As a company, Kyle Carter frequently discovers amazing items like glass bottles at construction sites, but his most recent discovery stands out for its historical significance.
Local historians in Cape May, Massachusetts, discovered a notice that had been nailed to a frame at a traditional church six months later, and it is estimated to be around 130 years old. The handwritten note is from a popular Black Civil War activist who rose to prominence in the area, the say.
The text was identified last week as being written by Rev. after months of investigation. According to Alexander Heritage Newton, the church’s reverend between 1889 and 1892, Rachel Dolhanczyk, a local historian who directs the Center of Community Arts ‘ background programs, said the same.
Newton, a native abolitionist and soldier, served in the Black army of troops known as the 29th , Connecticut Volunteers during the Civil War.
The brief letter mentions the man who worked on the murals for the , Allen African Methodist Episcopal Church , and that the fee was$ 250. The letter is from the year 1891 and is dated , June 19, which happens to be Juneteenth, a holiday celebrating the emancipation of freed slaves in the , U. S.
Dolhanczyk remarked,” It could have just been lost.”
Dolhanczyk claimed that the note was written on heavier report. The church’s pastor’s level was nailed to the frame, according to the historian, related to how a craftsman engraves their brand on wood.
Carter, a 38-year-old company from Middle Township who spent the summer renovating the cathedral, said,” It’s exciting.” ” I just find it really exciting because you don’t get one every day,” I said.
One of the several components that is being preserved as part of an effort to keep Cape May’s Dark story is the building at , Franklin Street , and Osborne Court.
Lafayette Street, a pre-1700s tower, was renovated and converted into the Harriet Tubman Museum. The church’s cousin and former separated organization, Cape May County Library, is the newest branch of the .
Leaders in the area are working on the church to become the new house of the performing arts organization East Lynne Theater Company. The firm, which has been in existence since 1980, will relocate to the upcoming reopened shelter in the spring from the First Presbyterian Church on Hughes Street .
We’ve been informed about this text for a while, according to Mark David Boberick, co-chair of the company’s panel, to NJ Advance Media . ” Story is like an onion where you kind of keep peeling it up and there are all these layers,” says one historian. That’s what we’re currently in the middle of.
The ancient Black church, which was established in 1870 and will go by the names Allen AME Church and Clemans Theater.
According to Carter, the note, which had been hidden behind cement, was revealed in the building’s interior after its exterior was removed in August. After discovering the word attached to a plate on the roof, the contractors used a lift to get it there. Its images were shared with the area, enticed by researchers to look into its history.
The word was resealed beneath sheetrock, but according to Boberick, city officials are weighing whether to grab it or not. City leaders don’t get reached for comment right away.
Boberick hopes that it will be exhibited in public, either by itself or with a beam’s fixings.
The organization and native historians are pleased about the discovery because they believe it adds value to the Jersey Cape’s rich history, particularly African American history, as the drama company prepares to move into its new space.
One of Cape May’s some Black churches is located here. The church was included on the roster of , 10 Most Endangered Traditional Places , in 2021, according to Preservation , New Jersey, a nonprofit that promotes neglected websites.
A two-alarm fire started after a vehicle downed a set of power poles in front of the building, causing damage to its doorway. The capital then purchased it.
The theatre business, which will have exposure to the building for 25 years, has reached a contract. This situation isn’t the first in which a performing arts party took over an empty church for appearances, according to Bobberick, co-chair of the theatre company’s table.
The church’s redevelopment will increase the enthusiasm surrounding its continued use, according to Boberick, according to Boberick.
” We knew we had everything specific,” Boberick said,” but we didn’t know how unique it was until a while later.”
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