Introduction
In the 1820s, racism barred Black audiences from the cultural venues that showcased the arts on a grand scale, even though Black artists were sought after by White audiences for their talent.
I have discovered that these artists responded by creating a cultural shift in Black communities. They were not just entertainers—they were activist architects of a cultural revolution, building societies that brought the Arts to their communities.
This is the story of how the African Harmonic Society pioneered sophisticated orchestra concerts that filled churches and public halls with music for decades.
Researching an Ad Leads us to A Whole Cultural Movement
An October, 1826 ad in Poulson’s American Daily Advertiser read “Members of the African Harmonic Society will hold their FIRST SACRED CONCERT.” On Friday, the 13th.
For the first time in Philadelphia, a sacred music concert was publicly announced for the Black community.
I was searching for more information about the people in this ad and how they came together to present this concert for choir and orchestra. In trying to find out why this concert happened, it became clear that 1826 was a special year for Black entertainment in Philadelphia.
Frank Johnson and James Hewlett’s Philly-NYC Collab
In January that year, bicontinental theater star, the “coloured comedian” James Hewlett spent almost a month in Philadelphia and performed before he departed to England.
Born in Rockaway, NY, Hewlett grew to become one of the most successful stage actors of the 1820s. Shout out to Queens, New York, my home borough, as being a center for talented artists, stretching back to the earliest days of this country!
He was known for his Shakespeare interpretations and was a fierce competitor with the leading White actor, Englishman, Edumund Kean. Hewlett was also a singer of high quality, noted by his repertoire and the lengthy song portion of his programs.
At A. Bonnaffon’s dancing school on 62 South Fourth Street, Hewlett held shows on January 10th and 12th. A. Bonnaffon was also a patron of famous Black Philadelphia musician Frank Johnson. See our Black Musicians page for more info on Frank Johnson.
When Hewlett put out an ad for his third performance on the 14th, he mentioned the Johnson Band had volunteered their services for the show that evening.
A few days later on January 18th, Johnson took out an ad in the paper announcing Mr. Hewlett is volunteering his services to a benefit for the band.
There was clear mutual admiration and respect since they volunteered their talents in “benefit” of one another.
Johnson and Hewlett must have found great companionship during this collaboration. I’m reminded of an account of Johnson from a later contemporary, White bandleader, William R. Bayley, noting his deportment as a host:
One can imagine the bond Johnson and Hewlett must have formed. They were both elite performers in their given art form, shared three nights of unplanned concerts, and two weeks of acquaintance. The townhouse at 154 Pine must have been lively during those cold winter weeks.
The Appo-Johnson home could have prepared quite the welcome for Hewlett. The Appo siblings were children of confectioners John and Ann, and maybe delicious desserts from family recipes were enjoyed too. Though he would be a short walk from his hotel on South 3rd Street, he could very well have preferred to stay with his fellow Black artist on some nights.
Hewlett finally made his departure from Philadelphia in late January, but not without one more show on the 24th. This was the largest one he did in Philadelphia, now at Old Masonic Hall instead of the smaller dance room. In addition to expanding his acting portion of the bill, he and Johnson’s band would play 26 songs for the final show.
Hewlett and Johnson would reunite again on August 14th, 1826. Hewlett announced to his New York City audience in an ad that he would join the band for a show in Saratoga Springs, NY, where Johnson had a summer residency for over 20 years.
Johnson increased his local dance ball engagements for White patrons in 1826 and published a handful of music too, ranging from cotillion setts to military marches.
However, two pieces stand out as an emphatic commitment to proudly representing the global movement to fight racism and colonization, galvanized by the liberation of Hayti, on January 1, 1804. Haytian people rose up and fought a decade long war to free themselves from enslavement and regain control of their land, defeating all the major European powers, including Napolean.
This victory was celebrated by all Black people in the United States and served as inspiration for the continued fight against oppression.
This included Johnson who published Recognition March on the Independence of Hayti and President Boyer’s Cotillion, which was dedicated to Hayti’s second president Jean-Pierre Boyer and published by Johnson himself.
Fellow Black musician and barber, James Hemmenway, also published a cotillion called A Favorite Cotillion, dedicated to President Boyer’s daughter, Zema Boyer.
Here I am playing President Boyer's Cotillion on Electric Guitar:
The sacred music concert following the Hewlett concerts and Hayti publications leads us to believe that during this year, Philadelphia’s Black community was focused on honoring and supporting the arts and Black artists.
Why an African Harmonic Society and Sacred Concerts?
At some point between 1825 and 1826, The African Harmonic Society, which included Johnson and his band, as well as their supporters, formed in Philadelphia.
Because no constitution or by laws for the African Harmonic Society are extant, we can’t pin down exactly why or when they formed, but we do have evidence of their activities, which are informative.
The sacred music concert was a genre popular among White communities in New York City and Philadelphia. This type of concert emphasized Christian hymns and church music by popular European composers. Sacred concerts in Philadelphia from 1821-1825 were typically held by churches and led by individuals. One group that presented sacred concerts was the Musical Fund Society, an organization of White professional and amateur musicians in the city, whose name graces Musical Fund Hall—which Johnson performed at numerous time throughout his career.
