In 1892, the address listed for the church was at 2660 8th Ave.[6]
The church was built to the designs of George H. Streeton[1] Pastor C. J. Drew had a four-story parish school at 216-228 West 142nd Street built in 1961 to designs by the architectural firm of Greenberg & Ames of 303 Park Avenue.[2]
History
Eddie Bonnemère performed his "Missa Hodierna" at the church in 1966, the first ever Jazz Mass in a US Catholic church.
Emerson J. Moore succeeded Father Edward Dugan as pastor in 1975, becoming its first African-American pastor. Moore became the first Black monsignor in the United States in 1978. In 1982, Pope John Paul II appointed Moore a bishop and vicar of the Black community, after visiting the parish personally three years earlier.[3][7]