The Bellefonte Historical and Cultural Association will present “Church on the Hill: Exploring Bellefonte’s African Methodist Episcopal Legacy,” an illustrated lecture by historian Philip Ruth, on February 26, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. in the Centre County Library’s Community Room in Bellefonte.

The presentation will delve into the rich history of Bellefonte’s African Methodist Episcopal congregations and their places of worship. Drawing on sources uncovered through research for the Black History in Centre County project (https://blkctrco.psu.edu), Mr. Ruth will trace the origins of Bellefonte’s two AME congregations in the second quarter of the nineteenth century, and the evolution of their single successor—the St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal congregation—from the 1850s through the present. Learn how Bellefonte was once home to a large and vibrant African American community, with the St. Paul AME Church on Halfmoon Hill at its spiritual center. An opportunity for Q&A will follow the presentation