This illustration featured in a 1839 edition of the American Anti-Slavery Almanac shows a schoolmaster preventing a free Black woman and her two children from entering his institution. | Image courtesy of The Library Company of Philadelphia

Philadelphia was generally considered a relatively safe place for Black Americans in the decades leading up to the Civil War, yet they were barred from most of the city’s educational and cultural institutions. As a result, many organizations were established by Black residents during this time to address those needs and interests.

One of the earliest was the Reading Room Society, founded in 1828 by a group of men led by prominent businessman William Whipper, who also co-founded the abolitionist group the American Moral Reform Society. It functioned primarily as a lending library and book discussion club.

The Philadelphia Library Company of Colored Persons, founded in 1833, fostered literacy and public speaking for its members with lectures, debates, and readings. When the organization formally incorporated three years later, its Christ Church’s Right Reverend Bishop William White, the first Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the United States following its split from the Anglican Church of England, was an early benefactor who donated books. The library held its meetings in the basement of the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas at 5th and Adelphi (now St. James Place) Streets. By 1841, its membership had grown from the founding nine men to about 100. Its library contained nearly 600 volumes. A similar organization was the Rush Library Company and Debating Society of Pennsylvania, established just three years later.

African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas, founded in 1792, was the first Black Episcopal Church in the United States. The Philadelphia Library Company of Colored Persons held meetings in the church’s basement in the mid-1800s. | Image: Public Domain

These early groups were formed by and open to adult men, so alongside them sprang up organizations for women and younger men. In 1831, about 20 women, including Sarah Mapps Douglass, organized the Female and Literary Society of Philadelphia. At their weekly meetings, the group would critique each other’s literary writings which were submitted anonymously for review. It was followed a few years later by the creation of the Minerva Literary Association, which focused on recitations of both original and selected works.

The Young Men’s Union Literary Association was created in 1839, restricting its membership to men between the ages of 18 and 40 “of strict moral character.” One of its founders was John Pierre Burr, a son of Aaron Burr and Mary Emmons, of Haitian background. The organization soon changed its name to the Demosthenian Institute after the ancient Greek orator Demosthenes, signaling their commitment to practicing public speaking through lectures and debates. They also produced a weekly journal, the Demosthenian Shield.

By 1841, several prominent Black men and women created the Gilbert Lyceum to explore both literary and scientific studies, including Sarah Mapps Douglass and her parents Grace and Robert as well as notable abolitionists Robert and Harriet Purvis.

1854 saw the establishment of the Alexandrian Institute, which soon changed its name to the Benjamin Banneker Institute of the City of Philadelphia, in honor of the 18th century African American astronomer and scientist Benjamin Banneker. While several of its founding members were men in their late teens and early 20s, women don’t seem to appear in the minutes of the Institute. It was noted, however, that Sarah Mapps Douglass taught evening classes on physiology and hygiene to women at the organization’s meetings. William T. Catto was a founding member and his son Octavius V. Catto later served as member and recording secretary. The caterer Henry Minton was a member, donating two books in 1858.

A Pennsylvania State Historical Marker at at 409 S. 11th Street honors the founding and former location of the Benjamin Banneker Institute. | Photo: Michael Bixler

Membership was open to “any male person of good moral character, and of ordinary literary attainment.” Active members were expected to deliver “an original lecture, essay, poem, or oration before the Institute.” Meetings were held on the second Wednesday of each month at various locations, including Benezet Hall on South 7th Street between Lombard and South Streets. Examples of their discussions included “That the secret practices of vice have a greater influence on a community for evil than the open practices of vice” in June 1858 and “In embracing religion, are men influenced by love to God or fear of punishment?” on July 28, 1858.

In the group’s meeting minutes in May 1858, it was noted that delegates representing the Banneker Institute presented the group’s credentials to the Literary Congress in their hall on the southeast corner of 9th and Spring Garden Streets, but when a vote was taken at a subsequent meeting, they were turned down, learning that three associations had “instructed their delegates to ‘vote against any motion made to admit a colored society.’” Those voting in favor expressed regret to the Banneker delegates and urged them to reapply at a later date. The report noted, “We, however, are of opinion that it would be a compromise of dignity to make an application after having been refused.”

Members of the Institute also operated the Banneker House, a resort for Black Americans near the beach at Cape May, New Jersey due to the policy of segregation at the shore.

The Banneker Institute was active until 1872 and is considered the predecessor to the Afro-American Historical Society which Banneker member Robert M. Adger founded in 1879. Today, a historical marker commemorating the organization is at 409 S. 11th Street.