Founder
Dr. Paula Quick Hall comes from a tradition of African American educational achievement. She is a fourth-generation terminal-degree holder, having earned a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Quick Hall founded the African American Education & Research Organization (AAERO) in 1999. This was in response to her research findings about the racial disparities in education which reflected systematic, pervasive discrimination against Black children in North Carolina public schools. Dr. Quick Hall also saw a need for a private space for meetings, ceremonies, performances, and other gatherings in the Fayetteville area. In 2009, she converted her family home to Melchor-Quick Meeting House (MQMH). In 2018 Melchor-Quick Meeting House was incorporated as a public charity and granted tax-exempt 501(c)3 status by the Internal Revenue Service. In January 2022 AAERO and MQMH merged, becoming a single nonprofit organization–African American Education & Research Organization at Melchor-Quick Meeting House.