In 1844 a group of seven people who met regularly in the home of John Day founded this church. Quinn Chapel was approved and on July 22, 1847, it officially became a congregation of the A.M.E. Church. The founders chose the name Quinn Chapel in honor of Bishop William Paul Quinn, the A.M.E. missionary who organized many churches in Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. In years prior to emancipation, Quinn Chapel, with a membership of free and freedmen, functioned as an important station of the Underground Railroad. After the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act, a larger group of black Chicagoans gathered at Quinn Chapel, the first black church in Chicago, to protest the Fugitive Slave Act. The group created a vigilance committee, consisting of a black police force to patrol the city each night to watch for slave catchers.

Quinn Chapel A.M.E. Church History

Courtesy of Quinn Chapel A.M.E. Church