tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90809391981189726222024-03-19T05:21:49.669-07:00Tyler's AME History NotesIt is my hope that this Blog will become a forum whereby those who love history in general and the legacy of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AMEC) in particular, can find an outlet and a forum to discuss important moments in our past. Please share your thoughts by contributing comments to the postings, present your fresh insights, and by all means, share this Blog with others. Also, take advantage of the links to helpful websites for further research and study.Mark Kelly Tyler, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00143403593689351925noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080939198118972622.post-69158898697991989172011-12-09T15:33:00.000-08:002011-12-09T15:58:34.445-08:00Richard Allen's son found in Texas: How could it be??? The following short essay by Stephen E. Taylor is written on the life of Bishop Richard Allen's son, Peter Allen. Mr. Taylor sent me a copy of his findings and this is published on this blog by his permission. I'm looking forward to reading more from Mr. Taylor!"A Biographical Essay on the Life of Peter Allen" by Stephen TaylorAllen, Peter (ca. 1805-1836). Peter Allen, a free black who Mark Kelly Tyler, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00143403593689351925noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080939198118972622.post-78816065221020862402011-08-10T18:46:00.000-07:002011-08-10T18:54:00.446-07:00Finding Flora Allen: May She Finally Rest in Peace
I recall vividly one request Bishop Richard Franklin Norris made of me as he appointed me to Mother Bethel in 2008: “I want you to find out what happened to the remains of Flora Allen.” There has never been agreement on where Flora was buried after a 9 month illness took her life in March, 1801. Many believed that she was buried at the Potter’s Field in what is now the prestigious Washington Mark Kelly Tyler, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00143403593689351925noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080939198118972622.post-54520192428604877962011-02-13T05:26:00.000-08:002011-02-13T05:48:04.357-08:00New Bishop Richard Allen Documentary is just in time for Founder's Day!Thanks to generous grants from the Lomax Family Foundation and the D'brickashaw Ferguson Foundation, Mother Bethel was able to complete a new documentary on the life and ministry of Bishop Richard Allen. DVDs will be available for sale in the near future, but the documentary will remain hosted on the Mother Bethel website for free for anyone who wishes to watch it (http://www.motherbethel.org/Mark Kelly Tyler, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00143403593689351925noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080939198118972622.post-50437748207617011842010-12-16T02:41:00.000-08:002010-12-16T04:43:36.482-08:00AME Church Prominent in New Memorial at George Washington's first "White House""If you love your children, if you love your country, if you love the God of love, clear your hands from slaves, burden not your children or your country with them..." Rt. Rev. Richard AllenYesterday, I had the great honor and tremendous responsibility of offering the opening prayer at the dedication of one of Philadelphia's newest historical attractions: "President's House: Freedom and Slavery Mark Kelly Tyler, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00143403593689351925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080939198118972622.post-62345635113969106032010-06-22T08:38:00.000-07:002010-06-22T09:30:12.867-07:00Historic bust of Richard Allen returns to PhiladelphiaThe following article was posted in the Philadelphia Inquirer Newspaper on Friday, June 11, 2010. The unveiling on Thursday, June 17th was incredible and very inspiring! I've also uploaded pictures that document the coverage from the time the bust was picked up at Wilberforce University, taken to be conserved, unveiled at the First District Planning Meeting, and installed at Mother Bethel. Click Mark Kelly Tyler, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00143403593689351925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080939198118972622.post-15302349124677092002010-06-02T04:05:00.000-07:002010-06-02T04:47:33.606-07:00Bishop Richard Allen ParkYesterday, June 1, 2010, was a great day in Radnor, Pennsylvania. Radnor, a part of the "Main Line" in the Philadelphia area, is one of the first places where Bishop Richard Allen preached the gospel. Almost 2 full years before his experiences at St. George's Methodist Church commenced, Bishop Allen found himself in the home of the Waters family, receiving their generosity and preaching the good Mark Kelly Tyler, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00143403593689351925noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080939198118972622.post-87765705603826120422010-02-15T09:02:00.001-08:002010-02-15T09:15:17.935-08:00Bishop Allen's birthday then...and now! (Program Note: Bishop Jeffrey Leath did the occasion and the Wilberforce Choir rescheduled due to the snow)Mark Kelly Tyler, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00143403593689351925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080939198118972622.post-76446747283965105112010-01-28T10:15:00.001-08:002010-01-28T10:19:18.347-08:00Allen 250 Kick Off Event!!!For a full list of activities during the week of Bishop Allen's 250th birthday and ways you can celebrate in your own area, click here: http://www.motherbethel.org/Allen250.pdfMark Kelly Tyler, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00143403593689351925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080939198118972622.post-3113419277551656402010-01-18T15:00:00.000-08:002010-01-18T15:27:28.620-08:00"The Day I met Dr. King" : A