return THOMAS PAUL (1773-1831) by Thomas Badger (1792-1868) Leader of the movement toward independent black Baptist churches in the United States, Thomas Paul founded the African Baptist Church in Boston in 1805. His eloquence as a preacher brought him invitations to speak wherever African Americans were attempting to organize their own churches. In 1809 he helped establish the Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City; it later became the largest Baptist congregation in the world. This portrait by miniaturist and portrait painter Thomas Badger dates from around 1825 and depicts Paul in the act of preaching. The setting may be the African Meeting House on Beacon Hill in Boston, constructed in 1806. Paul served as pastor of the First African Baptist Church until 1829, when he resigned because of poor health. Oil on panel, circa 1825 National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution NPG.70.45 return