Albert B. Cleage Jr. papers, 1949-2005

Summary

Creator:

Cleage, Albert B.

Abstract:

Detroit clergyman who took the name Jaramogi Abebe Agyeman, founder of the Shrine of the Black Madonna, and advocate of the program and philosophy of the Black Christian Nationalist movement. The collection has been divided into four series: Albert B. Cleage, Jr.: Correspondence, Sermons, and Writings, the files of the Shrine of the Black Madonna in Detroit, Michigan, Church Leaders, and the files of the Shrine of the Black Madonna National Office.

Extent:

11.5 linear feet
9.9 GB (online)
4 digital audio files

Language:

English

Call Number:

2010025 Aa 2

Authors:

Finding aid created by Michigan Historical Collections staff

Background

Scope and Content:

The collection contains correspondence, sermons, and writings of Albert B. Cleage, Jr. (his name would later be changed to Jaramogi Abebe Agyeman); records of the shrine of the Black Madonna; papers of individuals within the church who assisted Cleage; and records of the National Office of the Shrine.

The collection has been divided into seven series: Albert B. Cleage, Jr.: Correspondence, Sermons, and Writings, the files of the Shrine of the Black Madonna in Detroit, Michigan, Church Leaders, the files of the Shrine of the Black Madonna National Office, Sound Recordings, Photographs, and Miscellaneous.

Biographical / Historical:

The oldest son of Dr. Albert B. Cleage, Sr. and Mrs. Pearl Cleage, Albert B. Cleage, Jr. was born June 13, 1911 in Indianapolis, Indiana. He grew up in Detroit, where his father had migrated to become the first Black city physician.

A graduate of Northwestern High School, Cleage attended Fisk University for a year before receiving his bachelor's degree from Wayne State University. He earned the equivalent of a doctoral degree from Oberlin's Graduate School of Theology in 1943, and did post-doctoral studies at the University of California. Before entering the seminary, Cleage was a social case worker with the Detroit Department of Public Welfare. With his divinity degree, Cleage led congregations in Lexington, Ken.; San Francisco, Cal.; and Springfield, Mass. before returning to Detroit in 1951 to become pastor at St. Mark's Presbyterian Church.

At St. Mark's, Cleage became concerned about the church's role in community affairs and the social issues of the time. In dispute with his denomination, Cleage left the church in 1953 taking with him 300 members who would become the core for a new church, St. Mark's Congregational Church. In 1954, St. Mark's would become Central Congregational Church.

Until 1954, Cleage and his parishioners held services at the Crossman School, but with a growing congregation he negotiated purchase of a mansion at 2254 Chicago Blvd. which would serve both as a parsonage and place to hold all church activities. The Church soon outgrew this location and the need to secure a large church became a major concern of the membership. The Brewster-Pilgrim Church located at 7625 Linwood was purchased in June 1957 with occupancy taking place in September of the same year.

As the Congregation grew, the membership under Cleage's leadership became increasingly involved in problems touching the lives of the African American community. Emphasis was placed on political involvement which was nurtured through the publication, beginning in 1960, of the Illustrated News, a newspaper devoted to the issues confronting the black community.

From the pulpit, Cleage began preaching sermons calling for the creation of a new black theology, and a new Black church to articulate that theology. Between 1967 and 1970 the church began restructuring the rituals, programs and structures of the traditional black church to conform to the Black Christian Nationalist philosophy. The name of Central Congregational Church was officially changed to the Shrine of the Black Madonna in 1970 by which time the first book written by Rev. Cleage was released. The Black Messiah published in 1968 was a series of powerful sermons introducing to the world a new Black theology. In 1972 Rev. Cleage published his second book, Black Christian Nationalism: New Direction for the Black Church. This book presented the complete program, position and philosophy of the black Christian Nationalist Movement. Around this same time, Cleage and other members began taking African names to distinguish themselves from the names given to them as slaves in bondage. Cleage would become Jaramogi Abebe Agyeman.

The decade of the 70's was a time of rapid expansion of the Shrines of the Black Madonna. Early in 1974 a small College Cadre of young men and women moved to Atlanta, Georgia to enroll in Atlanta University and to begin the organization of a shrine. The following year in April fifteen buses and many cars transported hundreds of members to Atlanta for the BCN Convention marking the opening of Shrine Nine and the Southern Regional Office.

In 1977 the next expansion cadre opened Shrine Seven taking the BCN Program to Kalamazoo, Michigan. In that same year, selected men and women from Shrine One in Detroit and Shrine Nine in Atlanta agreed to go to Houston, Texas to open and operate what would become Shrine Ten and the New Southwest Regional Offices and Training Center. The first Pan-American Synod was held in Houston, Texas in 1978 and it here that the Shrine of the Black Madonna was established as a new denomination and adopting the name Pan-African Orthodox Christian Church. Over the next two decades, under Cleage's leadership, the denomination would hold conventions of the Synod and annual leadership conclaves, the purpose of which was to bring together the different geographic shrines for discussion of the church's theology and programs.

The 1980s and 1990s saw continued growth and the development of new programs. In 1981, began raising funds to purchase farmland in South Carolina to be used to develop a network of independent Black farms and which could also be used for youth and adult retreats and training. In 1999, 2600 acres of land was purchased in Abbeville County, South Carolina. The property was known as the Beulah Land Farm. Members from Detroit and elsewhere made decision to relocate there. Among them was Jaramogi Abebe Agyeman.

In his life, Albert Cleage / Jaramogi Abebe Agyeman was married, had two daughters, and later divorced. He died at Beulah Land Farm on February 20, 2000.

Acquisition Information:

The collection was made available for microfilming by Kristin Cleage Williams and the Shrine of the Black Madonna National Office (donor no. 9897 ) in June 2007. The original papers were donated to the Bentley Historical Library in 2010.

Processing information:

In preparing digital material for long-term preservation and access, the Bentley Historical Library adheres to professional best practices and standards to ensure that content will retain its authenticity and integrity. For more information on procedures for the ingest and processing of digital materials, please see Bentley Historical Library Digital Processing Note. Access to digital material may be provided either as a direct link to an individual file or as a downloadable package of files bundled in a zip file.

Accruals:

No further additions to the papers are expected.

Rules or Conventions:

Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Related

Alternative Form Available:

A substantial portion of the Cleage papers have been microfilmed. See the finding aid for Albert B. Cleage, Jr. papers [microform].

Digitization: A number of recordings within this collection have been digitized. The resulting files are available for playback online or in the Bentley Library Reading Room according to rights. Original media are only available for staff use.

Subjects

Click on terms below to find any related finding aids on this site.

Subjects:

African American clergy -- Michigan -- Detroit.
African Americans -- Michigan -- Detroit.
African Americans -- Race identity.
Black nationalism -- United States.
Black theology.
Race relations -- Religious aspects -- Christianity -- United States.

Formats:

Digital file formats.
Photographs.
Sound recordings.

Names:

Central Congregational Church (Detroit, Mich.)
Pan African Orthodox Christian Church.
Shrine of the Black Madonna (Detroit, Mich.)
St. Mark's Congregational Church (Detroit, Mich.)
Cleage, Albert B.
Christ, Jesus -- African American interpretations.

Places:

Detroit (Mich.) -- Church history.