Hidden Histories: Black Stories of the Lower East Side NYC - Underground Railroad at African Society for Mutual Relief (42 Baxter Street

The African Society for Mutual Relief (NYASMR) founded in 1808 until 1860 was a stop on the underground railroad. It was established soon after the State made it legal for Black New Yorkers to organize and its purpose was to help widows and orphans, provide health and life insurance, pay for burial expenses for its members, and it was also a brokerage place to buy real estate. The society in the 19th century was successful in helping African-American artisans and craftsmen to buy real estate. If a society member died, their family received help from the group. Located in the Five Points neighborhood, the comprehensive organization served as a school, meetinghouse, and a stop on the Underground Railroad, which aided fugitive slaves fleeing from the South and headed for Upstate New York and Canada. In 1820, a former Haitian slave donated around $1800 for the plot of land which served as the meeting house for the NYASMR (42 Baxter street, formerly 42 Orange street) .

As James Sullivan stated in the Black Past website: "The New York African Society for Mutual Relief combined support for widows and orphans, and burial insurance for members with both public and covert abolitionists activities and successful real estate investment and capital accumulation. In doing so it became the most successful 19th century example of the blending of social justice and entrepreneurial capitalism". The membership began to decline in 1940s as other social justice groups emerged in New York and the society closed its doors at the end of World War II.

The anti-Abolition riots also known as the Draft riots of 1834 that were aimed at African Americans forced NYASMR leaders to abandon the building due to multiple mod attacks that destroyed the stained-glass windows and meeting hall were destroyed during the riots. NYASMR moved to Greenwich Street and then to W. 66th Street, which was becoming the new 19th century enclave for African Americans in New York City. The current location at 42 Baxter Street now serves as a state government office.

Map: African Society for Mutual Relief location, New York 1827

"I used to visit Chinatown In Manhattan quite often, I have never really went to this part -- 42 Baxter Street. The way I navigated myself was by printing out a physical google map with certain Landmarks and locations pinpointed on the map. This location and where Five Points is located is currently filled with government buildings. There is a distinctive ‘split’of Chinatown- an invisible boundary that is set with Columbus Park or where the Dr Sun Yuet Sen Plaza stands. And with no surprise, when googling Chinatown, it ends right where 42 Baxter street is at, just that corner of Baxter and Worth. This creates an interesting question, hence another trip is necessary; Does the park serve as a gathering spot only for the Chinatown community or does it also get utilized by office workers, or do they NOT want to go there? On the same street as the Detention Complex, Criminal Court".

Reflections on the Chinatown Area, Edward Pang

References

Sullivan, J. (2011). The New African Society for Mutual Relief (1808-1860). Black Past. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/new-york-african-society-mutual-relief-1808-1860/