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Artist
Thomas Badger, 1792 - 1868
Sitter
Thomas Paul, 1773 - 13 Apr 1831
Date
c. 1825
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")
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
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Object number
NPG.70.45
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.