Mother Bethel Member RemembersYesterday at church, our current college students recognized college students from the Civil Rights Movement. Sis. Winnefred R. Bullard shared her own testimony, which is re-posted here in its entirety.Good Morning, Pastor Tyler, Associate Pulpit Clergy, Officers, First Lady Leslie Tyler, Members, and Friends.Today, I am extremely proud and honored to be invited to share with you my personal Mark Kelly Tyler, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00143403593689351925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080939198118972622.post-32707930302906062282009-11-30T07:05:00.000-08:002009-11-30T08:16:33.700-08:00Bishop Daniel Payne's 200th Birthday fast approaching!In a few short months, we will begin our official celebration of the 250th birthday of our illustrious founder, Bishop Richard Allen. In fact, in Philadelphia, several pre-events have already occurred or will soon happen (Mother Bethel at St. George's, Dr. James Cone preaches at Mother Bethel, Drs. Cornell West and Molefi Asante will discuss Allen on Dec. 16). The year will literally fly by as weMark Kelly Tyler, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00143403593689351925noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080939198118972622.post-59111116113447903562009-10-26T13:49:00.000-07:002009-11-02T15:58:24.693-08:00Blood is thicker than water...For me, the day was best summed up by one of our members who approached me after service saying how upset she was that she only had one Kleenex for the day. It was truly a tear jerker for many of the 400 to 500 worshipers on yesterday at Historic St. George's United Methodist Church as Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church returned home for worship. Although there have been gatherings Mark Kelly Tyler, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00143403593689351925noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080939198118972622.post-16136353438036029022009-01-21T17:29:00.000-08:002009-01-23T04:12:05.074-08:00Change we can believe in? A few thoughts from W.E.B. DuBoisMuch has been written and said about the recent inauguration of our 44th president, Barak Obama. At the swearing in ceremony, my camera caught the image of the Black National flag in the foreground with the American flags in the background. For some reason, this picture has been on my mind since Tuesday. I think I finally understand why it has been with me. It is related to the words spoken by Mark Kelly Tyler, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00143403593689351925noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080939198118972622.post-10524261039225716022008-12-02T07:24:00.000-08:002008-12-02T04:24:57.921-08:00My 1st Sunday at Mother Bethel: A day to rememberA few weeks ago, on my first day preaching as the new pastor of Mother Bethel, the congregation was hosting the Richard Allen Foundation (RAF) in celebration of Liberation Sunday. The day is set aside each 3rd Sunday in November by the RAF to commemorate the exodus of black worshipers at St. Georges Methodist Episcopal Church on a cold 3rd Sunday in November in the late 1700s. This movement gave Mark Kelly Tyler, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00143403593689351925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080939198118972622.post-40290460509336073462008-11-24T19:44:00.000-08:002008-11-25T07:18:54.509-08:00Press Release: New Pastor of Mother Bethel stands on broad shoulders of predecessors & brings passion for history<?xml:namespace prefix = o /> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }
<!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; Mark Kelly Tyler, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00143403593689351925noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080939198118972622.post-9450274554945520152008-11-10T13:08:00.000-08:002008-11-11T05:09:45.374-08:008 Days in November: How the AME Church Represented Black America at the 1876 Centennial Celebration(On the left: Bust of Bishop Richard Allen; Above: Bishop Richard Franklin Norris, along with Dr. Susanna Gold and ph.d. candidate Rob Armstrong, stands on the site where the Bishop Allen bust was dedicated in 1876.)In 1876, the United States of America threw a 6 month party to celebrate 100 years of nationhood. The Centennial, held at Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, opened on May 10 and closed Mark Kelly Tyler, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00143403593689351925noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080939198118972622.post-38925334831053103382008-11-08T14:09:00.000-08:002008-11-08T16:15:16.687-08:00The Slave House to the White House: From Hercules to Obama and the meaning of the black presence in the Executive MansionWhen the nation's first president, George Washington, occupied the Executive Mansion in Philadelphia (at that time, Washington, D.C. had not yet become the nation's capitol), he did a very odd thing for the leader of a newly freed democracy that proclaimed that all men were created equal: he imported slaves from his Virginia plantation to serve him in what would become known as the White House. Mark Kelly Tyler, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00143403593689351925noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080939198118972622.post-10166115512330137152008-10-29T10:00:00.000-07:002008-11-07T04:03:28.368-08:00A Day in November to Remember: Revisting the Camden Election Riots of 1870On Tuesday morning, November 8, 1870, the Philadelphia Press newspaper ran the following blurb about the day's coming election: The election polls in the various precincts and townships of Camden county [sic] this morning open at seven o'clock and close at seven this evening. By the next morning, the same paper ran the following headline on the front page: Election Outrage in Camden! The "Mark Kelly Tyler, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00143403593689351925noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080939198118972622.post-60423903161420916652008-10-22T18:00:00.000-07:002008-10-22T15:03:23.539-07:00Underground Railroad History made in South Jersey AME ChurchAbove is a trap door used to hide escaping slaves. To the right is the pastor of Jacob's Chapel, the Rev. Terrell Person, my colleague on the Camden-Trenton District.