The Rev. Lillian Sullivan (left), pastor of Allen Chapel AME Church, and community activist Margaret Peifer of Lincoln sign papers to open a checking account at State Bank of Lincoln for the Friends of Allen Chapel.

Volunteers ask community to help in restoration of Allen Chapel [December 22, 2011]  The Friends of Allen Chapel, an alliance of community activists intent on saving Lincoln's historic African Methodist Episcopal Church building, has opened a checking account at State Bank of Lincoln.

Work on the building began this fall with a tuck-pointing project funded through a $1,400 grant from the local and state Questers organization. The Logan County Board has approved an $800 grant from the hotel-motel tax fund to complete the tuck-pointing and continue work on the 1880 brick building.

Future projects will include replacement of the ancient and inefficient furnace, caulking around windows and doors, and scraping and repainting the wooden portions of the building.

Allen Chapel, one of the oldest black churches in the area, has served continuously since it was built. The congregation, which pre-dates the building, was founded in 1868. Allen Chapel was named to the National Register of Historic Places in May 2004.

According to the National Register nomination form, the church "was established at a time when the responsibility fell to African American churches to make up for the shortfalls that plagued African Americans.

"It was the educator, molder and motivator of the arts and artist. It was the hub of the Black community within a predominately White community. It gave African Americans a place to hold meetings, offer leadership training and provide other tools necessary for its parishioners to lead a full life and to take root and grow under its roof. Allen Chapel assumed the tasks of the formulator of Black culture, extra bed and table, mission, disciplinarian, listening ear, voice, day care, social worker, foster care home, single parent provider – all that was denied to people of color at that time."

The building is the community's only remaining connection to Harlem Renaissance author and poet Langston Hughes. During his youth, Hughes attended services at Allen Chapel when he lived in Lincoln.

The building was also the home church for William "Billy" Dyer, who was one of the first black military surgeons during World War I. William's grandfather, Aaron Dyer, who served as an Underground Railroad operator in Springfield, attended Allen Chapel during his later years.

Billy Dyer was immortalized by world-famous author William Maxwell, who lived in Lincoln during his youth. Maxwell also attended a service at Allen Chapel with Laura Dyer, an event he reminisced about in one of his novels, "The Front and Back Parts of the House."

People who would like to assist with the ongoing renovation of Allen Chapel are encouraged to make contributions to Friends of Allen Chapel Renovation, State Bank of Lincoln, 508 Broadway, Lincoln, IL 62656.

[Text from file received from Abraham Lincoln Tourism Bureau of Logan County]