Robert Church & Mary Church Terrell
One of the first African-Amerian millionaires, Robert Reed Church, Sr., left his mark in Memphis as a champion for our community. His commitment to education and financial stability for all Memphians has rightfully made him a local and national icon.
Robert Church Sr. in 1903
Shaped by Adversity
Born to a steamboat captain and a slave seamstress, Robert Reed Church worked on his father’s steamboat as a teenager. However, when the ship sank in a tragic accident in 1855, Church and his father were among the few survivors. After the Civil War, during which Church worked on another steamboat for the Union, Church and his wife settled in Memphis. They both became entrepreneurs as he opened a saloon and she opened a hair salon. Rather than fleeing from racial prejudice and violence that threatened to hold him back in the pre-civil rights movement South, Church courageously vowed to stay in Memphis and rise above the overwhelming adversity he faced in his life.
Commitment to the Community
This vow carried him through the Yellow Fever epidemic of 1878, during which he and his wife strategically invested in properties while many fled the city. As Church’s wealth began to grow, he started investing his wealth back into the African-American community in Memphis. He strongly believed in fighting racial oppression and advancing the African-American community through education, activism, and stable employment. In 1899 he built Church’s Park and Auditorium on Beale Street, the first major recreational and civic center for African Americans in the country. It hosted 2,000 people and brought in famous artists and speakers such as W.C. Handy and Booker T. Washington. Church gave his money enthusiastically throughout the city and became a prominent philanthropist.
A Lasting Legacy
Robert Church Sr.’s historic home on South Lauderdale, Memphis, ca. 1899
Robert Reed Church not only left his civic-minded footprint in the city of Memphis, but he also left his greatest legacy in his daughter, Mary Church Terrell. One of the first African-American female college graduates, Terrell rose as one of the most influential activists in the first half of the twentieth century. She founded the National Association of Colored Women and coined the inspirational phrase, “lifting as we climb.” Mary Church Terrell took the values her father instilled in her and built upon them. He impacted the city, she impacted the nation.
Despite the enormous amount of challenges and adversity he faced in his life, Robert Reed Church retained a tenacious, unyielding spirit which produced his great personal success. However, Church did not hoard his resources and success for his own personal gain. Instead he generously and persistently fought for the flourishing of his entire community. He has certainly left a legacy from which many Memphians still benefit today.