EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1800; PANDITA RAMABAI SARASVATI P/50

                                                                                                                                                                                          

In this post I will share the story of a woman named Pandita Ramabai Sarasvati. She lived from 1858 - 1922 and was born in India. Her father, a Sanskrit scholar, taught her Sanskrit. Sadly, both her parents died in a great famine when Pandita was sixteen.

Because of her prowess as a Sanskrit scholar, Ramabai was honoured by the University of Calcutta as the first woman to receive the titles Pandita and Sarasvati.

In 1880, Ramabai married a Bengali lawyer. However, her husband died in 1882. After her husband's death, Ramambai founded an organisation to promote women's education and to deliver girls form the oppression of child marriage.

In 1883, Ramabai travelled to England to start medical training. During her stay she converted to Christianity. In 1886, Pandita travelled to the US to attend the graduation of the first female Indian doctor. She stayed for two years and during that time translated textbooks and gave lectures throughout the US and Canada.

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1800: KATHERINE BUSHNELL P/49

                                                                                                                                                                              

In this post I will continue to focus on a woman named Katherine Bushnell. She lived from 1855 - 1946. In 1908, Katherine began to write a bible study "God's Word to Women" based on the fact that she had become inspired to study Biblical tranlations during her time in China. At that time she had noticed with indignation that the Chines Bible had changed Paul's fellows from women to men, and after that had vowed to devote a portion of her life solely to a "meticulous examination of male bias that had corrupted the English text."

In her bible study, she works through every biblical portion interpreted to mean that women are inferior to men. This includes the topics of women not being allowed to preach, require subordination to their husbands, polygamy, and head coverings. 

Katherine believed that mistranslations were responsible for the social and spiritual subjugation of women. She writes:"If women must suffer domestic, legislative and ecclesiastical disabilities because Eve sinned, then must the Church harbour the appalling doctrine that Christ did not atone for all sin, because so long as the Church maintains these disabilities, the inevitable conclusion in the average mind will be the same as Tertullian's - God's verdict on the (female) sex still holds good and the sex's guilt must still hold also."

Katherine died in 1946.

 

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1800; KATHERINE BUSHNELL P/47

                                                                                                                                                                        

In this story I will focus on a woman named Katherine Bushnell. She lived from 1855 - 1946.I Katherine was born in Evanston, Illinois. Her roots in Christianity were well established from the beginning.

Katherine showed the desire to further her education from an early age and attended Women's Northwestern College (Northwestern University) from 1873 - 1874. She next studied medicine at Chicago Women's Medical College, where she specialised in nerve disorders.

Katherine initially planned on entering postgraduate study but was persuaded by her home church to go to China as a medical missionary in 1879. She served as a medical doctor in Kiukiang, China from 1879 - 1882. However, in 1882, she fell ill and was forced to return home.

Having a break

 Hi everyone,

I am having a short break from posting. I will post again in a week or so.

Blessings,

Loes

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1800: ANNA ADAMS GORDON P/46

Read Part One HERE

In this story I will continue to focus on a woman named Anna Adams Gordon. She lived from 1853 - 1931. Anna and Frances Willard remained close friends until Frances's death in 1898, at which time Lillian M.N. Stevens became president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, with Anne as vice-president.

Anna also turned the attention of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union to other causes, including Americanisation of immigrants, child welfare, and the condition of women in industry.

Anna also became president of the World League Against Alcoholism, and vice-chairman of the Commission of Nineteen on the National Constitutional Prohibition Amendment.

Anna was, furthermore, deeply involved in the temperance work with the National Council of Women, the International Sunday-School Association, the World's Woman's Christian Temperance Union, the National Legislative Council etc. 

Anna died in 1931.

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1800; ANNA ADAMS GORDON P/45

                                                           Read Part One HERE                                                                                    

In this story I will focus on a woman named Anna Adams Gordon. She lived from 1853 - 1931. Her parents were James M. Gordon and Mary Clarkson Gordon, both Christian abolitionists. They lived in Boston, Massachusetts. When she was three, her family moved to Auburndale.

Anna went on to attend Boston High School, Lasell Seminary and Mount Holyoke College. She spent a year abroad in San Sebastian with a sister, Alice Gordon Gulick, who had started a school for girls there in 1871. 

In 1877, Anne met Frances E. Willard at a Dwight L. Moody revival meeting, in the building where Frances was holding temperance meetings. The two became close friends with Anne continuing to play organ for Frances' meetings. Anne eventually moved into Frances' residence as her personal secretary. 

