Strangers and Pilgrims: Female Preaching in America, 1740-1845

Margaret Meuse Clay, who barely escaped a public whipping in the 1760s for preaching without a license; “Old Elizabeth,” an ex-slave who courageously traveled to the South to preach against slavery in the early nineteenth century; Harriet Livermore, who spoke in front of Congress four times between 1827 and 1844–these are just a few of the extraordinary women profiled in this, the first comprehensive history of female preaching in early America.

Drawing on a wide range of sources, Catherine Brekus examines the lives of more than a hundred female preachers–both white and African American–who crisscrossed the country between 1740 and 1845. Outspoken, visionary, and sometimes contentious, these women stepped into the pulpit long before twentieth-century battles over female ordination began. They were charismatic, popular preachers, who spoke to hundreds and even thousands of people at camp and revival meetings, and yet with but a few notable exceptions–such as Sojourner Truth–these women have essentially vanished from our history. Recovering their stories, Brekus shows, forces us to rethink many of our common assumptions about eighteenth- and nineteenth-century American culture.

Author: Catherine a. Brekus
Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
Published: 12/07/1998
Pages: 480
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.71lbs
Size: 9.28h x 6.18w x 1.32d
ISBN13: 9780807847459
ISBN10: 0807847453
BISAC Categories:
– Social Science | Women’s Studies
– History | United States | Revolutionary Period (1775-1800)
– Religion | Christianity | History

About the Author
Catherine A. Brekus teaches American religious history at the University of Chicago.