeria occupies the site of the cradle of the Christian and Missionary Alliance movement, the Gospel Tabernacle? And where can you find the only house of worship in Manhattan built during the reign of Caesar Augustus? Arranged alphabetically, this handy guide chronicles both extant and historical structures and includes 650 original photographs and 250 photographs from rarely seen archives 24 detailed neighborhood maps, pinpointing the location of each building concise listings, with histories of the congregations, descriptions of architecture, and accounts of prominent priests, ministers, rabbis, imams, and leading personalities in many of the congregations

The African American Church in Birmingham, Alabama, 1815-1963

The African American Church in Birmingham, Alabama, 1815-1963
Author: Wilson Fallin
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 238
Release: 1997
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780815328834

This book offers a comprehensive history of the African American church in a community which played a crucial role in the civil rights movement. While the church in Birmingham was indeed a spiritual community, it was also the central institution in the African American community at large, providing leadership as well as economic, political, and social functions in a segregated racist society. This historical analysis begins in the period of slavery with the development of a particularly African American version of Christianity from the merging of African and white evangelical religions. As African Americans moved to Birmingham from the black belt of Alabama, they formed churches which were spiritual communities where African Americans sought hope, security, moral discipline, and self-esteem in the face of racism and segregation. In addition, the study illustrates how churches established institutions that met educational, benevolent, and economic needs. The study concludes with a look at the leadershipprovided by churchmen in the civil rights movement, who brought Martin Luther King, Jr. to the city for massive civil rights demonstrations. (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Alabama, 1995; revised with new preface, foreword, introduction, afterword)