Located in the Sweet Auburn neighborhood, the church was established as a mission in 1912 and is a contributing property of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park.

The church was established in November 1912 by Ignatius Lissner of the Society of African Missions with funding from Katharine Drexel, who had founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament (SBS).

[3] At the time, it was the second Catholic mission intended to serve African Americans in Georgia and the first in Atlanta.

[3] The church is located on the same block as the birthplace of Martin Luther King Jr.,[3] who as a child would often play on the parish grounds.

The school would remain active until 2001, when it closed due to a lack of funding from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta.