Journey to Sanctuary
Planning for a permanent exhibition, a traveling exhibition, a website, and public forums exploring the role of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in encouraging migration out of the segregated South and creating community in Philadelphia from the 1940s to the 1970s.
African Americans who arrived in Philadelphia from the South during the Second Great Migration changed the fabric of the City of Brotherly Love. Many of those who braved the difficult journey found sanctuary in the city’s well-established faith communities and growing cultural life. Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church and other African American churches eased the passage of those coming to the Delaware Valley and became centers of vibrant community life and stimulated political activism. By exploring relevant humanities themes, Journey to Sanctuary (JTS) seeks to add to the scholarship of the lesser-documented Second Wave of the Great Migration, which was larger and more diverse than the First Wave. The project’s themes examine how second wave migrants, their descendants, and existing Philadelphia residents navigated the explosive population growth; clash of cultures; diverse opportunities and threats; and the cultural renaissance and political activism.
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Project fields:
African American History; U.S. History
Program:
Exhibitions: Planning
Division:
Public Programs
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Totals:
$74,699 (approved) $73,964 (awarded)
Grant period:
8/1/2018 – 9/30/2019
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