3. African Society for Mutual Relief: 42 Baxter Street, Chinatown

Former site of the African Society for Mutual Relief in New York City

The African Society for Mutual Relief functioned as an all-encompassing safety net, offering health insurance, an early form of life insurance, and assistance in paying for burial costs, in return for dues. It functioned as a school, a meetinghouse, and a potential stop on the Underground Railroad. Formed in 1808, the organization moved to 42 Baxter Street in 1820, thanks to the generosity of former Haitian slave Juliet Toussaint.

The group was led by African American orator William Hamilton, editor of The Colored American Philip Bell, and Harlem Railroad president Abraham Lawrence. Located in the Five Points neighborhood, the organization was known as “the crown jewel of all Black organizations.” During the 1834 anti-abolitionist riots, as well as the Draft Riots, the Society survived mostly unscathed. A New York state government building currently occupies the original location of the Society.