National Register of Historic Places
St. Matthew Christian Methodist Episcopal Church
Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin
The record
- Listed
- May 15, 2019
- Type
- Building
- Address
- 2944 N. 9th St., Milwaukee
- County
- Milwaukee
- State
- Wisconsin
- Contributing resources
- 2 buildings
- Coordinates
- 43.07419, -87.92225
- Reference number
- 100003909
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.
David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesBarry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries
The story
Written by AI from this property's National Register nomination and the record above; every sentence is checked against its sources before it appears here. Corrections: privacy@treealive.com
St. Matthew Christian Methodist Episcopal Church is a church at 2944 N. 9th St. in Milwaukee, built in 1914-1915 in the Late Gothic Revival style. The nomination names Leenhouts & Guthrie as its architect.
Why it's listed
It was listed in the National Register in 2019 under criterion A, with local significance in Black ethnic heritage and social history. The nomination gives its period of significance as 1964 to 1967, reflecting its years as headquarters of the Milwaukee United School Integration Committee (MUSIC) from 1964 to 1967.
Physical character
The front-gable church is brick and limestone, with a crenellated square-plan tower, a conical-roofed belfry and buttresses. It also has stained glass windows and a hammer-beam ceiling, and some windows were boarded up in 2018.
Historical context
The church was constructed in 1914-1915 for the First German Reformed congregation, incorporated in 1865, and the St. Matthew congregation bought the building in 1958. MUSIC was established and headquartered at the church in 1964, and freedom schools were held there during school boycotts in 1964 and 1965. In 1965 MUSIC filed a desegregation lawsuit, and a commemorative rally for Medgar Evers was held at the church on June 12, 1966.