19 May 2010

Lost Capitol Hill: “The Little White Church Under the Hill”

As the US Capitol and its buildings grew to keep pace with the growing country, many historic buildings were removed to make way for new, purpose-built structures. These lost buildings give endless fodder for these columns, of course, but also represent a tragic loss to those who are historically-minded. Today’s column looks at one particularly sad loss, the original site of the First Presbyterian Church of Washington, as well as the Israel Bethel Church, site of one of the more dramatic recruitment drives of the Civil War took place. This is the church widely known as The Little White Church Under the Hill’

The First Presbyterian Church of Washington DC was actually the second church of this denomination in Washington. Presbyterians had founded a church in 1795, but, like so many things in the early years of the federal city, it had disappeared shortly thereafter. In 1809, the Presbyterians tried again. This time, their meetings held around the city, including in the Capitol, were successful enough so that by 1811, they were able to begin building their own church. They selected a site just south of the Capitol, at the corner of B and South Capitol Streets, near Delaware Avenue, for this purpose.
The congregation however soon outgrew the modest building they had erected, and so in 1827, the congregation built a new church at 4-1/2 Street NW (now John Marshall Place) and moved on. Fortunately, there was another group who was interested in finding a place to worship: The Israel Bethel AME Church. Israel Bethel had been founded in 1820 by African-American members of Ebenezer Church who were disappointed in Ebenezer’s policies towards them, particularly in their being forced to sit in the balcony, segregated from the rest of the congregation. Departing from Ebenezer, they began meeting in a variety of locations, including the front parlor of their pastor’s home. A few years later, they were in a position to acquire a church building of their own.
The Little White Church Under the Hill was a perfect fit for this new congregation, and so the same year that the Presbyterians moved out, the Israel Bethel Church moved in. Over the next years, a series of vigorous pastors grew the church, culminating in 1862 with the selection of Henry McNeil Turner.

Henry McNeil Turner from Harper's Magazine (sonofthesouth.net)

Not yet 30, Turner had learned to read in defiance to the laws South Carolina, where teaching African-Americans of any status was forbidden. By the time he was 20, he was preaching, and from earliest days, his sermons attracted crowds. He was therefore the ideal fit with the young and vigorous congregation that was flourishing in the shadow of the Capitol.
In May, 1863, a year after the signing of the DC Emancipation act and a few months after the promulgation of the Emancipation Proclamation, the most famous event of the church’s history took place. It was a recruitment drive for African-American citizens to join the forces of the Union Army. The drive was sponsored and promoted by Turner, and when they had found enough soldiers to make not just the first but also the second regiment of the United States Colored Troops, Turner joined the first regiment as their chaplain.
The church stayed on Capitol Hill throughout the war, but as the federal government went through a rapid expansion post-Civil War, the land on which the church became of interest to the Architect of the Capitol. In 1872, therefore, the government bought the church, and Israel Bethel AME Church was in need of a new location. In conjunction with the Union Bethel church, which was founded by another group of African-Americans dissatisfied with Ebenezer’s policies, they founded the Metropolitan AME church, which exists to this day at 15th and M Streets NW.
The land on which the Little Church stood was used variously over the years, including a stint as the National Physics Laboratory, until the 1960s, when the Rayburn House Office Building was built on that location.

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