[This article is reprinted here from the Courier Post Newspaper, October 22, 2008, by Lavinia DeCastro, www.courierpostonline.com]MOUNT LAUREL — Members of Jacob's Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Mount Laurel celebratedMark Kelly Tyler, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00143403593689351925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080939198118972622.post-70868656828118408792008-08-26T06:58:00.000-07:002008-08-26T09:22:10.340-07:00Michelle Obama, Family Values, and my late grandmother Iowa MilanLast night was truly historical.Even the most anti-Obama, anti-Democratic party, pro-McCain pundits had to acknowledge that Michelle Obama hit a home run with her prime time moment in Denver. Her speech provided an open window for those outside the black community, through which they were able to see that our values are not so different than those held by everyone else in America.Many white Mark Kelly Tyler, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00143403593689351925noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080939198118972622.post-59196383497003681852008-07-31T14:11:00.000-07:002008-08-05T07:43:51.324-07:00Historic Moment caught on camera: Bishops and AME Leaders Pray with ObamaEach time that I've attended the General Conference, there has been a moment when I've realized like Moses that I was standing on "holy ground." That moment occurred this year when the presumptive nominee for president of the Democratic Party, Barak Obama, addressed the Conference. The afternoon was truly electric! It must've been the way it felt to see Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speak at the Mark Kelly Tyler, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00143403593689351925noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080939198118972622.post-22596845571215496552008-07-13T06:28:00.001-07:002008-07-13T12:01:35.832-07:00Revisiting the Historiographer Campaign and the General Conference of St. Louis, 2008First of all, congratulations to Dr. Dennis C. Dickerson on his re-election to the office of Historiographer. It was a long shot (to be sure) to win the election over an incumbent, but we ran a very competitive race. More than anything, however, we had fun running last week. The campaign allowed me an opportunity to display what I truly love, the history of the African Methodist Episcopal Mark Kelly Tyler, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00143403593689351925noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080939198118972622.post-9646467206713175472008-06-26T04:18:00.000-07:002008-06-26T04:36:04.950-07:00Understanding Black Liberation Theology: A 40-Year RetrospectiveAs we approach the 40th year of Black Liberation Theology, this is a must see event! Click on this link to see AME scholars James Cone and Obery Hendricks, along with former Riverside Church pastor James Forbes, Dwight Hopkins, and Calvin Butts, as they struggle with this issue.We owe a debt of gratitude for their individual contributions to the Struggle and to the Schomburg Center in Harlem forMark Kelly Tyler, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00143403593689351925noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080939198118972622.post-90263265827987533162008-06-17T18:43:00.000-07:002008-06-18T04:37:16.537-07:00Philadelphia Area Book Signing raises new (and troubling) questions for AMEsRichard S. Newman, in writing one of most comprehensive works on the life of our founder, Bishop Richard Allen, has done a marvelous job in pulling together facts and chronological events; yet, he has been able to keep the story fresh and alive. Freedom's Prophet is really a page turner and difficult to put down once you pick it up.This Thursday, June 19, 2008, from 5:30pm to 7, Newman will meet Mark Kelly Tyler, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00143403593689351925noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080939198118972622.post-75982839199519762002008-06-08T12:12:00.000-07:002008-06-08T13:13:19.452-07:00Tyler for Historiographer Campaign "Goes Green": Check out Digital Ad BookI am grateful that on tonight, June 8, 2008, my Presiding Elder (Dr. Robert Christopher Wade), Rev. Stanley Justice, President of the Camden-Trenton Ministerial Alliance, pastors, and laity of the Camden-Trenton District, and my own congregation (Macedonia AMEC, Camden, NJ) have planned a major fund raiser in support of my effort to become the next Historiographer of the AME Church at the Mark Kelly Tyler, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00143403593689351925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080939198118972622.post-14014940061509292562008-06-01T19:42:00.000-07:002008-06-02T05:22:41.712-07:00History is now a family affair as First Lady catches the history bug: "Unpacking" the mysterious Rev. S. J. PattersonDisclaimer: I know that some of you will say I’m only doing this because my husband is a candidate for the office of Historiographer of the AME Church. Well, that is only partially true. You see, I’ve been bitten by the “history bug.” All it took was one find from my own personal past to convince me we need to build an International Archives for the AME Church NOW – so that our richness and Mark Kelly Tyler, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00143403593689351925noreply@blogger.com3