Sacred music concerts may have started up because of discrimination at White venues. While Black people could perform in certain settings, most of the time they could not attend. So the musicians may have wanted to build a strong public music scene within the Black community.
This seems to be why the New York based African Theatre Company was founded. William A. Brown started the African Theater Company in 1821, a few years before the African Harmonic Society was formed in Philly. Yvonne Shafer points out "The African Theatre was formed in reaction to the negative conditions in the American theatre for Black actors and for Blacks wishing to attend plays." (Shafer, 387).
The African Harmonic Society was Composed of Musicians and Non-Musicians Who Supported the Group
The next sacred music concert for Black Philadelphia was held in April, again on Friday 13th, 1827, at First African Presbyterian Church.
In the earlier ad, we saw the non-musician supportive team of the African harmonic society listed as ticket holders. In the ad for the new concert, Thomas Butler replaces Quamany Clarkson as a ticket holder, with Johnson and Jacob A. Stans added too.
Stans was a New York based musician who was no doubt instrumental in presenting sacred music concerts in Philly and New York. He and Johnson would work together for at least the next eight years.
How Big Were the Concerts and What was Played?
First African Presbyterian Church could seat 900 people. (Catto, 110).
That's as large as the Walnut Street Theater, which has a capacity of 1054.
In this church setting, Johnson would have his professional musicians in addition to amateur musicians of the community. We can imagine it to be a medium sized orchestra of around 20 or more instrumentalists.
While no program exists for our Friday the 13th concerts, the earliest surviving setlist from a Black sacred music concert is from an October 2nd, 1827 show for the Black community in New York. This gives us a sense of what the music was like in those Philadelphia concerts.
Here we see Philadelphia musicians (Frank Johnson) going to New York to perform just as New York artists came to Philadelphia to perform.
In the program, we see Mr. W. A. Rabbeson, who was a White musician that lent his piano and organ services to various churches in New York. Jacob A. Stans would have led the choir.
Why Friday, the 13th?
Friday, the 13th as a date has been associated with the occult and the mysterious for centuries. So why hold sacred concerts on Friday the 13th? Maybe it was an effort to help people remove their fear of venturing out on that day. Or maybe it had something do with Masonic influences. Some Friday the 13th lore points to events related to the Knights Templar (Masonic Knights) as the origins of these superstitions. Frank Johnson was a Prince Hall Mason (Masons, 103). These theories are all conjecture, and the African Harmonic Society's reasons for scheduling sacred concerts on Friday, the 13th, remains a mystery.
Fun fact, our President and co-Founder Morgan Lloyd was born on a Friday, the 13th!
Conclusion
Sacred music concerts in Philadelphia continued for decades. Because of efforts by the African Harmonic Society, a musical scene was developed by artists that allowed the Black population to experience a wide range of musical genres, and gave space for Black artists to share their talent. Indeed we see Philadelphia based artists like Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield and Thomas Bowers take the world stage in the next generation. Maybe they attended sacred concerts as children?
St. Thomas church quickly joined in presenting concerts in the early 1830s, while Mother Bethel AME did not engage with sacred music concerts until 1848, after William Appo led the orchestra, earning Daniel Alexander Payne’s written approval.
To conclude, here are a few concert programs for you to enjoy.
This ‘Grand Concert’ held on March 30th, 1841. This concert was sponsored by the Philadelphia Library Company. Note that this was a Black library company, not the same as the current Philadelphia Library Company. At that time, Black people were not allowed to join White cultural institutions in Philadelphia, where race relations were extraordinarily fraught (see our mob attack and 1838 civil rights pages).
This ‘Grand Concert’ held Friday, January 30, 1846. Note that someone wrote 1837 on the program, but some of the musicians noted on this flyer were not in Philadelphia at this time. Also a check of the calendar confirms that January 30 did not fall on a Friday in 1837, but did so in 1846.
Check out our intro video on this history.
SOURCES
Catto, William. A semi-centenary discourse, delivered in the First African Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, on the fourth Sabbath of May, 1857 With a history of the church from its first organization: including a brief notice of Rev. John Gloucester, its first pastor. 1857
Historical Committee of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania Free and Accepted Masons. History of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. 2016.
Lanard, Thomas South. One Hundred Years with the State Fencibles: A History of the First Company State Fencibles, Infantry Corps State Fencibles, Infantry Battalion State Fencibles, and the Old Guard State Fencibles, 1813-1913. United States: Nields Company, 1913.
Shafer, Yvonne. “BLACK ACTORS IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY AMERICAN THEATRE.” CLA Journal, vol. 20, no. 3, 1977, pp. 387–400.
Thompson, George. A Documentary History of the African Theatre. United States: Northwestern University Press, 1998.
For more on Philadelphia artistic venues refusing to allow Black audiences see Frederick Douglass' 1870 letter to Thomas Hugh. Douglass was asked to speak at the Academy of Music. But when he discovered that Black audiences were not allowed in, he refused to attend. In his rejection letter he wrote "I believe that the “City of Brotherly love” with its hundreds of Altars to the “Lamb of God” stands almost alone in the intensity of its wolfish hate and snobbish pride of race". See the letter here.
Thank you for this briefing on sacred concerts. Thank you.