American Religion Timelines
Race/Ethnicity and Religion - Events by Name
| Event | Introduction | Type |
|---|---|---|
| 1978 Revelation on Priesthood | In 1978, the Church of Latter-day Saints opened the priesthood to male members of African descent for the first time. | |
| Autobiography of a Yogi Published | Paramahansa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi, published in 1946, continues to be used by followers of his Self-Realization Fellowship and as college textbooks. | |
| African Methodist Episcopal Church | In 1816, the African Methodist Episcopal Church formed after years of unequal treatment with white Methodists. It is the oldest existing African-American denomination in the U.S. | |
| African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church | The African Methodist Episcopal Zion (AMEZ) Church formed in 1821 as a response to racial discrimination and segregation. | |
| Albert Cleage and The Black Madonna | In 1967, Albert Cleage revealed to his congregation a painting called "The Black Madonna," a provocative start to the Black Christian Nationalist Movement. | |
| American Chapter of Soka Gakkai Formed | The Japanese-based Soka Gakkai Buddhist society commissioned its U.S. chapter in 1960. In 1991, the chapter reorganized as Soka Gakkai International-USA. | |
| American Indian Religious Freedom Act | The American Indian Religious Freedom Act, passed in 1978, acknowledged the importance of Native American religious traditions and pledged to protect their rights. | |
| Augustus Tolton Becomes Ordained Catholic Priest | On April 24, 1886, Augustus Tolton became the first fully and recognizably African-American Catholic priest. | |
| Baha'i House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois | The Baha'i House of Worship, located near Chicago in Wilmette, Ill., was opened in 1953 and is the only Baha'i temple in North America. | |
| Barbara Harris Ordained as Anglican Bishop | The Right Rev. Barbara Harris (1930-present), an African-American Episcopalian, was consecrated the first female bishop in the Worldwide Anglican Communion in 1989. | |
| Billy Graham Holds First Integrated Crusade in Chattanooga, TN | In 1953, Billy Graham's decision to hold an integrated crusade in the South helped shift racial attitudes among white evangelicals. | |
| Birmingham Church Bombing | On September 15, 1963, a bomb detonated inside 16th Street Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama. Four young African-American girls were killed, sparking national outrage. | |
| Buddhist Churches of America | The Buddhist Churches of America, formed in 1944 and headquartered in San Francisco, represents mainstream Japanese American Buddhism. | |
| Bureau of Immigration | In 1920, the National Catholic Welfare Council gave aid and guidance to new Catholic immigrants through its Bureau of Immigration. | |
| Chief Seattle's Speech | An 1854 speech by Native American Chief Seattle (1780-1866) inspired the 20th century environmental movement, despite being heavily rewritten. | |
| Christian Methodist Episcopal Church | In 1870, the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church formed after southern black Methodists desired to form their own denomination following the Civil War. | |
| Church of God in Christ | The Church of God in Christ was formed in 1897 in Mississippi. It is the oldest and largest black Pentecostal body in the United States. | |
| Cumberland Presbyterian Church of America Founded | In 1874, former slaves in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church founded an independent denomination, later named the Cumberland Presbyterian Church of America. | |
| Dzemijetul Hajrije | Dzemijetal Hajrije, America's oldest existing Muslim organization, was formed in 1906 by Bosnian immigrants who came to Chicago to help dig subway tunnels. | |
| First African Presbyterian Church Organized | In May 1807, John Gloucester organized the first African American Presbyterian Church. | |
| First Buddhist Temples Built | In the 1850s-1880s, Chinese and Japanese immigrants brought Buddhism to America as they searched for work in Hawaii's plantations and California's gold rush. | |
| First Buddhists Elected to U.S. Congress | In November 2006, voters in Georgia and Hawaii elected the first two Buddhists --Democrats Hank Johnson and Mazie Hirono -- to the U.S. Congress. | |
| First Daoist/Traditional Chinese Temples in the U.S. | Daoism (i.e., Taoism), one of China’s recognized religions, arrived in San Francisco in the 19th century as Chinese immigrants sought work in California’s gold rush. | |
| First Purpose-Built Mosque | In 1929, Syrian-Lebanese immigrants constructed the first purpose-built mosque in America in Ross, N.D., to serve their small community of Muslims. | |
| First Shinto Shrine in the U.S. | On November 3, 1898, Japanese immigrants built the first Shinto shrine in the United States in Hilo, Hawaii. | |
| First Sikh Gurdwara | The first gurdwara, a Sikh gathering place, was built in 1912 in Stockton, C.A., by settlers attracted to the fertile farmland similar to their native Punjab. | |
| Fo Guang Shan Hsi Lai Buddhist Temple | Built in 1988, Hsi Lai Temple near Los Angeles is the largest Buddhist temple in the western hemisphere. | |
| Freedmen's Aid Society | In the 1860s, the Freedmen's Aid Society formed with the goal of increasing educational opportunities for blacks in the American South. | |
| George Bourne Dismissed for His Opposition to Slavery | Presbyterian minister George Bourne lost his pastor position in 1815 for advocating the immediate emancipation of the slaves. | |
| Hindu Temple Established in San Francisco | On Jan. 7, 1906, Indian-born Swami Trigunatita helped build one of the first Hindu temples of the western world in San Francisco. | |
| Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 | The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (i.e., Hart-Celler Act) permitted more Muslim, Buddhist, and Hindu immigrants into the United States, changing the U.S. religious landscape. | |
| Indian Manual Training School Founded in Oregon | In 1835, Methodist missionaries established a mission and manual labor school for American Indians, which was largely unsuccessful. | |
