Thomas Paul
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Object Details
- Artist
- Thomas Badger, 1792 - 1868
- Sitter
- Thomas Paul, 1773 - 13 Apr 1831
- Exhibition Label
- Born Exeter, New Hampshire
- During the first three decades of the nineteenth century, Thomas Paul was the spiritual leader of Boston’s African American community and a driving force in establishing independent Black churches in the Northeast. This portrait shows him delivering one of his famously inspirational sermons. Following his ordination in May 1805, Paul was barred from Boston’s Baptist pulpits on account of his race. Around 1805, he founded the African Baptist Church in Boston, where he served as pastor until 1829. In 1808, Black Baptists in New York City requested Paul’s assistance in establishing an alternative to the racially segregated First Baptist Church. The Abyssinian Baptist Church that Paul launched in lower Manhattan was the earliest Black Baptist church in New York State.
- Paul traveled to Haiti as a missionary in 1817 and briefly encouraged African Americans to immigrate there but changed his mind after a disappointing second visit a few years later.
- Nacido en Exeter, Nuevo Hampshire
- Durante las primeras tres décadas del siglo XIX, Thomas Paul fue el líder espiritual de la comunidad afroamericana de Boston e impulsó el establecimiento de iglesias negras independientes en el noreste. Este retrato lo muestra pronunciando uno de sus inspiradores sermones. Luego de ordenarse como pastor en mayo de 1805, Paul fue excluido de los púlpitos bautistas de Boston debido a su raza. En diciembre de ese año fundó la Iglesia Bautista Africana en Boston, de la cual fue pastor hasta 1829. En 1808, los bautistas negros de Nueva York le pidieron ayuda para crear una alternativa a la Primera Iglesia Bautista, entonces segregada racialmente. La Iglesia Bautista Abisinia fundada por Paul en el bajo Manhattan fue la primera iglesia bautista negra en el estado de Nueva York.
- Paul viajó a Haití como misionero en 1817 y por un tiempo exhortó a los afroamericanos a emigrar a dicha isla, pero cambió de opinión tras una decepcionante segunda visita pocos años más tarde.
- Provenance
- (Kennedy Galleries); purchase 1970.
- Credit Line
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
- c. 1825
- Object number
- NPG.70.45
- Restrictions & Rights
- CC0
- Type
- Painting
- Medium
- Oil on wood panel
- Dimensions
- Panel: 20.3 x 16.5cm (8 x 6 1/2")
- Frame: 33.3 x 29.2 x 6.4cm (13 1/8 x 11 1/2 x 2 1/2")
- See more items in
- National Portrait Gallery Collection
- Exhibition
- Out of Many: Portraits from 1600 to 1900
- On View
- NPG, East Gallery 132
- National Portrait Gallery
- Topic
- Interior\Church
- Printed Material\Book\Bible
- Architecture\Building\Church\Pulpit
- Thomas Paul: Male
- Thomas Paul: Religion and Spirituality\Clergy\Pastor
- Thomas Paul: Religion and Spirituality\Founder\Church founder
- Portrait
- Record ID
- npg_NPG.70.45
- Metadata Usage (text)
- CC0
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm42dfb45f3-e345-4db2-9978-cc27352c228c
This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Open Access page.
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