Minutes of the Forty-Sixth Annual Session of the North Ohio Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church . .

Lima / Cleveland, Ohio: [The Conference] / Printed by Wilfred-Gardner Pub. Co, 1927. Very good. 8 ” x 5¾”. Stapled thin card wrappers. Pp. 99. Very good: wrappers faintly soiled and toned at edges; a bit creased throughout with scattered small spots.

This is another book of minutes from an annual meeting of the North Ohio Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), the first independent Black denomination in the United States.

This book documents the 46th annual session with presiding bishop Joshua H. Jones. Born into slavery, Jones became the first African American elected to the Columbus Board of Education in 1892 and served as president of Wilberforce from 1900 to 1908. Along with detailed minutes of daily conference activities, the book holds names and reports of officers and committees such as the women's Mite Missionary Society, Ministers Wives' Association, “Evangelists” and “Memoirs.” One report covered “race prejudice” (“at times, it seems that the church is making too little headway in the eradication of this hateful and ungodly monster”) and another endorsed prohibition, arguing that “the future for usefulness of so many of the young men and women is now being destroyed because of the intemperate habit.” It notes countless churches, members and donations, and the last few pages hold tables of financial data, with every district, town and pastor in the conference listed.

Rich coverage of an Ohio conference of an important African American denomination. We were unable to locate any holdings in OCLC.