Frank Cherry
Frank S Cherry was the founder and leader of the first Black Hebrew Israelite churches in the United States. Before moving to Philadelphia and establishing a congregation there, he established and led a congregation in Chattanooga, Tennessee in the late 19th century. Tenets of his church included Black Nationalism and support for Marcus Garvey. Cherry also espoused anti-semitism, claimed that the earth is square, and professed that Jesus would return in the year 2000.
Cherry was from the Deep South and worked on ships and railroads before taking over a religious congregation. He taught that God, Jesus, Adam, and Eve were Black.
He established the Church of the Living God, the Pillar Ground of Truth for All Nations in 1886.
After his death, he was succeeded as the church's leader by his son Prince Benjamin F. Cherry.
