Editing Free Black Community (section)

== Institutions and Organizations ==

Philadelphia's Free Black Community developed an extraordinary array of institutions that provided mutual aid, education, religious worship, and civic engagement. The Free African Society, founded in 1787 by Richard Allen and Absalom Jones, was one of the first mutual aid organizations in Black America, providing assistance to widows, orphans, and the distressed while also advocating for community interests. From this foundation grew a network of benevolent societies that provided insurance, burial funds, and social services in an era when public welfare was minimal and private charity often excluded Black applicants. By 1838, Philadelphia had over 100 Black beneficial societies with combined memberships in the thousands.<ref name="horton">{{cite book |last=Horton |first=James Oliver |last2=Horton |first2=Lois E. |title=In Hope of Liberty: Culture, Community, and Protest Among Northern Free Blacks, 1700-1860 |year=1997 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York}}</ref>

Churches formed the institutional backbone of the community. [[Mother Bethel and the AME Church]], founded by Richard Allen in 1794, became the mother church of the African Methodist Episcopal denomination. St. Thomas African Episcopal Church, founded by Absalom Jones, provided an alternative for those drawn to Episcopal worship. First African Baptist Church, established in 1809, and numerous other congregations served the community's diverse religious needs. These churches were far more than places of worship; they served as community centers, schools, meeting halls, and organizing bases for political and social activism. Ministers were community leaders whose influence extended far beyond spiritual matters.<ref name="nash"/>