Entry · catalog no. 0025
usher board
/ ˈʌʃər ˌbɔrd /USH-ur BORD
n. · national; Black Baptist, AME and COGIC churches · 1890s
✓ Verified
1.
The standing body of ushers in a Black church, organized as an auxiliary with its own officers, uniforms, dues and anniversary service. Ushers seat latecomers, hold the doors during prayer, count the house, pass and guard the offering, fan and attend anyone overcome, and direct traffic during the shout — running the room by hand signal so the service is never interrupted by the running of it.
“She served forty years on the usher board and never missed a Sunday.”
Origin & Attribution
Black Baptist, AME and other Black Protestant churches, formalized as an organized auxiliary in the decades after Reconstruction. Individual church boards are documented from the 1890s; Elijah Hamilton began organizing ushers regionally in 1917 and founded the National United Church Ushers Association of America in Philadelphia in July 1919, which set the uniform, the hand signals and the convention structure that spread nationally.
1896
Rehoboth Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. dates its senior usher board to the pastorate of Rev. John Richards
1917
Elijah Hamilton begins organizing church ushers regionally
1919
The National United Church Ushers Association of America is founded in Philadelphia in July
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
Nationwide
national; Black Baptist, AME and COGIC churches · 1890s
Spoken by
Black Baptist, AME, CME and COGIC congregations nationally
$USHERBThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Steady107 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
65/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
1919
in the culture
Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.
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Atlanta, GA
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Memphis, TN
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Citations & Sources
■
National United Church Ushers Association of America, Inc. — founded July 1919, Philadelphia; organizational history, nationalchurchushers.org
text · institutional
■
National United Church Ushers Association 51st Anniversary Souvenir Program, 1919-1970
text · program
■
+ Cite a source"Interdenominational Church Ushers Association Marks 100-Year History in Maryland" — AFRO American Newspapers
text · newspaper
See also