Facts about Black Catholic History in the Archdiocese of Baltimore

In 1634, boats from England, the Ark and Dove, landed in Southern Maryland. According to historians, there were 100 Catholics, 2 priests and a servant Catholic Negro on board (Henry S. Spauling, Catholic Colonial Maryland, 1931, pg. 102). The Afro American newspaper reported that there were two Blacks about these ships. One, John Price from England, sometimes referred to as Joyce, and one from Barbados, Mattias de Sousa, who assisted in the rebuilding of one of the ships as it was shipwrecked during its voyage. Yet another report from Rev. John Gillard speaks of a Black man named Hannibal, a servant in the family of Leonard Calvert, who remained with the family until his death. It is believed that Hannibal was Catholic since it was customary for servants to be instructed in the faith of the family he/she served.

Before the Emancipation Proclamation, slaves, slave owners and indentured servants all worshipped together.

By 1636 more Blacks must have come into the Catholic community. There is a report that a Jesuit traveled from Newton to Blackstone Island in Southern Maryland to "offer Mass for the English and Colored people."

The baptismal registers of St. Peter Pro-Cathedral and the Cathedral of the Assumption (now known as the Basilica of the Assumption) include records of African-American baptisms as far back as 1797, with the baptism of an eighteen year old woman, Jeanne Antoinette Sanite (Cyprian Davis, The History of Black Catholics in the United States).

In 1790 there was a congregation of Blacks that attended services in the basement of St. Mary’s Seminary on Paca Street.

In 1801 Fr. John Souge, from Meldley’s Neck, St. Mary’s County, publically spoke out against slavery and called for insurrection.

St. Francis Xavier Parish in East Baltimore was founded in 1863, becoming the first official Negro parish. The faith community bought an historic Universalist Church for $6,000. Fr. Michael O’Conner, S.J., helped raise funds for this purchase. This church was also the site of Henry Clay’s Nominational Address.

In 1843 the first Black Catholic Organization was founded, with a membership of 270. They met in the basement of St. Ignatius Church, in what was known as Calvert Hall. St. Ignatius Church is on Calvert Street in Baltimore City.

The Oblate Sisters of Providence were formed in 1829. Mr. George Hoffman gave this religious order a home at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and St. Mary’s Court. It was here that the Oblate Sisters of Providence established the first institution for higher learning for Blacks in the United States. As an aside, it is interesting to note that there is a Hoffman Street in west Baltimore close to the above site of the Oblate Sisters.

In 1836 the Oblate Sisters of Providence built a chapel on Richmond Street (in the area where the Fifth Regiment Army stands today). This site held their convent and academy.

During the Civil War, the Jenkins family assisted the Josephite Fathers and Brothers in establishing an orphanage for Black Children. The orphanage was located at the corners of Hilton Street, near Carlisle Avenue, in the Walbrook section of Baltimore. That site is now St. Cecilia’s Church. Ephipany College was also established by the Josephites during this time. The college was later moved to another section of Walbrook, closer to the Hilton/Leakin Park area.

St. Peter Claver Church in west Baltimore was once the largest Black Catholic community in the United States, organizing over 10 thousand people to participate in their annual May Processions.

During the period from 1863 to 1865, William A. Williams, an African-American who studied at Rome’s Urban College, published a journal called The Truth Communicator. This publication was directed to freed slaves. Williams was an active member of St. Francis Xavier Church (James Hennesey, S.J., American Catholics, pgs. 144-145).

In 1891 Fr. Charles Uncles was ordained the first Black Josephite priest in the United States. Fr. Augustine Tolton was the first black priest ordained in Rome.

In 1894 the Fifth Black Catholic Congress was held in Baltimore at St. Peter Claver Church. The president of the Congress, Dr. William Lofton, addressed the Congress in these words, "we hope to hail the day when the American people, the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, and the laity shall rise up in their might and stamp out the prejudice which is today destroying the life blood of this county."

St. Patrick Church on Broadway was built by indentured French and Blacks as well as Black slaves.

The Benedict de Moor Center was, at one time, the only center established to assist African-American youth discerning a vocation. It was originally located at St. Bernardine Church in west Baltimore then was relocated to St. Edward Church.

For a list of African-American Catholic Bishops in the United States and other information pertaining to African-American Catholics, visit the National Black Catholic Congress.