Two-story wood church with a square belfry, beige siding and teal trim, set on a tree-lined residential street under a cloudy sky

About this experience

St. James AME Zion Church

Ithaca, New York, USA

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Published: 2026 (v20)

Part of: The Sacred

Story outline

  • St. James AME Zion Church

    St. James A.M.E. Zion Church is Ithaca’s oldest original church building and one of the world’s earliest AME Zion congregations. For nearly 200 years it has embodied celebration, resistance, and resilience, connected to abolition, the Underground Railroad, and enduring community life.

  • Stop 1. Foundations of St. James

    St. James A.M.E. Zion Church, founded in 1836 by formerly enslaved and free Black congregants, is Ithaca’s oldest original church building and among the nation’s earliest AME Zion sites. Its expansions, Civil War memorial, and archaeology work celebrate enduring resilience and community advocacy.

  • Stop 2. Part of a Network

    St. James in Ithaca is connected to broader communities and networks including the AME Zion Church, and as a station on the Underground Railroad, guiding enslaved people toward freedom.

  • Stop 3. Resilience & Resistance

    Fellowship Hall served as Ithaca’s original sanctuary and vital community hub for African Americans as a place of worship, mutual aid, and organizing. Linked to Underground Railroad routes and the founding of Alpha Phi Alpha, it embodies sacred space driving social change and resilience.

  • Stop 4. Strength in Leaders and Community

    St. James’ sanctuary highlights a legacy of African American leadership and activism, from Pastor Thomas James and visits by Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass to Rev. Jermaine Loguen’s Underground Railroad work. Strength of the congregation endures in memorial stained glass, hymns, and ties to the civil rights struggle.

  • Stop 5. Harriet Tubman

    Harriet Tubman, a famed Underground Railroad conductor who personally freed about 75 people in some 13 missions, visited and sat in these pews. Known locally as “Aunt Harriet,” she later settled in Auburn and founded a home for people with disabilities.

  • Stop 6. A Living Legacy

    St. James’ ongoing legacy been preserved throughout the years memorialized as a National Landmark in 1975 adn through ongoing work of the community and congregation including recent archaeology work led by Cornell University to uncover its past and inspire new generations.

  • Stop 7. Faith, Hope, and Change

    St. James AME Zion Church continues to inspire faith, hope, and social change. Its legacy preserves community resilience and spiritual leadership; visitors are invited to honor this history and help sustain the church’s role as a living landmark for future generations.

Voices

  • A Black man wearing a clerical collar and dark jacket, looking slightly to the side with a neutral expression against a black background

    Reverend Terrance A. King

    Minister at St. James AME Zion Church

    CyArk

    Reverend Terrance A. King was appointed his first pastorate at St. James A.M.E Zion Church in July of 2020. Since 2005, Rev. King has been active in the ministry of A.M.E. Zion churches as a member of the choir and worship team. In addition to his ministry, Rev. King has pursued his service to others throughout his formal education with a Bachelor's Degree in Sociology from Le Moyne College in Syracuse and through his current work as a PhD candidate at Syracuse University studying Special Education.
  • An older Black woman with short curly hair and glasses smiling indoors near a stained-glass window, wearing hoop earrings and a patterned top

    Glenda Phillips-Hickman

    St. James Congregant

    CyArk

    Glenda Phillips-Hickman graduated from the State University College of Oneonta in 1972 with a background in Nursing and Nutrition. She spent most of her time working for not-for-profit agencies specializing in the elderly and children. She is a teacher in the Sunday School of the AMEZ Church and has taught there since 1985. Since retiring from health care, she spends most of her time making quilts, knitting, crocheting, gardening, canning, and freezing.

  • A middle-aged Black man with a shaved head wearing a black and cream striped shirt, standing outdoors in front of a stone and wood wall

    Angelo Hickman

    St. James Congregant

    Angelo Hickman is an Oneonta State College graduate who worked for the New York State Division for Youth/Children and Family Services for twenty-four years. He also worked for sixteen years at Cayuga Medical Center. He is the Head Trustee at St. James, a position that is appointed annually by the pastor and confirmed by church members. The trustee’s duties include taking care of the physical property of the Church and leading the way in keeping harmony and peace.

  • A man with short dark hair and light stubble looking slightly upward outdoors in front of a fence and wooden-sided building

    Nick Sledziona

    St. James Congregant

    Nick Sledziona is currently one of the Trustees serving at St. James AME Zion Church, and he also holds the positions of Preacher’s Steward and Leader of Leaders for the church Lay Council. He has been active with St. James as a member for approximately the past eight years. Nick is one of four children and he grew up living in and around Ithaca. He currently holds a Bachelor’s of Science from Plattsburgh State University in the field of hotel / restaurant and tourism management. He has worked in the fields of hospitality and later shifted his focus to biotechnology and then again to financial services.

  • A smiling middle-aged person with long red hair wearing a knit beanie and pink top, indoors with wooden door and shelf in background

    Annie Lovett

    St. James Congregant

    Annie Lovett moved to Ithaca in 1973 and has been a member of St. James AME Zion church since the age of seven. She is proud to be connected to St. James because it was essential to the abolitionist movement. She has always loved the ministry of the church choir and singing. She enjoys singing spirituals because it makes her think about the potential obstacles that Harriet Tubman and others had to overcome to be successful during the prominence of the underground railroad. She believes that music is spiritually that uplifts those who search for hope in today’s world.

  • A middle-aged man with short dark hair and a slight smile wearing a dark blazer and checkered shirt in a home library setting

    Gerard Aching

    Emeritus W.E.B. DuBois Professor in the Humanities

    CyArk

    Gerard Aching is professor of Africana and Romance Studies at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. A native of Trinidad & Tobago, his work specializes in 19th- and 20th-century Caribbean literatures and histories, with particular emphasis on Cuba. His current research examines slave narratives, colonial plantation cultures, and the relationship between slavery and philosophy. He currently leads and facilitates the collaborative Underground Railroad Research Project, which focuses on research, community engagement, and fieldwork in local communities in Central and Western New York.

  • A middle-aged man with short light brown hair and stubble smiling while seated indoors against a dark blurred background, wearing a light blue collared shirt

    Adam T. Smith

    Distinguished Professor of Arts and Sciences in Anthropology at Cornell University

    Adam T. Smith is Distinguished Professor of Arts and Sciences in Anthropology at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. His research focuses on exploring the relationships between the material world and our political lives. Smith’s focus in archaeology and material culture is thread through multiple projects ranging from the Bronze Age Caucasus to the St. James A.M.E. Zion Community Excavations Project which uses archaeology as a forum for amplifying the church’s history and engaging the broader community.

Partners

About the Project

Established in 1833, St. James AME Zion Church is the oldest church in Ithaca, New York. St. James is part of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church denomination known as “The Freedom Church.” St. James has continued this legacy of activism throughout its history, including serving as an important transfer point for freedom seekers on the Underground Railroad. In collaboration with St. James AME Zion Church and Cornell University, CyArk documented the site in 2021 and produced a virtual experience of the church highlighting the Church’s connection to the Underground Railroad and its ongoing significance as a place of worship today.

Related Links

Credits

Thank you to the congregation of St. James AME Zion Church for sharing your time and connections to this place of worship.