Many entities have played a role in spirituality, the civil rights crusade, and the black community. Nowhere is that more prevalent than the First A.M.E. Zion Church.
In 1863, members of San Jose’s Black Community founded the first African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. The property, initially located on what is now San Jose State University, became the cornerstone of the Black Community.
The end of the Civil war brought the migration of many Blacks to the Western United States. Among them were John Williams, James Lodge, William Smith, and John Madden. Mr. Williams was a former valet to General Grant Mr Madden immediately established himself as a voting citizen and entrepreneur who subsequently became a prosperous landowner. Both men worked for San Jose Woolen Mills and were crucial in establishing the First African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Zion Church in San Jose, California.
Mr. William Smith, M1: John Madden, and rt1e original Board of Trustees founded The first African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in San Jose in 1864. This first Board of Trustees included William Smith and James Lodge. These men saw the necessity for exercising their constitutional right just as the founding fathers of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church bad clo11<' nc<1rly sixty yecirn e,'ll'li<'r m Jolin Street f'hurch In New York City.
There was no other religious order serving the Black community in the City of SanJose ln 1864. Initially. the parishioners met in their homes. Then in 1870, they established the church at Fourth and San Antonio Streets, the current location of the University of California in San Jose. The San Jose City Directory listed it as the "only religious organization among the colored people of the city." The City Directory also noted that "the church is in a prosperous condition, the attendance on Sunday always being sufficient to rm the church."
Tl1e building of the church at Fourth and San Antonio Streets was paid for in full in 1883. ln California. d11n11g that period, deeds were not granted unless the property was free and clear. The Deeds and Articles of 111cmporation were signed by Henry Venable, Willimn H. D,ivis, George Caples, John Mudden. I Iowarel rranklin. and Rev. William H. Mitchell. Mr. Ma<lclcn had clonatccl tl1e lund on which the church was built. Tile congregation worshipped ;it Fourth
and San Antonio Streets for more than 90 years in a structure that had been shipped from Sacramento by both water and land for the Black citizens of San Jose.
During their ninety years. the First A.M.E. Zion Church of San Jose served for Freedom Fighters with the same purposes the Mother Church had served for Harriet Tt1bman and Frederick Douglas in years past. The local chapters of the National Association for the Advancemenl of Colored People (N.A.A.C.P.) and the Congress of Racial Equality (C.O.R.E.) were both organized in the basement of this historic church.
The building and lot were willed co the church by the late Mr. and Mrs. John Madden in 1917. Two rooms
were added to the building and served as the dining room and kitchen. The membership grew as the black population grew in San Jose. The structure was completed. and the cornerstone was laid on May 12, 1918.
In 1969, the congregation was forced to abandon the historic location at 4th and San Antonio Street as a result of the San Jose Urban Renewal Project. The church beceame displaced between 1969 and 1972. Then on Easter Sunday morning of 1972, the pastor Rev. James A. Davis, the congregation ar1(l a J10st of friends, marched down Santa Clara SIreel to their new and current home at 95South 20th Street, situated on the corner of 20th and San Fernando Street.