For Dreamweek 2022, a special event will be held focusing in on the recent unearthing of the remains of the original site of San Antonio’s First African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church during the recent activities for the construction of the San Pedro Creek Culture Park.
On January 22nd, 2022, there will be virtual panel discussion, representatives from the St. James AME Church, First Baptist Church, Raba Kistner, San Antonio River Authority, Trinity University, and the City of San Antonio’s Office of Historic Preservation, spotlighting the origins of the findings as well as the site’s National Register of Historic Places designation.
According to San Pedro Creek Archeological Site, the findings were uncovered in early 2020 as construction of the revitalized San Pedro Creek Culture Park. Archeologists and historians argue that in 1871, the A.M.E church, then known as St. James Chapel, began in a portion of the Klemcke/Menger soap factory. Following the growth of the congregation and the onset of Reconstruction, representatives from the church got the opportunity to expand the building in use in 1875.
146 years later, St. James AME Church still stands strong and continues to serve the west side African American community. Since the uncovering, a conversation has been sparked regarding the history and heritage of this important cornerstone of San Antonio African American history.
Regarding the National Register of Historic Places designation, plans are underway to designate the area. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources. San Antonio has a myriad of sites that re historically designated from the King William Historic District, George Washington Carver Library and Auditorium, and the Hays Street Bridge.
Writer Casey Cep, in his 2020 article for The New Yorker “The Fight to Preserve African-American History”, writes, “Historic preservation has its own history. The first preservation laws in the United States protected the land itself, beginning with Ulysses S. Grant’s designation of Yellowstone National Park, in 1872. But, with the Civil War barely over, battlefields, cemeteries, and burial sites quickly became a priority for preservation. The passage of the Antiquities Act of 1906 gave Presidents the right to create national monuments, and that meant that they could protect both the terrain and the artifacts of indigenous cultures found there.”
For the findings at the San Padro Creek Culture Park, this uncovering marks an important footprint in the history of the African American experience in San Antonio, Texas. Tune into the virtual panel discussion on Saturday January 22nd, 2022 from 10am – 12pm. Register by logging on www. dreamweek.org/events
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