Dr. James Brister, Zion, Illinois

Dr. James Brister, D.D.S. (1858 - 1916) was the first African American dentist in Lake County. Dr. Brister arrived in Zion, Illinois about 1903.

James Brister, 1903. Collections of University of Pennsylvania Archives and Record Center. 

Brister was born in Philadelphia to Dr. Joseph Brister, D.D.S. and Olivia Parker Brister. He entered the University of Pennsylvania's dental school in 1879, receiving his diploma in 1881. He was the first African American to earn a degree from Penn. From 1880 until shortly after 1890, James practiced dentistry with his father.

By 1893, James Brister moved to Chicago and opened a dental office on Dearborn Street. In 1897, he married Anna Murrell. Brister's dental office was located on State Street from 1898 to 1901, and then on Michigan Avenue from 1902 to 1903.

While in Chicago, Brister came into contact with John Alexander Dowie's Zion Movement. Chicago's large population, and Dowie's Tabernacle location across the street from the main gate of the World's Columbian Exposition were significant in attracting new members to his church, including Brister.

Official portrait of John Alexander Dowie taken in 1903. Dunn Museum. 

Born in Scotland and raised in Australia, John Alexander Dowie (1847-1907) was a charismatic preacher and faith healer who established the Christian Catholic Church.

Dowie came to Illinois in 1893 to preach his message of “clean and faithful living” outside the entrance to the Columbian Exposition. By 1899, his followers numbered in the tens of thousands, and had donated enough money for Dowie to consider establishing a socialist utopia. Ultimately, Dowie purchased 6,000 acres of farmland in Benton Township, Lake County for his "City of God," which became Zion, a theocracy under his control.

Dowie was a controversial figure and his leadership was criticized for anti-democratic tendencies, but he was ahead of his time when it came to social issues. He believed in an eight-hour work day at a time when 12 to 14-hour days were common, and allowed women to vote in local elections. He also believed in diversity and strongly enforced a policy against racism, making his church and Zion attractive to African American families.

About 1903, James Brister moved his family to Zion, Illinois as part of Dowie's Christian Catholic Church. By 1905, 200 of Zion’s 10,000 residents were of African American, South African or Caribbean heritage. Possibly the most influential of these African American citizens was the town’s dentist, Dr. Brister.

Brister’s dental practice was in the “Temple Cottage” on Sheridan Road. His family lived on Ezekiel Avenue and later Enoch Street.

Photo showing James Brister - 2nd row left - as a member of the first city council of Zion, 1903. 

Collections of University of Pennsylvania Archives and Record Center.

In Zion, to become a leader in the church or hold public office Dowie had to personally choose you. Dowie selected Brister to be a deacon of the church, and his wife, Anna, a deaconess. Brister was also selected to be a member of the first Zion City Council in 1903. 

Dr. Brister, "The only TRUE ZION dentist." The Zion Herald, April 8, 1908 p2.

- Diana Dretske, Curator ddretske@lcfpd.org