Man Looks for Recognition of Montana City’s First Black Church

“On Black History Month, I ask the city to find a way to recognize the history of St. Paul A.M.E.,” Phillips Street resident Greg Martin said. “To remember that the first generation of emancipated black Americans came to Missoula and started a church to try to build a life that fulfilled the promise embedded in this country’s founding documents. (Martin Kidston/Missoula Current)

When Greg Martin set out to research Missoula’s black history, the last thing he expected was to find its early epicenter next door to his Westside home.

Now he’s urging the city to find a way to recognize the 1427 Phillips St. address as the site of St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church (A.M.E.), the hub of religious, social and cultural activity for Missoula’s black residents from 1910 to the late 1930s.

As he dug through newspaper accounts, fire insurance maps, census records and Montana history, Martin slowly uncovered the history of St. Paul A.M.E. – notably, the bravery of its congregation in the face of bigotry among Missoula’s early 20^thcentury residents and threats of violence from the Ku Klux Klan.

In fact, Klansmen twice paraded into the church during services, ostensibly to donate to an improvement fund, but more certainly to put the congregation on notice “to respect and keep their place in the social and racial hierarchy of white Protestant supremacy,” Martin said.

In a presentation to the Missoula City Council, Martin noted that February’s designation as Black History Month “could be something of an abstraction for many in this town, where our black population is so low.”

But, he said, the racial population of any American city (large or small) directly reflects its history – an observation that may appear obvious, but should nonetheless be proclaimed “out loud and … in bold letters.”

“And so on Black History Month, I ask the city to find a way to recognize the history of St. Paul A.M.E.,” Martin said. “To remember that the first generation of emancipated black Americans came to Missoula and started a church to try to build a life that fulfilled the promise embedded in this country’s founding documents.

“I urge you to recognize this institution – its promises and the challenges it faced and the climate that saw its members as second-class citizens.”

1921 Sandborn Map of the 1400 block of Phillips Street in Missoula, MT. Apart from property deed records, this is one of the only public records showing the active Black church in Missoula.

Martin has published the findings of his research online at the site Medium, and encouraged council members and Mayor John Engen to read the history and consider ways to possibly recognize the institution at its center.

Martin has lived on Phillips Street for 19 years. His neighbors’ home no longer bears any resemblance to the church it once was, having been remodeled by several generations of owners that followed the building’s sale by St. Paul A.M.E.

In fact, he has not been able to find a photograph of the church in any local, state or church archives.

In the early days of the 20^thcentury, the establishment of a black church ignited a veritable firestorm of protests and hastily called Westside neighborhood meetings.

Here’s what Martin learned about the church’s founding:

“In April 1909, the Missoulian reported that a pastor from the 5th District of the A.M.E. Church was actively forming a local congregation in Missoula similar to ones fully established in Helena, Butte, Great Falls and Billings. The pastor said he already had 13 members who were busy trying to find a location.

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Source: Missoula Current