Anne subsequently followed her employer on her travels through the United States, Canada and Europe. spending a year in England.

Read Part Forty-Six HERE

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1800; MARY CHURCH TERRELL P/44

                                                                  Read Post One HERE

In this post I will continue to share the story of a woman named Mary Church Terrell. She lived from 1863 - 1954. Mary also actively embraced women's suffrage, which she saw as essential to elevating the status of black women and, consequently, the entire race. She actively campaigned for black women's suffrage. 

Mary fought for women's suffrage and civil rights because she realised that she belonged "to the only group in this country that has two such huge obstacles to surmount...both sex and race."

In 1909, Mary was among the founders and charter members of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People. Following the passage of the 19th amendment, Mary focused on broader civil rights. In 1940, she published her autobiography, "A Coloured Woman in a White World," outlining her experiences with discrimination.In 1948, Mary became the first black member of the American Association of University Women, after winning an anti-discrimination lawsuit. 

Mary died in 1854.

Read Part Forty-Five HERE

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1800; MARY CHURCH TERRELL P/43

 

                                                                  Read Part One HERE

In this  post I will continue to focus on a woman named Mary Church Terell, She lived from 1863 - 1954. Mary's activism was sparked in 1892, when an old friend, Thomas Moss, was lynched in Mephis by whites because his business competed with theirs. 

Mary joined Ida B. Wells-Barnett in anti-lynching campaigns, but Mary's life work focused on the notion of racial uplift, the belief that blacks would help end racial discrimination by advancing themselves and other members of the race through education, work and community activism.

Mary's words - "Lifting as we climb," became the motto of the National Association of Coloured Women, the group she helped found in 1896. She was president from 1896 - 1901. As president, Mary campaigned tirelessly among black organisations and mainstream white organisations, writing and speaking extensively.

Read Post Forty-Four HERE

 

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1800; MARY CHURCH TERRELL P/42

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Read Part One HERE

In this post I will focus on a woman named Mary Church Terrell. She lived from 1863 - 1954. Her parents were former slaves. Her father, Robert Reed Church, was a successful businessman. Her mother Louisa Ayres Church, owned a hair salon.

The affluence and belief in the importance of education by Mary's parents enabled her to attend the Antioch College Laboratory School in Ohio, and later Oberlin College, where she earned both Bachelor's and Master's degrees.

Mary spent two years teaching at Wilberforce College before moving to Washington D.C., in 1887 to teach at the M Street Coloured High School. There she met and maried Heberton Terrell, in 1891.

Read Part Forty-Three HERE

 

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1800; EMMA BLANCHE ADAMS STAMP P/41

                                                                 Read Part One HERE

In this post I will continue to focus on a woman named Emma Blanche Adams Stamp. She lived from 1863 - 1945. Emma and her husband continued to co-lead revivals. In 1912 they held revivals in Iowa and Wisconsin. Emma's husband clearly saw Emma as an equal who was also serving as a conference evangelist even though she could not officially have that title because women could not become elders.

While Emma and her husband saw themselves as partners in ministry, the denominational narrative does not remember them as such. In Emma's April 20, 1945, obit in "The Free Methodist" she is remembered as "standing by her husband as he laboured as a pastor, district elder and general conference evangelist." This re-casting of Emma's ministry was not uncommon as after the defeat of women's ordination in 1894 there was a noticeable shift within the male leadership as they attemped to appear supportive of women in ministry but still restricted them from ordination as elders.

Instead of directly opposing women preachers, the conversation shifted to applauding women who served in more nurturing roles such as the deaconess order establised in 1907. However, the ordination of women was affirmed in 1911. 

Read Part Forty-Two HERE

                                                                                                                                                              

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1800; EMMA BLANCHE ADAMS STAMP P/40

                                                                 Read Part One HERE

In this post I will continue to share the story of a woman named Emma Blanche Adams Stamp. She lived from 1863 - 1945. As revivialists, Blanche and her husband travelled widely. In an August 30, 1902, report from Gallatin Tennessee, Emma provides a snapshot of their revivals. Assisting J.M. Keen and W. Mayfield, who were district elders, they pitched a large tent in the centre of Gallatin where Emma notes "the Lord began to send the crowds." After Tenessee, Emma and her husband moved on to hold revivals in Louisiana and Missippi for two months where Emma said the location was "the most needy field I ever was in, and I believe God will come and answer the prayers for the salvation of many people."

