Christ Church Preservation Trust

Our next #RememberTheWomen project honors and celebrates ONA JUDGE!

Born into slavery at Mount Vernon, she arrived in Philadelphia in November 1790, the enslaved maid of George and Martha Washington.  She escaped in May 1796, with the help of people in Philadelphia's African American community, settled in New Hampshire, avoided recapture, and lived the remainder of her life as a free woman.  Her two published accounts of her quest for freedom inspired Americans in the nineteenth century. She died in 1848, a free woman.

Her story continues to inspire today.

For more information, see our website: www.RememberTheWomen.org  

About PHMC Markers:

Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission Markers are an important way to tell Commonwealth's history.  For more information on PHMC, visit: https://www.phmc.pa.gov/Preservation/Historical-Markers/Pages/default.aspx 


Our New Partners:

The Christ Church Preservation Trust has generously agreed to act as RTW's fiscal agent and nonprofit home. Christ Church was the spiritual home of many of Pennsylvania's founding mothers, including Black women, free and enslaved.

More information about Christ Church Preservation Trust:

Christ Church Preservation Trust is a secular nonprofit in Philadelphia's Old City District that maintains the historic Christ Church properties, including Christ Church (Est. 1695), its two burial grounds, an archives program, and Neighborhood House. Through Neighborhood House, the Trust administers a theater and facilitate the use of the Christ Church campus by the artistic community, civic groups, and tens of thousands of school students every year.

The Christ Church steeple has lasted through the lifetimes of quite a few baseball parks in this city -- including the Baker Bowl, Hilldale Park, Connie Mac Stadium, and The Vet.

Dating to 1754, the Christ Church steeple was the tallest structure in America for over 50 years. Church member Ben Franklin funded its construction through a lottery. John Adams climbed it to seek solace during the Constitutional Conventions, and its bells, cast at the same bell foundry as the Liberty Bell -- called George Washington, Betsy Ross, and numerous other Revolutionary figures to Sunday services.

For centuries the steeple has served as a symbol of revolutionary spirit and a key part of Philadelphia's landscape along the Delaware River. But the ages have taken their toll, and now the steeple needs specialized restoration. It doesn't come cheap.

Over the past three years, Christ Church Preservation Trust, a secular nonprofit charged with maintaining the historic properties of Christ Church in Old City, has campaigned to save America's Steeple. We've raised over $2.5 million so far and have a little under $600,000 to go.

To help us raise social awareness, a private historic preservation donor -- and huge Phillies fan -- says he will contribute $2 for every $1 we raise in a crowdsourcing campaign (up to $10,000). And another fan of Philly history wants to help. Phillies Manager Gabe Kapler says he will have coffee with a selected GoFundMe contributor and three of his/her friends.

For every $25 you donate to our campaign, your name will be entered into a drawing for Coffee with Kap. The winner's name will be selected one month from today (Wednesday, May 15) at the opening of the seasonal Farmers Market at Christ Church along Church Street.

Help save an iconic Philadelphia landmark. Help us restore America's Steeple.