The church began as a German Catholic parish and later became Queen of Angels, serving Newark's Black Catholic community. During the civil-rights era it became connected to the Poor People's Campaign and to Martin Luther King Jr.'s work. The congregation eventually closed and the building was abandoned.

I had been photographing Newark for years before I understood the history contained in this church. Discovering its connection to King and the civil-rights movement changed it from another abandoned religious building into part of a much larger American story.