St. Luke's Episcopal Church

Built in 1880, St. Luke's Episcopal Church was Washington D.C.'s first independent African-American Episcopalian church. It's congregation was established in 1875 by a group of Episcopalians led by Alexander Crummell (1819-1898), who was one of the 19th century's preeminent African-American ministers, intellectuals, missionary, and civil-rights activists. He was a proponent of the concept of Pan-Africanism, believing that Africans and those with African ancestry should unify to end slavery and discrimination. Crummell lived as an Episcopal missionary in the newly independent African country of Liberia from 1853 to 1873 to promote this idea and convert Africans to Christianity. He strongly believed in the role churches played in shaping the lives of African Americans and serving as agents of social change and education. The church is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a National Historic Landmark for its association with Crummell.