Fr. Robert E. Dubose
Fifteenth Rector 1976 - 1990)...

Robert E. DuBose was born in Birmingham, Alabama, studied in its public schools, and earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree at St. Augustine College, and his graduate degree (M. Divinity) at Seabury Theological Seminary. While at St. Augustine he was a scholar-athlete and was inducted into Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.

Following his ordinations (Deacon and Priest) he was sent as Vicar of St. Andrews Episcopal Church (1953-1956) in Tuskegee, Alabama, he also served as Vicar of Good Shepherd, Montgomery, and Chaplain at Alabama State College (now University). He served in this capacity until 1961 when he ventured north to Philadelphia. It was not of his volition however. He was compelled to leave, by the Diocese of Alabama, and its Bishop, The Right Reverend Charles Colcock Jones Carpenter .

Fr. DuBose’s ministry in Alabama at this time was a hotbed for fires of civil rights protests throughout the South. College students were sitting-in, waddling-in, walkin-in to protest the indignities aimed at Americans of African descent. Throughout the Southern United States a clarion call for civil right crescendowed from historically black colleges, Universities and Seminaries. A new Civil Rights Movement was upon us, and the Reverend Fr. Robert E. DuBose, was right in the middle of this new struggle for inherent rights which had been guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States.

Needless to say that the foundations of the “old” South were shaken to the core. An old way of life being challenge, not only by young visionaries, but by clergy. The Black Clergy of the Episcopal Church in Alabama.

Bishop Carpenter admonished the black priests to stay away from the marches, they were just a waste of time, integration would come gradually. Fr. Robert DuBose felt that the Holy Spirit compelled him to become “Wholly” involved in this movement. He became a mighty force in the Montgomery Improvement Association, the progenitor of the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott, a friend and confidant of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Reverend Ralph Abernathy, and many of those people who crafted the Southern Christian Leadership Conference agenda during the early Movement. He served on the Voter Registration and Political Action Committee of the Montgomery Improvement Association.

Because Fr. DuBose often wore his clergy garments during marches and sit-ins, his visibility was of great concern to the “staid and conservative” Christian consortium. This young priest was “uppity” and had to be “dealt with”. His wife and children were harassed as was he. He was pressured by white groups as well as Blacks. The Bishop of the Diocese, miffed with DuBose and his involvement in the demonstrations and his insubordination, told him to cease and desist in all civil right activities. Fr. DuBose challenged the laws enforcing segregated eating facilities in Montgomery and in their 1960-1961 Court Term the Alabama Court of Appeals upheld his challenge and it was thereafter legal for black people and white people to eat together.

In 1961, The Reverend Fr. Jesse Anderson, Sr. sent for DuBose to act as his Curate. Thus began another career of service to God and the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania community.

While Rector of the House of Prayer Episcopal Church, Fr. DuBose met and became an essential cog in the Progress Movement, orchestrated by the Reverend Dr. Leon H. Sullivan. DuBose, as an executive board member. DuBose provided wise counsel and the direction of several seminal programsduring the 1960’s, 1970’s and 1990’s: Opportunities Industrialization Centers (OIC), Progress Stores, Progress Aerospace Enterprises, as well as, The Entrepreneurial Training Center.

His life of meritous commitment to social and economic justice cannot be denied. While at Historic St. Thomas Church, he was the consummate parish Priest, who was on call, ready to lead by example. He “walked the talk.”

The Rev. Canon Robert E. Du Bose, Jr. placed great emphasis on lifting up St. Thomas’ history. When he was called as the fifteenth rector the congregation referred to itself as St. Thomas Protestant Episcopal Church. Anglicanism has always understood its theological stance to be part of the Reformed tradition; directly descended from the Early Church, and characteristic of catholicity (the historic episcopate). Fr. DuBose, in part abiding by the movement to remove the word “Protestant” from the names of Episcopal parishes, saw an opportunity to use the parish’s name to highlight the congregation’s historicity and he adopted the name “Historic St. Thomas Church.” Fr. DuBose, together with Mrs. Elizabeth J. Forrester, a laywoman active in the parish chapter and the diocesan chapter of the Episcopal Church Women (ECW), in 1981, formed the Historical Society. Mrs. Forrester served as the founding Director. Founding members included The Rev. Dr. Sadie S. Mitchell, Pearl M. Babb, John L. Barrett, Mary A. Brown, William J. Burke, Sr., William J. Burke, Jr., Robert N. Chase, Frances I. Clark, Angela DuBose, Judy C. Fisher, Marrietta R. Fountain, Jessie Gibson, Isabelle Hamill, Lucille Hamill, Gail Hinton Harris, Shirley Z. Lumm, Lucy B. Merrick, Constance Perry, Susie Rich, Arthur K. Sudler, Harvey J. Sudler, Jr., Emory J. Thomas, James T. Townsend, Harold H. Trulear, and Enid T. Winston.

