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Presbyterianism: Its Relation to the Negro

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Autobiography of Rev. Matthew Anderson and a history of the Berean Presbyterian Church: its founding and growth, mission to Black Philadelphians, church building and debt relief.
Archive ⬩ Church History, Autobiography, and Biography, Domestic Missions, Race Relations and Slavery
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Matthew Anderson, D.D. (January 25, 1845 – January 11, 1928) was an African American Presbyterian minister, educator, and social reformer born in Greencastle, Pennsylvania, who graduated from Oberlin College and Princeton Theological Seminary, was ordained in 1878, and served as the long-time pastor of Berean Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia from 1880 until his death. He founded key community institutions—including the Berean Manual Training and Industrial School (later Berean Institute) and a building & loan association to promote homeownership and job skills—and used his pulpit and pen to advocate both spiritual renewal and social uplift for Black Americans within the Presbyterian Church and broader society. Anderson was also active in denominational leadership, earned an honorary Doctor of Divinity from Lincoln University in 1904, and was marked by a lifelong commitment to “the whole gospel for the whole community.”

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