In an April 16, 1911 report Emma recalls a visit to Manhatten, Kansas, where she was "preaching the gospel of peace." A sixty-seven year old Roman Catholic woman came to hear her and while she was "very deaf" and had not been in church for forty years, she seemed keen on hearing Emma preach. 

According to Emma, she heard every word of the sermon and came with a broken heart to the altar and prayed earnestly though all was dark and the manner of the altar service was new and strange to her. It was truly sad to look upon her face. She would frequently stop and say, "Sister Stamp, I hope I am forgiven, but oh I want to know it." Again and again she would repeat the words, "I hope I am saved, but I want to know it." At last she exclaimed, "Oh sister Stamp, I know it! I know it!" Think of a woman sixty-seven years of age, and never happy in her life! O wonderful gospel.Having now a thirst for the Word of life, she bought a bible and is now daily drinking at the foundation of the stream that makes glad the city of God.

Read Part Forty-One HERE

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1800; EMMA BLANCHE ADAMS STAMP P/39

                                                                 Read Part One HERE

In this post I will share the story of a woman named Emma Blanche Adams Stamp. She lived from 1863 - 1945. Emma was born in Pennsylvania, USA. Her parents were Matthew and Emma Adams. She married Christopher Stamp in 1882. After their marriage they entered ministry in the Free Methodist Church together.

From 1894 - 1898 Blanche is listed as a conference evangelist for the Pittsburg Conference. While her license was from the Pittsburg Conference she resided in Chicago when she was not on the road holding revival services with her husband.

In 1898, apart from working as an evangelist in the Colorado Conference, she is also appointed to the Husted Circuit. This was not a tiny town appointment; the Colorado Conference had given an important regional railway town to a female evangelist.

In 1899 she is again listed in the Pittsburg Conference and living in Chicago. Emma and her husband are very likely travelling and preaching. Then in 1900 she is listed by the conference as the appointed pastor at Latrob, Pennsylvania, a vibrant railroad town.

Read Part Forty HERE

 

 

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1800; HELEN BARRETT MONTGOMERY P/38

                                                           Read Part One HERE                                                                                                                

In this post I will continue to focus on a woman named Helen Bsrrett Montgomery. She lived from 1861 - 1934. The Women's Educational and Industrial Union, of wich Helen was president for many years, founded a legal aid office, set up public playgrounds, established a "Noon Rest" house where working girls could eat, and opened stations for mothers to obtain milk.

Helen also became known in the city for her advocacy of education. She was the first woman to be elected to the Rochester School Board, as well as to any public office in Rochester, 20 years before women had the right to vote. She served a total of ten years as a member of the Board.

Helen was the first woman to translate the New Testament into English from Greek and have it published by a professional publishing house. It was published in 1924 as The Centenary Translation, issued by the American Baptist Society. This version has been reprinted as The New Testament in Modern English and labeled Montgomery New Testament.

Helen died in 1934. 

Read Part Thirty-Nine HERE                                                                                                                                                                              

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1800; HELEN BARRETT MONTGOMERY P/37

                                                            Read Part One HERE                                                                                                             

In this story I will continue to focus on a woman named Helen Barrett Montgomery. She lived from 1861 - 1934. Helen's involvement and leadership in church circles and the city's women movement led her to serve as a delegate to annual meetings of the Northern Baptist Convention, the association of Northern Baptist churches where she helped to decide policy.        

In 1921, Helen was the first woman to be elected president of the Northern Baptist Convention. She strongly believed that women had an active role to play in the church and society.

Helen worked as well on social reforms, especially those to benefit women. In 1893, she joined Susan B. Anthony in forming a new chapter of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union in Rochester, which served poor women and children in the city. She served as its president from 1893 - 1911. 

Read Part Thirty-Eight HERE                                                                                                                                                                                       

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1800; HELEN BARRETT MONTGOMERY P/36

                                                            Read Part One HERE                                                                                                              

In this post I will focus on a woman named Helen Barrett Montgomery. She lived from 1861 - 1934. Her parents  were Amos Judson Barrett and Emily Barrows Barrett. Helen was born in Kingsville, Ohio. USA. Her parents moved to Rochester, New York, when she was a child so that her father could attend the Rochester Theological Seminary. After his graduation he became pastor of Lake Avenue Baptist Church in the city.

Helen studied at Wellesly College, where she graduated with a teacher certification in 1884. She taught in Rochester and afterwards at the Wellesley Preparatory School in Philadelphia. In 1887, Helen married William A. Montgomery.

