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New York African Society for Mutual Relief
2 articles on New York African Society for Mutual Relief
New York African Society for Mutual Relief
Source: Encyclopedia of African American History, 1619-1895: From the Colonial Period to the Age of Frederick Douglass
Word Count: 721 Includes: BibliographyFounded in 1808 and incorporated in 1810, the New York African Society for Mutual Relief was the first and wealthiest of many self-help and moral reform organizations founded by free African Americans in New York City. Members of the society developed resources to support one another financially in times of illness and to pay death benefits to the families of deceased members. The society also served as a symbol of black progress and as a self-appointed guardian of the moral health and reputation of the African American community. The all-male society carefully selected its membership, drawing mostly from the emerging free, educated, and skilled middle class. Reflecting the group's emphasis on “moral character,” several of its early members were ministers, including such leading figures as Peter Williams Jr., a leader of New York's African American Episcopalians. ...
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Source: Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience, Second Edition
Word Count: 602 Includes: BibliographyNew York City's first African American mutual benefit society. While some scholars believe that the New York African Society for Mutual Relief began meeting secretly in 1784, it was officially founded by Peter Williams, Jr., a carpenter and talented public speaker, in 1808, the year of the society's first public meeting and the printing of its constitution. Its mission, like that of other Mutual Benefit Societies, was to provide a pool of resources from which members and their families could draw benefits otherwise denied to African Americans, such as burial insurance and financial aid in times of sickness. The society also provided financial assistance to widows, orphans, and the disabled. Its membership constituted a diverse segment of New York's African American community, but its leaders were mainly merchants and ministers. The society was formally incorporated on ...
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