On Monday, March 14, 1983 Mayor William J. Green was at the center of a ceremony in the church sanctuary where he signed City Council Bill 1623 alternately naming the entire length of 52nd Street as “Absalom Jones Way” in honor of the parish’ first rector and the first African-American priest in the Episcopal Church. The process for the naming ceremony had been initiated on January 20, 1983 when Philadelphia City Councilmen John C. Anderson and Lucien E. Blackwell introduced the bill in Philadelphia’s City Council. Councilman Lucien E. Blackwell, long-time labor union activist, represented the 3rd Councilmanic District which encompassed the church. At-Large Councilman John C. Anderson, a lawyer, and former St. Thomas vestryman, was the second oldest son of the parish’s late 14th rector The Rev. Jesse F. Anderson, Sr. The bill was passed by City Council on Thursday, March 3, 1983. Mrs. Forrester presided at the bill signing ceremony. The opening prayer was delivered by The Rt. Rev. Lyman C. Ogilby, D.D., Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania. A scriptural reading was given by The Rev. Dr. Joseph L. Joiner, D.D., pastor Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Councilman Anderson introduced Mayor Green who presented the Absalom Jones Way street signs that would populate the length of 52nd Street. Fr. DuBose blessed the signs. The Choir sang an anthem. Remarks were delivered by Councilman Anderson, Councilman Blackwell, George Calloway, Most Worshipful Grand Master, Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, and Fr. DuBose. The choir sang “Mine Eyes have Seen The Glory.” The Benediction was given by The Rev. James S. Allen, Pastor, Vine Memorial Baptist Church and President, The Black Clergy of Philadelphia and Vicinity. The first sign was hung outside the church’s front door at the corner of 52nd & Ogden Streets. The first Pennsylvania State Historical & Museum Commission (PHMC) state historical marker commemorating an African American institution was the marker erected at the St. Thomas’ 5th Street site - 5th Street & St. James Place (formerly Adelphi Street) on Sunday, September 30, 1984. That afternoon about 200 persons – including descendants of Bishop William White and Rev. Absalom Jones - gathered for the unveiling of the sign. Mrs. Forrester, Mrs. Clark, and Mr. Thomas, Rector’s Warden, spearheaded the initiative working closely with George R. Beyer, PHMC Associate Historian and marker program coordinator. The parish raised $1,000 to contribute to the cost of erecting the marker. The invocation was delivered by former St. Thomas assistant The Rev. Dr. Van S. Bird, Interim Rector, St. Simon the Cyrenian Episcopal Church. Old and New Testament readings were given by The Rev. Dr. Joseph L. Joiner, Pastor, Mother Bethel and The Rev. Clyde W. Henry, Pastor, Mother Zoar United Methodist Church. The marker was unveiled by six-year old Sheree Winkfield who was hoisted aloft by helping hands. Fr. DuBose, assisted by St. Thomas acolytes, blessed the marker and the assemblage sang the Negro National Anthem. Remarks were delivered by State Senator Hardy Williams (PHMC); The Rev. James A. Trimble, Rector, Old Christ Church, and President, Standing Committee, Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania; Dr. Shirley Turpin Parham (Black History Advisory Committee); Robert N. Davis, Most Worshipful Grand Master, Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania; Fr. Dubose, and The Rev. Paul M. Washington, Rector, Church of the Advocate (Union of Black Episcopalians). The Benediction was delivered by The Rev. Canon Edwin E. Smith, Assistant, St. Thomas and former Chaplain, Cheyney University.

Fr. DuBose stressed the importance of St. Thomas, Mother Bethel, and Mother Zoar working collaboratively to “tell their common story” and lift up their founders Absalom Jones, Richard Allen and Harry Hoosier. He sought to foster collaborative working relations between the congregations and he developed close personal relationships with their clergy – Rev. Joseph L. Joiner at Mother Bethel, Rev. Joshua C. Licorish and Rev. Clyde Henry at Mother Zoar. Fr. DuBose opened St. Thomas’ archival holdings for researchers. He and parish secretary, Victoria Parker, where acknowledged in 1991 by Roger Lane, then the Benjamin R. Collins Professor of Social Science at Haverford College, for their efforts aiding the research necessary to produce Dr. Lane’s acclaimed book William Dorsey’s Philadelphia & Ours: On the Past and Future of the Black City in America. William Dorsey, a life-long member of St. Thomas, was the son of Thomas J. and Louise Dorsey – pillars of St. Thomas – who were close friends of Frederick Douglass. Thomas Dorsey was a famed Philadelphia caterer and abolitionist who hosted U.S. Senator Charles Sumner at the Dorsey home. William Dorsey’s scrapbook collection, housed at Cheyney University, was the basis for Dr. Lane’s mid-nineteenth – early twentieth century study of black Philadelphia. William Dorsey was also a member of fellow St. Thomas member and vestryman Octavius Valentine Catto’s circle of close friends.