Abyssinian Meeting House
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
Images
Outside View of the Abyssinian Meeting House
Early Drawing of the Abyssinian Meeting House (1828)
Abyssinian Meeting House Restoration Project
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
History and Significance of the Abyssinian Meeting House
By all appearances, the Abyssinian Meeting House is a modest, vernacular wood-framed building. But from 1828 to the end of the Civil War, runaway slaves disembarking from ships anchored at the Maine State Pier sought the Abyssinian Meeting House for refuge, welcoming arms, and most importantly, a chance for freedom. It is important to remember that even in the north, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 and 1850 called for civilians and bounty hunters to lawfully capture slaves and, often for a reward, return slaves to the Slave Master.1
This was not, however, the complete reason behind the construction of the Abyssinian Meeting House. With African Americans segregated in “Negro Pews” at the main churches in Portland, six men in 1826 published a letter in the Eastern Argus newspaper condemning the existing churches. These men included Christopher Christian Manuel, Reuben Ruby, Caleb Jonson, Clement Thomson, Job L. Wentworth, and John Siggs. Two years later, Manuel and Ruby organized and incorporated the Abyssinian Religious Society, and 22 additionally African American residents helped establish the first congregation.
1828 also marked the year the Society appointed trustees and moved into the present-day Abyssinian Meet House.
From the beginning, the Abyssinian Meeting House served a political function, and it would feature speakers, abolition and temperance meetings, and eventually the Female Benevolent Society and the Portland Union Anti-Slavery Society. As a self-employed hackman, founder Reuben Ruby transported slaves to the Abyssinian Meeting House, which served as an essential stop in the Underground Railroad’s northeastern track for escaped slaves fleeing to Canada.
After the Civil War and with the abolition of slavery, the Abyssinian Meeting House continued its congregational services and cultural activities for the African American community. However, it no longer stood as an educational center, as since 1856, African American students have attended integrated schools.
The Abyssinian Meeting House dissolved and most of the congregation moved to the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in 1917. By 1924, the building was used for tenement housing, and it stayed this way until the building was seized for unpaid taxes in 1991. Seven years later, the Committee to Restore the Abyssinian bought the building, and by 2006, the Abyssinian Meeting House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2007, it was placed on the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.2