25. The Mother African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (1923)

Mother AME Zion Church Harlem

The Mother African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church at 140-148 West 137th Street was constructed at the height of the Harlem Renaissance from 1923 to 1925. Mother Zion Church originally stood at 151 West 136th Street. The new church building on West 137th was designed by George W. Foster Jr., one of the first Black architects registered in the United States.

Services inside the neo-Gothic structure were led by Pastor James W. Brown until 1936 and Civil Rights activist Dr. Benjamin C. Robeson from 1936to 1963. High-profile Harlem residents such as Langston Hughes, W.E.B. Du Bois, Marion Anderson, Roland Hayes, Joe Louis, and Paul Robeson were members of the congregation. Spirituality played a significant role in the literature of the Harlem Renaissance. Today, the church continues to stand as one of the country’s most prominent Black churches and a symbol of Harlem’s religious, cultural, and civil rights history. It was designated a New York City Landmark in 1993.