Hope Chapel a Welcoming Church

08/15/2026

08/14/2026

Building what matters the AME Zion Church

In the chaos of Reconstruction North Carolina, one bishop quietly built more schools, churches, and institutions than almost anyone else in the state, and most people have never heard his name. ✝️

James Walker Hood arrived in North Carolina in 1864 as an AME Zion missionary and never really stopped building. He helped organize dozens of new churches across the state, pushed hard for Black political representation, and became one of the most influential Black leaders of Reconstruction-era North Carolina, eventually serving as assistant superintendent of the state's newly integrated public education system. He also ran for lieutenant governor in 1868, decades before most Black North Carolinians would get another chance at statewide office.

It's easy to focus on the politicians of that era and forget the people doing the slower, structural work of building institutions that would outlast any single election. What do you think mattered more in Reconstruction, the political fights or the institution building happening in the background?