Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, where a shooting left nine people dead Wednesday night, has a history of civil rights activism and has long been one of the most prominent historic black churches in the South.
Called “Mother Emanuel,” the church -- home to one of oldest black Christian communities in the country -- was established in 1816 after black members of the city’s main Methodist church left because of racial discrimination. For nearly 200 years, it has been home to clergy who have gone on to become politicians, leaders of the abolition movement and civil rights crusaders. One of the shooting’s victims, church pastor Rev. Clementa Pinckney, was a Democratic state senator.
Throughout the church's history, it has hosted speakers including Booker T. Washington -- who brought a crowd of white supporters to its pews during a 1909 speech -- Martin Luther King Jr. and Wyatt T. Walker of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. King’s widow, Coretta Scott King, led a march toward the church in 1969 to support the city’s striking hospital workers.
One of the best known members of the church was Denmark Vesey, who in 1822 attempted to organize what could have been one of the largest slave revolts in U.S. history. Vesey and five others were found guilty after a secret trial and sentenced to execution. Following the trial, the church was burned by a white mob and rebuilt.
By 1834, local laws were passed to make black churches illegal, forcing Emanuel members to meet in secret until the end of the Civil War.
“Every church is sacred, but Emanuel has so much history wrapped up in it. This church is the church of the sons and daughters of slavery and the membership today serves again as a model that the stones the builders rejected, by the Lord can be raised up,” Bishop John Bryant, one of the top-ranking clergy in the denomination, told The Huffington Post.
“It’s a wonderful church with a marvelous history. ... A great history and great pride, and wonderful people who constitute the membership who are proud of being positive citizens. This was a spot chosen to do carnage and the nation ought to see this as offensive,” Bryant said.
Experts on the history of violence against black Americans and black churches have suggested the church may have been targeted because of its role in the civil rights movement.
“There is a long, sad history of anti-black violence, bombings and arson aimed at black churches, which function as the beating theological, social, political, and even economic heart of many black communities,” Valerie Cooper, associate professor of black church studies at Duke University, said in a statement.
“Particularly during the 20th century, burning black churches was a way to try to intimidate blacks seeking increased political or economic power since the churches so often functioned as the hub of civil rights organizing," she said, highlighting the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, where four children were killed.
The city of of Charleston, often dubbed “Holy City” for the its prominent churches and history of religious tolerance dating back to Colonial times, has also factored strongly into the nation’s civil rights history. Every January, the city, where the first shots of the Civil War were fired, marks the anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation with a parade that ends at Emanuel Church.
The African Methodist Episcopal Church denomination was born out of the Free African Society, a group established in 1787 to help newly emancipated slaves gain a footing as free individuals and emerge as community leaders. The denomination formed in the early 19th century under Richard Allen, a pastor and founder of the Free African Society. It quickly spread throughout the Northeast and Midwest, and experienced some of its greatest growth during the Civil War.
Carol Kuruvilla contributed reporting.
See historic photos of Emanuel AME Church below:
emanuel ame before repair
Emanuel A.M.E. Church Under Repair, ca. 1909
emanuel ame repaired
Emanuel A.M.E. Church After Repairs, ca. 1910
emanuel ame church hurricane
Emanuel A.M.E. Church After Hurricane Hugo (loss of steeple), 1989
Mourners In Harlem Hold Prayer Service And Vigil For Victims Of Charleston Church Shooting
NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 18: Mourners hold a prayer vigil for the nine victims of last night's shooting at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina June 18, 2015 at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church: Bethel in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City. Dylann Storm Roof, 21, of Lexington, South Carolina, who allegedly attended a prayer meeting at the church for an hour before opening fire and killing three men and six women, was arrested today. Among the dead is the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, a state senator and a pastor at Emanuel AME, the oldest black congregation in America south of Baltimore, according to the National Park Service. (Photo by Eric Thayer/Getty Images)
Mourners In Harlem Hold Prayer Service And Vigil For Victims Of Charleston Church Shooting
NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 18: A woman cries at a prayer vigil for the nine victims of last night's shooting at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina June 18, 2015 at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church: Bethel in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City. Dylann Storm Roof, 21, of Lexington, South Carolina, who allegedly attended a prayer meeting at the church for an hour before opening fire and killing three men and six women, was arrested today. Among the dead is the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, a state senator and a pastor at Emanuel AME, the oldest black congregation in America south of Baltimore, according to the National Park Service. (Photo by Eric Thayer/Getty Images)
Nine Dead After Church Shooting In Charleston
CHARLESTON, SC - JUNE 18: Mourners light candles for the nine victims of last night's shooting at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church June 18, 2015 in Charleston, South Carolina. Dylann Storm Roof, 21, of Lexington, South Carolina, who allegedly attended a prayer meeting at the church for an hour before opening fire and killing three men and six women, was arrested today. Among the dead is the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, a state senator and a pastor at Emanuel AME, the oldest black congregation in America south of Baltimore, according to the National Park Service. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Nine Dead After Church Shooting In Charleston
