Truth and Reconciliation Archives - Maryland Episcopalian

From the Archives: African Americans and Trinity Church, Baltimore’s, Parish Register

Feb 19, 2020 | Archives and History, Featured post, Truth and Reconciliation

Trinity Church in Baltimore was begun in 1804 in Fells Point and flourished for over thirty years until German families began moving into the area, and yellow fever epidemics decimated the congregation. The church building was sold to a German Lutheran congregation in 1836, but before that time Trinity’s rector, the Rev. Elisha Rattoone, had recorded the names of several African American persons he had married or baptized.

From the Archives: Bishop James Kemp

Feb 5, 2020 | Archives and History, Encounter, Featured post, Truth and Reconciliation

In the diocese of Maryland’s ongoing effort to grapple with our past and begin to bring about reconciliation and healing, we are mining the Archives for information about African Americans who had a relationship with the Episcopal Church in Maryland. One path is searching confirmation records.

Cathedral of the Incarnation dedicates new hymnal in the African-American tradition

Jan 22, 2020 | Diocesan News, Encounter, Parish Ministry, Prayer and Worship, Truth and Reconciliation

Dean Boulter sees this addition of a new hymnal as one of the ways that the cathedral shows it commitment to inclusion and racial reconciliation. “Our church has not had a good history when it comes to valuing diversity. The cathedral church was founded when two predominantly white congregations joined together and moved out of neighborhoods in Baltimore City that were becoming integrated. I hope this act, and others that we will are considering, will help heal the breach that racism has created in Baltimore.” Dean Boulter acknowledged that it is a small and symbolic act but he said, “symbols are important and even small acts of reconciliation make a difference.”

From the Archives: African American History in our Archives

Jan 22, 2020 | Archives and History, Encounter, Truth and Reconciliation

Since delegates at our Diocesan Convention passed Resolution 2019-06 regarding racial reconciliation and reparations, there has been renewed interest in finding records of enslaved persons and other African Americans with ties to the Diocese of Maryland. As noted in a recent issue of Smithsonian Magazine, several new data bases are being launched to add to our knowledge of the lives of enslaved people in North America, including Enslaved: Peoples of the Historic Slave Trade and Freedom Narratives. Investigations are also ongoing concerning post-Civil War narratives, including segregation, Jim Crow laws and unfair practices in housing, education and hiring. Although our archives is small, we possess many documents which can enhance our knowledge of African American life in Maryland over the past 400 years.