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.