During the American Revolution, a religious revival made Methodism popular, and in 1789, the Asbury Methodist Church was built in Wilmington. Initially, the Methodist religion was tolerant of racial relations, and their motto was that “all individuals stand in the eyes of God”. Many of the free African Americans in Wilmington, possibly including the Latimer’s servants, attended the church for this reason. However, by 1800, Asbury Church began to segregate and the African-American members were forced to enter through the building’s rear entrance and sit on the balcony. Outraged and indignant, African- American church members questioned the division in the church and formed the Ezion Methodist Church.
See Also
First Presbyterian Church
African Union Methodist Church
Friends Meeting House
Asbury Methodist Church
Historic American Building Survey 1936
Library of Congress