Helen stayed on at  Lake Avenue Baptist Church, the church her father was the pastor of until his death. In 1892 the congregation licensed her to preach. She organised and taught a women's Bible class at the church, which she led for 44 years in the midst of her other activities.

Read Part Thirty-Seven HERE

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1800; JANE ADDAMS /35

                                                                               Read Part One HERE

In this post I will continue to share my story of a woman named Jane Addams. She lived from 1860 - 1935. Under Jane's direction, the Hull House team provided an array of vital services to thousands of people each week: they established a kindergarten and day-care for working mothers; provided job training; English language, cooking and acculturation classed for immigrants; established a job-placement bureau, community centre, gymnasium and art gallery.

 Aside from writing articles and giving speeches nationally about Hull House, Jane expanded her efforts to improve society. Along with other women reformers, she was instrumental in successfully lobbying for the establishment of a juvenile court system, protective labour legislation for women, and more playgrounds and kindergartens throughout Chicago.

Jane also became active in the women's suffrage movement as an officer in the National American Women's Suffrage Association and prosuffrage columnist. She was also among the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People.

Sadly, a heart attack in 1926 took a toll on her health and though she pushed on, she never fully recovered.

Jane died in 1935.

Read Part Thirty-Six HERE

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1800; JANE ADDAMS P/34

                                                                              

                                                                               Read Part One HERE

In this post I will focus on a woman named Jane Addams. She lived from 1869 - 1935. Jane's parents were John Huy Addams and Sarah Weber Addams. They lived in a small farming town of Cedarville, Illinois, USA. Her father owned a successful mill, fought in the Civil War, was a local politician and counted Abraham Lincoln among his friends.

Jane graduated at the top of her class from Rockford Female Seminary in 1881. For the next six years she attempted to study medicine, but her own poor health derailed her. While on a visit to London with her friend Gates Starr, she visited Toynbee Hall, a settlement house on the city's East End that provided much-needed services to poor industrial workers. Jane vowed to bring that model to the United States.

In 1889, Jane and her friend Gates founded Hull House in Chicago's poor industrial west side, the first settlement house in the US. The goal was for educated women to share all kinds of knowledge, from basic skills to arts and literature with poorer people in the neighbourhood. They also envisioned women living in the community centre among the people they served. 

Read Part Thirty-Five HERE

 

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1800; CARRIE CHAPMAN CATT P/33

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Read Part One HERE

In this story I will continue to focus on a woman named Carrie Chapman Catt. She lived from 1859 - 1947. Carrie also became active in the newly formed National American Woman Suffrage Association. She was a delegate to its national convention in 1890, became head of field organising in 1895 and was elected to succeed Susan B. Anthony as president in 1900. 

She continued to give speeches, plan campaigns, organise women, and gain political expertise. Carrie's organisational, speaking and writing skills establised her reputation as a leading suffragist.  

From 1902 -1904, Carrie was a leader in the formation of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance, serving as its president from 1904 - 1923 and thereafter as honorary chair until her death. She resigned as president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association in 1904 to care for her ailing husband,

In 1915, Carrie resumed leadership of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, which had become badly divided over suffrage strategies. Under Carrie's leadership, several key states - including New York in 1917 - approved women's suffrage. In addition, to her suffrage work, Carry was active in several other causes, including international peace. She, furthermore, worked for child labour protection laws.

Carried died in 1947.

Read Part Thirty-Four HERE

                                                                                                                                                                    

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1800; CARRIE CHAPMAN CATT P/32

                                                                Read Part One HERE                                                                                                                                                       

In this story I will continue to focus on a woman named Carrie Chapman Catt. She lived from 1859 - 1947. After graduation, Carrie returned to Charles City to work as a law clerk and, in nearby Mason City, as a school teacher and principal. In 1883, at the age of 24, she was appointed Mason City school superintendent, one of the first women to hold such a position. In February 1885, she married Leo Chapman, publisher and editor of the Mason City Republican newspaper, at her parents' Charles City farm. Sadly he died the following year in San Francisco, California, where he had gone to find new employment. Arriving just a few days after her husband's death, Carrie remained in San Francisco.      

In 1887, Carrie returned to Iowa to begin her crusade for women's suffrage. She joined the Iowa Woman Suffrage Association, organised suffrage events throughout the state, and worked as a professional lecturer and writer. In 1890, she married engineer George W. Catt. He supported his wife's suffrage work both financially and personally, believing that his role in the marriage was to earn their living and hers was to reform society. 

