Historic Charleston church and site of shooting was a symbol of black perseverance

The Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church has a long history of persevering against racial persecution, CNN reports.

The congregation began as members of Charleston's Methodist Episcopal Church in 1791, but withdrew over disputed burial grounds under the leadership of Morris Brown and the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

In 1821, Denmark Vesey, one of the church's founders and a former slave, began organizing a slave riot in Charleston but was thwarted when authorities were informed of the plot. The church was burned to the ground in retaliation.

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The congregation rebuilt the church in 1834 during a period when all-black churches were outlawed; worship was held in the basement until 1865, when it was reorganized under the name "Emanuel," meaning "God with us."

The church was destroyed a second time, by an earthquake, in 1886 and once again rebuilt. Today, the Emanuel AME seats 2,500 congregants, making it the largest capacity of any African-American church in Charleston. The Emanuel AME was also a stop in the 1960s for many civil rights movement leaders, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.