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St. John's African Methodist Episcopal Church was the first church for African Americans in Nebraska, organized in North Omaha in 1867.[2] It is located at 2402 North 22nd Street in the Near North Side neighborhood. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Organized in the fall of 1865, St. John's first minister, Rev. W. T. Osborne, was the first African American minister in Nebraska. The first meetings being held at a private residence on Capitol Avenue and Ninth Street in present-day downtown Omaha. After worshiping for a short time on Harney Street, the church moved to Douglas and Fifteenth Streets until the summer of 1867. That year a lot was purchased on the corner of Eighteenth and Webster Streets in Near North Omaha. The original church, designed by renowned local African American architect Clarence W. Wigington, was built for $1,000.[3]
The longest standing member of the church was Mrs. Eliza Turner, who until her death in 1938 regularly attended St. John's for seventy years.[4] Today St. John's hosts a thriving congregation, and the church serves in a variety of capacities to the surrounding community.
[edit] Pastors
- Rev. J. H. Hubbard, 1866 to 1868
- Rev. W. B. Ousley, 1868 to 1869
- W. L. Harrod, 1869 to 1870
- William Sexton, 1870 to 1871
- G. W. Gaines, 1871 to 1873
- J. W. Braxton, 1873 to 1875
- B. F. Watson, 1875 to 1876
- J. A. Fouche, 1876 to 1878[5]
[edit] Architecture
Located at 2402 North 22nd Street in Omaha, St. John's A.M.E. Church building was designed by local architect Frederick S. Stott in 1921 in the Prairie School style. In 1947 an auditorium was added, and additional rooms were finished in 1956. The building is remarkable for its reflection of the progressive attitude of its congregation at a time when traditional values in religious architecture were prevalent. The building is recognized as an important contribution to the Prairie School style, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in May 1980.
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