Read Part Thirty-Three HERE                                                                                                                                                                         

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1800; CARRIE CHAPMAN CATT P/31

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Read Part One HERE

In this story I will focus on a woman named Carrie Chapman Catt. She lived from 1859 - 1947. Her parents were Lucius and Maria. In 1866, at the close of the Civil War, the family moved to a farm near Charles City, Iowa.

Carrie entered Iowa Agricultural College (now Iowa State University) in Ames, Iowa, in 1877, and completed a bachelor's degree in general science in 1880, the only woman in her graduating class.

While at College, Carrie established military drills for women and became the first female student to give an oration before a debating society. She worked her way through school by washing dishes, teaching and serving as a librarian's assistant. She was also a member of Pi Beta Phi fraternity. 

Read Part Thirty-Two HERE

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1800; ALICE BELLE GARRIGUS P/30

                                                                                   Read Part One HERE

In this post I will continue to share the story of a woman named Alice Bell Garrigus. She lived from 1858 - 1949. Together with a missionary couple Alice travelled to Newfoundland, arriving in St.John's in December 1910. The three establised "the Bethesda Mission" and began their work in 1911. In 1912, her co-preachers left Newfoundland for health reasons, leaving Alice in charge.

The Pentecostal movement grew quite slowly during its first decade. However, after a cruade in 1919 by the evangelist Victoria Booh-Clibborn Demarest, interest in Pentecostalism increased. New converts started their own personal missions, and one of these, Robert C. English, eventually became co-pastor with Alice of the Bethesda Mission. Their work with the Bethesda Mission eventually led to the founding of a Pentecostal organisation in Newfoundland.

Alice's nearly 40 years in Newfoundland were very busy. She remained there for the rest of her life and continued to be a principal figure in the Pentecostal organisation, serving as an evangelist in charge of the Bethesda Mission.

Alice died at the age of 91.

Read Part Thirty-One HERE

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1800; ALICE BELL GARRIGUS P/29

                                                                                    Read Part One HERE

In this post I will continue my story on a woman named Alice Bell Garrigus. She lived from 1858 - 1949. Alice and her friend Gertrude joined the Congregational Church. Gertrude later went to Africa as a missionary and died there. About 1891, Alice gave up her teaching profession to work in a home for destitute children and women.

She next moved to Rumney, New Hampshire, where she came into contact with the First Fruit Harvesters Association, a small evangelical denomination focused on the evangelisation of New England. Alice served as an itinerant preacher with the First Fruit Harvesters between 1897 and 1903.

In 1907, at a Christian and Missionary Alliance camp meeting, she met Frank Bartleman, a veteran of the Azusa Street revival and an unofficial chronicler of the Pentecostal movement. Bartleman "stood for hours," wrote Alice, "telling us of the deeper things of God." After he left the camp meeting, Alice, Minnie Draper and others met in an old barn to pray, and there Alice received the baptism in the Holy Spirit. She continued preaching at Rumney and Grafton, Massachusetts, and other places, but began feeling impressed to found a mission in St. John's, Newfoundland,

Read Part Thirty HERE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1800; ALICE BELLE GARRIGUS P/28

                                                                                    Read Part One HERE

In this story I will focus on a woman named Alice Belle Garrigus. She lived from 1858 - 1949. Born into an Episcopalian family in Rockville, Connecticut, Alice spent the first half of her life in various locations in New England.

At 15 she began teaching in rural schools. Desiring further schooling, she returned to Normal School and then spent the years 1878 - 1881 at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (now Mount Holyoke College). Leaving the seminary a year before graduation, she resumed teaching. Through the influence of a colleague, Getrude Wheeler, Alice accepted Christ as her Saviour in 1888. Both women left on a 10-months excursion to Europe.

Returning to the US, Alice again taught school, but she was spiritually restless. She wanted a deeper walk with God and began reading Hannah Whitall Smith's "The Christian 's Secret of a Happy Life." "This I read," Alice wrote, "often on my knees - praying fervently: "Oh God, if there be such an experience, won't You bring me into it?"

Read Part Twenty-Nine HERE

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1800; ANNA JULIA HAYWOOD P/27

                                         Read Part One Here

In this post I will continue to share the story of a woman named Anna Julia Haywood. She lived from 1858 - 1963. After St Augustine's, Anna's desire for knowledge led her to Oberlin College in Ohio. Oberlin was known for its progressive stances, being one of the first higher education institutions in the US to admit Black students and women. Anna completed her Bachelor's Degree in Mathematics in 1884. She then continued at Oberlin for a Master's Degree in Mathematics, graduating in 1888.

