Free African Society

Free African Society

The Free African Society (FAS) was a non-denominational community formed in 1787 in Philadelphia by Richard Allen, Absalom Jones and many others for the benefit of African-Americans released from slavery. The FAS operated as a combined church, local government and charity, providing aid to those who couldn't get any, teaching morality, regulating marriages and tried to reduce alcoholism. The Society was funded by a fee-paying membership.

1793 Yellow Fever Epidemic

The FAS was the only organization to volunteer in the Philadelphia's Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793, an event that was the setting for the historical novel "Fever 1793". The Society's black nurses helped the infected for free, but their services were often bought by the highest bidder who needed help. A later law limited the fee to each nurse to $1. For a while, the volunteers did not get infected and it was thought that African Americans were immune to the disease until they too started to catch yellow fever.

Later years

Richard Allen would later form the African Methodist Episcopal Church.


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