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Many African-American female scholars, intellectuals, and social change agents from 1880-1920 masterfully integrated the Christian values of faith and social justice with community well-being and the "helping tradition." Unfortunately, many contemporary Christian social workers are unaware of these women and that they used Christian values to guide their social welfare initiatives. This article considers the historical contributions of African American women in general, and explores the lives of Nannie Helen Burroughs and Margaret Murray Washington in context of social welfare as predecessors for contemporary Christian social work practice.
Keywords: African American Women, Faith, Helping Tradition, Nannie Helen Burroughs, Margaret Murray Washington
WOMEN HAVE ALWAYS BEEN INSTRUMENTAL IN DIRECTING THE congregational and community-focused ministry of the Christian Church (Carpenter, 2000; Murphy, 2000). During the period of 1880-1920, Blackwomen provided leadership in the church largely by initiating and developing programs designed to "help" black parishioners and the black community As the church began to play a more expansive and extensive role in meeting the spiritual and social needs of the African American community, women's roles in the church also expanded. In many cases women were instrumental in initiating and developing child welfare services, including orphanages, kindergartens, and schools. In addition, they provided an opportunity for people of color, especially women, to receive formal and practical education. Finally, they offered social support and promoted racial uplift as they helped to "clothe, feed, house, teach, nurture, inspire and socialize" members of the com- munity in need (Billingsley & Giovannoni, 1972; Carlton-LaNey 2001). Not only were these women concerned about providing mutual aid and social services to address American social ills; many were instrumental in establishing organizations which provided for the needs of the African diaspora throughout the world (Hull, 1994).
Led by the earlier work of female Christian preachers and activists of color such as Jarena Lee, Sojourner Truth, Juliann Jane Tillman, Phyllis Wheatley Harriet Tubman and others, many women during the period of 1880-1920 established a collaborative relationship among Christian institutions, community organizations, and the "helping tradition" which is "the largely independent struggle of Black people to collectively promote their survival and advancement from one generation to the next" (Martin & Martin, 2002, p. 11). Stirred to become involved in addressing social ills and meeting the...