Lucinda L. Johnson and the Founding of the Metropolitan A.M.E. Zion Church of Ridgewood

She became very involved in the fight against discrimination, which motivated her to host lawn parties in order to found the Metropolitan A.M.E. Zion Church of Ridgewood, a house of worship “dedicated to the Negroes of Ridgewood.” The church is described in an article from the Ridgewood Herald on Jan. 8, 1908 as “a real addition to the architectural attractions of Ridgewood…The church has a basement chapel, kitchen, library rooms…The lighting is by electricity and a furnace gives heat.” Inside the church, there is a stained glass window with an angel’s face marked “For Lucinda.” Johnson’s obituary, published in The Ridgewood Herald-News in Feb. 1940, described her as “a remarkable woman”; she was buried in a lot in Valleau Cemetery that she purchased back in the 1890s.

As this month comes to an end, we encourage everyone to remember Black History and attend Tuesday night’s (Feb. 27th) Academy Award-nominated film at Ridgewood Public Library at 7pm. “I Am Not Your Negro” envisions the book “Remember This House” that James Baldwin never finished, a radical narration about race in America, using the writer’s original words, as read by actor Samuel L. Jackson.