Amanda Berry Smith: From Washerwoman to Evangelist

(Paperback)

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Description

Now available in paperback! This biography is the compelling story of Amanda Berry Smith, a former slave and washer-woman with less than a year of formal education who rose to become one of the nineteenth century's most important and successful Christian evangelists. Based on letters published in Christian newspapers, copies of her own newspaper The Helper, and numerous public records and documents, this biography puts Amanda Berry Smith's eventful life in a proper historical perspective, evaluating the significant impact of her deeds. It traces her beginnings as the child of freed blacks in antebellum Pennsylvania, her turbulent marriages, her search for communities and faith in New York City, and her eventual prominence as a camp-fire missionary and as a world traveler of spiritual faith. This thoughtful individual study probes the complex relationship between herself and other contemporary reformers, black and white, and answers many questions left unanswered by Smith's own autobiography.

Reviews

...provides a case study for a number of issues in American history...an important building block for other scholars...well-written, powerful story...a truly important book for many aspects of American, British, Indian, and African cultural studies. * American Historical Review *
...a richly detailed and descriptive biography...it provides the academic community with an invaluable resource. * The Journal Of Religion *
Adrienne M. Israel has written a very interesting and useful book on one of the greatest evangelists of all times, Amanda Berry Smith...Israel's book is well written, proceeding in logical and chronological order...Nonetheless, I highly recommend this fine work for its huge contribution to religious history and African American studies. * Missiology: An International Review *

Author Bio

Adrienne Israel (Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University) is Associate Professor of History and Intercultural Studies at Guilford College in North Carolina.