CHARLESTON, SC - JUNE 18: A woman lights candles for the nine victims of last night's shooting at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church June 18, 2015 in Charleston, South Carolina. Dylann Storm Roof, 21, of Lexington, South Carolina, who allegedly attended a prayer meeting at the church for an hour before opening fire and killing three men and six women, was arrested today. Among the dead is the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, a state senator and a pastor at Emanuel AME, the oldest black congregation in America south of Baltimore, according to the National Park Service. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
US-SHOOTING-CHARLESTON
People gather outside the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina on June 18, 2015. Police captured the white suspect, 21-year-old Dylann Roof, the main suspect in a gun massacre at one of the oldest black churches in the United States, the latest deadly assault to feed simmering racial tensions. AFP PHOTO/BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)
Nine Dead After Church Shooting In Charleston
CHARLESTON, SC - JUNE 18: Mourners gather for a community prayer service for the nine victims of last night's shooting at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, at Second Presbyterian Church June 18, 2015 in Charleston, South Carolina. Dylann Storm Roof, 21, of Lexington, South Carolina, who allegedly attended a prayer meeting at the church for an hour before opening fire and killing three men and six women, was arrested today. Among the dead is the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, a state senator and a pastor at Emanuel AME, the oldest black congregation in America south of Baltimore, according to the National Park Service. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Nine Dead After Church Shooting In Charleston
CHARLESTON, SC - JUNE 18: People hold hands during a community prayer service for the nine victims of last night's shooting at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, at Second Presbyterian Church June 18, 2015 in Charleston, South Carolina. Dylann Storm Roof, 21, of Lexington, South Carolina, who allegedly attended a prayer meeting at the church for an hour before opening fire and killing three men and six women last night, was arrested today. Among the dead is the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, a state senator and a pastor at Emanuel AME, the oldest black congregation in America south of Baltimore, according to the National Park Service. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Mourners Gather in Charleston Shooting
CHARLESTON, SC - JUNE 18 Mourners gather outside of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church early Thursday night in Charleston, SC on June 18, 2015. A gunmen opened fire on a bible study the night before killing nine people. (Photo by Andrew Renneisen/For The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Charleston Shooting
Antonee Martin, left, and her mother Latrechia Jackson, right, visit the memorial site set up in front of the Emanuel AME Church, Thursday, June 18, 2015 in Charleston, S.C. Martin said her aunt Susie Jackson was one of the victims in the shooting Wednesday night at the church. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)
Charleston Shooting
Mourners gather at Marion Square for a candlelight vigil, Thursday, June 18, 2015, near the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C. Dylann Storm Roof, 21, was arrested Thursday in the slayings of several people, including the pastor at a prayer meeting inside the historic black church. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)
Charleston Shooting
The Rev. Sidney Davis leads a group in prayer during a community prayer service at the Second Presbyterian Church Thursday, June 18, 2015, near the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C. Shooting suspect Dylann Storm Roof, 21, was captured without resistance in North Carolina Thursday after an all-night manhunt, Charleston's police chief Greg Mullen said. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)
Charleston Shooting
This photo provided by Charleston County Sheriff's Office shows Dylann Roof, Thursday, June 18, 2015. Roof, 21, was arrested Thursday in the slayings of several people Wednesday, including the pastor, at a prayer meeting inside The Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. (Charleston County Sheriff's Office via AP)
APTOPIX Charleston Shooting
Olina Ortega, left, and Austin Gibbs light candles at a sidewalk memorial in front of Emanuel AME Church where people were killed by a white gunman Wednesday during a prayer meeting inside the historic black church in Charleston, S.C., Thursday, June 18, 2015. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
APTOPIX Charleston Shooting
Olina Ortega, left, and Austin Gibbs light candles at a sidewalk memorial in front of Emanuel AME Church where people were killed by a white gunman Wednesday during a prayer meeting inside the historic black church in Charleston, S.C., Thursday, June 18, 2015. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
APTOPIX Charleston Shooting
Gary and Aurelia Washington, center left and right, the son and granddaughter of Ethel Lance who died in Wednesday's shooting, leave a sidewalk memorial in front of Emanuel AME Church comforted by fellow family members Thursday, June 18, 2015, in Charleston, S.C. Dylann Storm Roof, 21, was arrested Thursday in the slayings of several people, including the pastor at a prayer meeting inside the historic black church. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
APTOPIX Charleston Shooting
Charleston, S.C., shooting suspect Dylann Storm Roof is escorted from the Cleveland County Courthouse in Shelby, N.C., Thursday, June 18, 2015. Roof is a suspect in the shooting of several people Wednesday night at the historic The Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
Charleston Shooting
