Meeting house fetes 200 years of service to black community

The words belonged to Frederick Douglass, who spoke them almost a century and a half ago as he rallied abolitionists in Boston after an antislavery meeting was broken up: "After all the arguments for liberty to which Boston has listened for more than a quarter of a century, has she yet to learn that the time to assert a right is a time when the right itself is called into question?"

Yesterday, it was the incoming governor, the first black to be elected to the office, who spoke. Reading excerpts of Douglass speeches, Deval L. Patrick helped to launch a 200th anniversary celebration of Boston's African Meeting House.

He read from a Douglass speech delivered at the Boston Music Hall.

The African Meeting House was the nation's oldest standing church built and used by blacks. It was a gathering place for black abolitionists, for free blacks who escaped from slavery, and figures of Boston's intellectual elite, who forged the ideas that would help end slavery.

And for years, it served as a beacon of black accomplishment. Patrick's appearance was a powerful moment for some of the hundreds who gathered at Tremont Temple yesterday.

"This celebration is not just a culmination of 200 years, but a real beginning," said Lori Britton, 36, of Dorchester.

The event kicks off a celebration of the African Meeting House, which will include exhibits at the Museum of African American History, which cares for the church.

After the event, Patrick said that the house must be saved. "This is a gem, that it be preserved, restored, and sustained," he said.

"We have this diverse story to tell," said Beverly Morgan-Welch, executive director of the museum.

"They were not just a group of black abolitionists," Morgan-Welch said. ". . . They determined they'd change the nation. These are fabulous stories."

The program included readings by Patrick and other politicians and notable figures in Boston as they showcased the 200-year history of the African Meeting House.

Organizers hailed its significance as a cornerstone of the local black community.

"Boston's black community was literate, educated, and concerned about the education of their children," said L'Merchie Frazier, education director of the Museum of African American History.

Prince Hall, known by some as the father of black Masonry in the United States, was instrumental in establishing the Meeting House and in asking the Legislature to pass laws that would enable blacks to buy their own freedom.

Hall's legacy was read by a local Masonic leader, Grand Master Leslie Lewis, who reminded the audience that, besides founding the world's first black Masonic Order in 1775, Hall also established the African Society in 1796 and the African School in 1798. The school taught classes as diverse as penmanship and human anatomy.

Hall demanded equality, according to a portion of a letter that was read by Lewis.

"Dear Brother," the letter reads, "we must make you our advocate at the Grand Lodge, who we hope will not deny us nor treat us beneath the rest of our fellow men, although Poor yet Sincere Brethren of the Craft."

Museum directors said they hope the state will reconsider budget cuts that they said could compromise a full restoration of the building, built in 1806.

Adrienne P. Samuels can be reached at asamuels@globe.com.