Creator: African Methodist Episcopal Church. North Carolina Conference.
Collection number: 4825
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Abstract: Proceedings of the annual meetings of the North Carolina Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church for the years 1935, 1937, 1940, 1943-1946, and 1950. The meetings were held in Wilmington, Fayetteville, Kinston, and Rich Square, N.C. Presiding bishop for most of them was Monroe H. Davis of Baltimore, Md., who was suspended by the National Conference in 1946. Minutes for annual conferences begin with a roll of elders, deacons, lay members, prominent visitors, and other groups present.The Journal of Proceedings documents the activities of the Conference in three sessions per day over the five days of the Conference. Reports of the various committees are transcribed in the minutes, including most notably reports on the A.M.E. Church’s missionary program and reports of the committees on the state of the country and the church, on education, and on temperance. Many of these reports are long essays that include,for example, statements on the meaning and value of education in general, for the African-American community specifically, and the importance of supporting the A.M.E. Church’s own Kittrell College. Reports on the state of the country describe economic hardships and work shortages in the Great Depression and World War II.The report on the state of the country for 1935 discusses the continuing problem of lynching, including the apparent tolerance of the white population for the practice, and notes recent Supreme Court decisions affecting the rights of African-Americans. Conference minutes for each meeting close with detailed A.M.E. Church financial accounts, including the Dollar Money Report and reports of the treasurer, the Finance Committee, and others.
Repository: Southern Historical Collection
Collection Highlights: Proceedings of the annual meetings of the North Carolina Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church for the years 1935, 1937, 1940, 1943-1946, and 1950. The meetings were held in Wilmington, Fayetteville, Kinston, and Rich Square, N.C. The residing bishop for most of them was Monroe H. Davis of Baltimore, Md., who was suspended by the National Conference in 1946.