Quinn Chapel A.M.E. Church, 2401 South Wabash Avenue, Chicago, Cook County, IL

2000 Charles E. Peterson Prize, Entry
Significance: Designated a Chicago Landmark in 1977 and listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, the Quinn Chapel houses the oldest African American congregation in Chicago. The Quinn congregation traces its origins back to 1844, when it began as a seven member prayer group. In 1847, the group became officially organized as the Quinn congregation of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, named for William P. Quinn, a prominent bishop of the AME midwest diocese, the congregation met in numerous locations before building its present location. An active advocate of social service and reform, the Quinn congregation served as a station on the Underground Railroad and supported the abolition movement. Members of the congregation were also instrumental in founding such institutions as Provident Hospital, The Elam House, and The Wabash Avenue YMCA. Internationally known luminaries including Frederick Douglass and Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., and presidents William B. McKinley and William Howard Taft spoke at the Quinn Chapel. The brick and rusticated stone church was designed in 1891 by Henry F. Starbuck.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N487
Survey number: HABS IL-1204
Building/structure dates: 1891 Initial Construction
National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 79000827