Upon completing her education in Oberlin, Anna moved to Washington, D.C., where she began a long and distinguished career in education. She accepted a teaching position at the M. Street High School, later renamed Dunbar High School. And over the years she rose through the ranks, becoming the school's principal in 1901. Under her leadership, the school gained a reputation for its high academic standards.

Anna's academic journey was not restricted to her professional career in teaching In her 60s, displaying an admirable spirit of lifelong learning, she travelled to France to attend the University of Paris- Sorbonne. She overcame prejudices and earned her PHD in History in 1924.

Along with teaching and learning, Anna was also a staunch advocate for civil and women's rights, writing and giving speeches throughout her life.

Anna lived to be 105, witnessing significant social changes over the course of her life, from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement. Today her legacy is celebrated in various ways, including a postamp in her honour in 2009.

Read Part Twenty-Eight HERE

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1800; ANNA JULIA HAYWOOD P/26

    

 

Read Part One HERE                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    In this story I will focus on a woman named Anna Julia Haywood.She lived from 1858 - 1963. She was born into enslavement in North Carolina. Her mother was enslaved and her father was the man Anna's mother was enslaved by, or his brother. While Anna loved her mother dearly, the same could not be said of her father.                            

In her early years, Anna showed exceptional intelligence and a deep passion for education.In 1868, post-emancipation, she got an opportunity to begin her education formally. She enrolled at the newly established St. Augustine's Normal School and Collegiate Institute in Raleigh. Originally intended to train teachers to educate the freed Black population, St. Augustine's expanded its offering to include college preparatory courses.

Anna's pursuit of knowledge was challenging. Societal norms of the time prioritized classical education for men, with women often relegated to domestic roles. However, she defied these conventions. Not only did she enroll in courses typically reserved for male students, but she also consistently outperformed her peers.

Anna blossomed academically and socially during her time at St. Augustine's. And it was here that she met her future husband, George A.C. Cooper. They would marry in 1877, but he would pass away just two years later.

The St. Augustine's years laid the foundation for Anna's favourite endeavours. The institution's blend of classical education and commitment to serving the Black community profoundly influenced her. Anna graduated in 1881, her mind set on furthering her education and advancing the cause of Black women and their place in the larger narrative of American history. 

Read Part Twenty-Seven Here

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1800; MARIA BALDWIN P/25

                                                                                   Read Part One HERE

In this post I continue to focus on a woman named Maria Baldwin. She lived from 1856 - 1922. At the end of the 1800s, Maria became more involved in primarily Black and interracial organisations. In 1896, the Woman's Era Club of Boston stepped under the umbrella of the National Association of Coloured Women's Clubs (NACWC). The Club continued to use its national reach among Black clubwomen over the next few years.

Maria later became a member of the National Negro Committee (the precursor to the National Association to the Advancement of Coloured People) in 1909.

In 1918, Maria retired from her Agassiz position.  The US had been involved in the Great War for over a year. Her retirement gave her more time for the pressing projects the war brought to her community. She served as the first president of the League of Women for Community Service (LWCS) established in 1918, as the Soldiers' Comfort Unit. The Comfort Unit assisted returning soldiers and bereaved wives durning the First World War before shifting to providing general educational and social services to the community.

Although Maria remained active in her final years, her health eventually failed her. She died in 1922 from a heart attack.

Read Part Twenty-Six HERE

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1800; MARIA BALDWIN P/24

                                                                                    Please read Part One HERE

In this post I will continue to focus on a woman named Maria Baldwin. She lived from 1856 - 1922. Maria also became a member and later secretary of the Banneker Society, a local African American debate club. In meetings, Maria read many of her literature and history papers. 

In 1880, she opened her home to Boston's Black intellectuals and social activists. Maria offered weekly readings and discussions to Black students studying nearby Harvard University. Not welcome in Harvard's study spaces, these Black students found a safe intellectual haven in Maria's home.

In the 1890s, Maria co-founded the nationally influential and innovative Woman' Era Club. She worked alongside the club's other founding mothers: Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, Eliza Gardner, Arianna Sparrow. She and the other women focused on what they considered their generation's obligation to work for all African American causes: the anti-lynching movement, voting rights for women, and education and employment opportunities. Maria supported the club's purpose, using her great skill in public speaking and writing to deliver presentations and publish articles. 

Read Part Twenty-Five HERE