| International Society for Krishna Consciousness | A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Parbhupada (1896-1977) founded the International Society of Krishna Consciousness in 1966 in New York to bring Krishna worship to the West. | |
| Islamic Center of America | In 1963, after years of fundraising, Lebanese Muslims in the Detroit area opened the Islamic Center of America, one of the oldest Shi'a mosques in America. | |
| John Chivington Leads Sand Creek Massacre | In 1864, former Methodist Episcopal Church pastor John Chivington led a massacre against Colorado Native Americans, now known as the Sand Creek Massacre. | |
| Keith Ellison Elected to U.S. Congress | On Nov. 7, 2006, Keith Ellison became the first Muslim elected to national office, joining the U.S. House of Representatives for Minnesota's fifth district. | |
| Major Upsurge in Hindu Temples | The 1970s, and early 1980s, saw an explosion of Hindu temples in America, courtesy of a new law allowing for more immigrants from India. | |
| Methodist Episcopal Church, South | In 1845, the contentious issue of American slavery divided the Methodist Episcopal Church into Northern and Southern denominations. | |
| Million Man March | The Million Man March in 1995, organized by the Nation of Islam's Louis Farrakhan, was the largest gathering of African Americans in U.S. history. | |
| Mother Mosque of America | The "Mother Mosque of America," established by immigrants in 1934 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is the oldest purpose-built mosque still in use. | |
| Muhammad Ali Converts to Islam | After winning his first heavyweight championship in 1964, boxer Cassius Clay (1942-2016) announced he had converted to Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Ali. | |
| Murders of Marcus and Narcissa Whitman | In 1847, Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, early missionaries to the Oregon territory, were killed by the Cayuse Indians in a widely publicized massacre. | |
| Nat Turner's Rebellion | Nat Turner’s rebellion (1831) is the most famous slave revolt in American history. | |
| Nation of Islam Founded | On July 4, 1930, W.D. Fard founded the Nation of Islam, one of the most radical and militant religious movements of the 20th century. | |
| National Baptist Convention | The National Baptist Convention has been the largest national association of African-American Baptists since 1895 despite major denominational splits in 1915 and 1961. | |
| Native American Peyote Controversy | Despite passage of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act in 1978, legal judgments continued to challenge the use of peyote in religious services until 1994. | |
| Oblate Sisters of Providence Founded | The Oblate Sisters of Providence, founded in Baltimore, Md., in 1829, was the first Roman Catholic congregation founded by women of African descent. | |
| Papal Condemnation of Slave Trade | In 1839, Pope Gregory XVI condemned the slave trade in the papal bull entitled In supremo apostolatus, but American Catholics were tentative about ending slavery. | |
| Peyote Religion and the Native American Church | Use of peyote, a psychedelic source for Native American spirit ceremonies, became widespread in the mid-1880s. In 1906, peyote groups formed the Native American Church. | |
| Presbyterian Church in the U.S. | The Civil War divided northern and southern Presbyterians, leading those in the South to secede and form the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. in 1861. | |
| Progressive National Baptist Convention | In 1961, the Progressive National Baptist Convention split from the National Baptist Convention, USA, due to disputes regarding Martin Luther King Jr.'s civil rights activism. | |
| Publication of Appeal to the Christian Women of the South | In 1836, Angelina Grimke published Appeal to the Christian Women of the South, which urged other southern Christian women to denounce slavery. | |
| Publication of Religious Experience and Journal of Mrs. Jarena Lee | Jarena Lee’s 1836 autobiography is one of the first extended life accounts of a black woman in America. | |
| Ququnok Patke Prophesies | Ququnok Patke (c.1790s-1837) was a Kootenai Indian whose prophecies in the early 1800s made her legendary throughout the Pacific Northwest. | |
| Silver Bluff Baptist Church | Silver Bluff Baptist Church was founded over the course of 1773-1775 as the first black Baptist church in America. | |
| Sojourner Truth's Methodist Conversion | In 1843, Sojourner Truth converted to Methodism and found her calling as an important social activist for blacks as well as women. | |
| Southern Baptist Convention Founded | The Southern Baptist Convention (1845) resulted from a split between Northern and Southern Baptists over slavery. It is now the largest Protestant denomination in America. | |
| Southern Christian Leadership Conference | Founded in 1957, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) believed that racial equality was a Christian imperative and utilized non-violent protests to combat racism. | |
| Sufism Comes to United States | Fulfilling the wishes of his Sufi teacher, Hazrat Inayat Khan sailed to America in 1910 to spread the message of this mystical arm of Islam. | |
| The Wesleyan Methodist Church Connection | In 1843, abolitionists split from the Methodist Episcopal Church over slavery and church governance. | |
| Thomas Coke's Anti-Slavery Resolution, "Christmas Conference" | The Christmas Conference of 1784 allowed American Methodists to establish their new denominational identity in the United States and to reaffirm their opposition to slavery. | |
| Union Church of Africans | In 1813, the Union Church of Africans became the first independently organized black church in the United States. | |
| UPCUSA Confession of 1967 | The 1967 Confession added calls for racial and social reconciliation, but conservatives in the United Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) accused it of hedging on essential doctrines. | |
| Vietnamese Buddhists Come to United States | Vietnamese Buddhism spread across America as thousands of refugees arrived after the Vietnam War ended in 1975. | |
| Xavier University of Louisiana Founded | Xavier University of Louisiana (est. 1915) is the only historically black Catholic institution of higher learning in America. |