Charleston, S.C., shooting suspect Dylann Storm Roof is escorted from the Sheby Police Department in Shelby, N.C., Thursday, June 18, 2015. Roof is a suspect in the shooting of several people Wednesday night at the historic The Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
Charleston Shooting
Charleston, S.C., shooting suspect Dylann Storm Roof sits inside a police car as he is escorted from the Sheby Police Department in Shelby, N.C., Thursday, June 18, 2015. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
Charleston Shooting
Charleston, S.C., shooting suspect Dylann Storm Roof is escorted from the Sheby Police Department in Shelby, N.C., Thursday, June 18, 2015. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
Charleston Shooting
Charleston, S.C., shooting suspect Dylann Storm Roof is escorted from the Sheby Police Department in Shelby, N.C., Thursday, June 18, 2015. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
Charleston Shooting
Charleston, S.C., shooting suspect Dylann Storm Roof is escorted from the Sheby Police Department in Shelby, N.C., Thursday, June 18, 2015. (AP Photo/Ben Earp)
APTOPIX Charleston Shooting
Rev. Jeannie Smalls cries during a prayer vigil held at Morris Brown AME Church for the victims of Wednesday's shooting at Emanuel AME Church on Thursday, June 18, 2015 in Charleston, S.C. Dylann Storm Roof, 21, was arrested Thursday in the slayings of several people, including the pastor at a prayer meeting inside the historic black church.(Grace Beahm/The Post And Courier via AP, Pool)
Charleston Shooting
Natasha Wright speaks to her two daughters, Thursday, June 18, 2015 at a make-shift memorial near the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C. Dylann Storm Roof, 21, was arrested Thursday in the slayings of several people, including the pastor, at a prayer meeting inside the historic black church in downtown Charleston. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)
Charleston Shooting
A woman walks to work on Thursday, June 18, 2015, a few blocks away from the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C. A white man opened fire during a prayer meeting inside the historic black church Wednesday night, killing several people. The shooter remained at large Thursday morning and police released photographs from surveillance video of a suspect and a possible getaway vehicle. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Charleston Shooting
South Carolina Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster gets emotional during a prayer, Thursday, June 18, 2015, at the Statehouse in Columbia, S.C. State Sen. Clementa Pinckney was killed, Wednesday, June 17, 2015, in a shooting at an historic black church in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Rainier Ehrhardt)
Congress Charleston Shooting
Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-SC, and other member of Congress, pauses on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, June 18, 2015, to mourn the shooting victims of Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC. (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke)
Congress Charleston Shooting
Travis Norton, a staffer in the office of Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., plants nine roses on the lawn on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, June 18, 2015, as members of Congress and staff gather in prayer to mourn the shooting victims of Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke)
Congress Charleston Shooting
From left, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del. Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., and others, participate in a prayer vigil on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, June 18, 2015, as members of Congress and staff gathered in prayer to mourn the shooting victims of Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC. (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke)
Congress Charleston Shooting
Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., back turned, and Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa depart a prayer vigil on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, June 18, 2015, as members of Congress and staff gathered in prayer to mourn the shooting victims of Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC. (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke)
Congress Charleston Shooting
From left, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and others gather on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, June 18, 2015, in prayer to mourn the shooting victims of Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC. (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke)
Charleston Shooting
Parishioners applaud during a memorial service at Morris Brown AME Church for the nine people killed Wednesday during a prayer meeting inside a historic black church in Charleston, S.C., Thursday, June 18, 2015. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Charleston Shooting
A police officer clears the area after a bomb threat came in as parishioners exit a memorial service at Morris Brown AME Church for the nine people killed Wednesday during a prayer meeting inside a historic black church in Charleston, S.C., Thursday, June 18, 2015. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
APTOPIX Charleston Shooting
Chaplain James St. John, center, leads senators in prayer, Thursday, June 18, 2015, at the Statehouse in Columbia, S.C. State Sen. Clementa Pinckney was one of those killed Wednesday night in a shooting at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. (AP Photo/Rainier Ehrhardt)
APTOPIX Charleston Shooting
State Senator Vincent Sheheen (D-Kershaw) gets emtional as he sits next to the draped desk of state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, Thursday, June 18, 2015, at the Statehouse in Columbia, S.C. Pinckney was one of those killed, Wednesday night in a shooting at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. (AP Photo/Rainier Ehrhardt)
Obama Charleston Shooting
President Barack Obama, accompanied by Vice President Joe Biden, pauses while speaking in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, June 18, 2015, on the church shooting in Charleston, S.C., prior to his departure to Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
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