Pennsylvania State Equal Rights League Convention
{{Short description|Series of colored convention events in Pennsylvania (1830–1898)}}
{{Infobox event
| title = Pennsylvania State Equal Rights League Convention
| image = MotherBethelAMEChurchPhila.jpg
| caption = Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church, Philadelphia, the site of the first colored convention in 1830
| date = {{start and end dates|1830|09|15|1898|12|31}}
| place = Various cities, Pennsylvania, U.S.
}}
The Pennsylvania State Equal Rights League Convention was a series of Colored Conventions in the 19th century. The convention was one of several social movement conventions that took place in the mid-19th century in many states across the United States.{{Cite web |title=State Conventions |url=https://omeka.coloredconventions.org/state-conventions |website=Colored Conventions Project, University of Delaware}}{{Cite web |last=Ruffin II |first=Herbert G. |date=February 4, 2009 |title=The Conventions of Colored Citizens of the State of California (1855-1865) |url=https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/conventions-colored-citizens-state-california-1855-1865/ |website=BlackPast.org}}{{Cite journal |last=Herron |first=Paul E. |date=April 2022 |title="This Crisis of Our History": The Colored Conventions Movement and the Temporal Construction of Southern Politics |journal=Studies in American Political Development |language=en |volume=36 |issue=1 |pages=21–40 |doi=10.1017/S0898588X21000122 |s2cid=246985506 |issn=0898-588X|doi-access=free }}
History
= 1830 Philadelphia =
The 1830 convention at Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church in Philadelphia was led by Bishop Richard Allen, the founder of the National Negro Convention.{{Cite book |last=Hillerbrand |first=Hans J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PMSTAgAAQBAJ |title=Encyclopedia of Protestantism: 4-volume Set |date=2004-08-02 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-96028-5 |pages=33 |language=en}}Wesley, Charles H., [https://books.google.com/books?id=G3M3AAAAMAAJ Richard Allen: Apostle of Freedom], Associated Publishers, 1935, pp. 234–238. It was held on September 15, 1830, and lasted ten-days.{{Cite web |title=National Negro convention movement, 1830–1864 |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2935.html |access-date=2023-01-15 |website=Africans in America, PBS}} The first convention occurred directly after the 1829 riots in Cincinnati, which was one topic of discussion, other topics included African American land purchase, improving social conditions in the United States, and establishing settlements in "upper Canada".{{Cite book |last=Stradling |first=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AqYsjgEACAAJ |title=Cincinnati: From River City to Highway Metropolis |date=2003-09-16 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |isbn=978-1-58973-138-7 |pages=28 |language=en}} Forty delegates from seven states were in attendance, other leaders during the 1830 convention included James Forten, Rev. Samuel E. Cornish, Rev. Peter Williams Jr., William Hamilton, Philip Alexander Bell, Hezekiah Grice, and James W. C. Pennington.{{Cite journal |last=Gross |first=Bella |date=1946 |title=The First National Negro Convention |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2715216 |journal=The Journal of Negro History |volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=435–443 |doi=10.2307/2715216 |jstor=2715216 |issn=0022-2992}}
= 1831 Philadelphia =
During the 1831 First Annual Convention of the People of Color at the Wesleyan Church in Philadelphia, Thomas L. Jennings served as the secretary.{{Cite web |date=2009-02-02 |title=Thomas L. Jennings (1791–1856) |url=https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/jennings-thomas-l-1791-1856/ |access-date=2023-01-31 |website=BlackPast.org |language=en-US}} Fifteen delegates from five states attended the 1831 event, which included leaders such as James G. Barbadoes.{{Cite web |date=2008-05-23 |title=James G. Barbadoes (1796–1841) |url=https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/barbadoes-james-g-1796-1841/ |access-date=2023-01-31 |website=BlackPast.org |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title="Address to the Free People of Colour of these United States" |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part3/3h512.html |access-date=2023-01-31 |website=Africans in America (Part 3), PBS}}
= 1833 Philadelphia =
At the 1833 Convention for the Improvement of the Free People of Color held on August 26, 1833 at 526 Pearl Street, Philadelphia, they had a tribute to the late William Wilberforce, who had died weeks earlier on July 29, 1833.{{Cite news |date=1833-10-19 |title=Testimony of Respect to the Late WM Wilberforce |pages=3 |work=The Liberator |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120620084/testimony-of-respect-to-the-late-wm/ |access-date=2023-03-11}}{{Cite book |last=Metaxas |first=Eric |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YnS4AAAAIAAJ |title=Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery |date=2007-02-06 |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=978-0-06-117300-4 |language=en}}
= 1898 Reading =
During the 1898 Pennsylvania State Convention of the Afro-American League in Reading, featured 200 delegates endorsing Republican candidate Matthew Quay for re-election as senator. Speakers included the Mayor of Reading, Jacob Weidel; and the founder of the all African-American National Guard unit, William Hilton Catlin.{{Cite web |title=The forgotten men of Company F from Monongahela |url=https://observer-reporter.com/community/the-forgotten-men-of-company-f-from-monongahela/article_5cf4ca7c-0799-529c-8027-368d72edd200.html |access-date=2023-03-11 |website=Observer-Reporter |language=en}}