Nannie Helen Burroughs

February is African American History Month. When I taught school, February was always one of my favorite months because I enjoyed teaching the kids about how African Americans have influenced America's musical landscape, and the kids enjoyed learning.

Now that I work for WMU, I decided to do some research about African American involvement with WMU. As has been the case so many times in the last five months, I've learned a lot in the process...and I wanted to share a bit of that learning with you.

I encourage you to visit http://www.womenonmission.com/index.php?q=content/sisters-who-care and use it as a springboard for your own research. There is information about WMU's Sisters Who Care groups--groups that are part of a national organization of Baptist women, age 18 and above, of all races, classes, and backgrounds--information about Nannie Helen Burroughs, and information about WMU's work with racial reconciliation and interractial ministry.

Using the site as a springboard myself, I did some more reading on Nannie Helen Burroughs, and I noticed some interesting parallels between her work and some of our WMU fore-mothers. Read this:

"[Nannie Helen Burroughs] worked to establish a Woman’s Convention in the [National Baptist Convention]. As in white Baptist life at the time, women were hindered from positions of leadership in the NBC–though, as with their white sisters, the Baptist churches would dry up and blow away without the women. Addressing the NBC in 1900, Burroughs expressed the “righteous discontent” of Black Baptist women at not being able to use all their talents for the Kingdom of God. Because of her speech, the NBC established a Woman’s Convention and Burroughs became its Corresponding Secretary from 1900-1947 and President from 1948 until her death in 1961. She was successful in keeping the Woman’s Convention from answering to the men...

In 1909, Burroughs [started] a National Training School for Women and Girls in D.C. Through this school and her work with the Women’s Convention, Burroughs worked for racial and gender equity in both church and society. She addressed the first meeting of the Baptist World Alliance in 1905 in London. She constantly pushed for change while working within the system...

She was part of a network of Black Church women who had a holistic approach to mission (educational and focused on social justice as well as evangelism), but which also worked for racial and gender equality in church and society." http://levellers.wordpress.com/2009/01/04/twentieth-century-shapers-of-baptist-social-ethics-nannie-helen-burroughs/

I don't know about you, but Nannie's story inspires me...just as Lottie's and Annie's and Fannie Heck's and Janie Chapman's and other WMU forerunners' do.

What WMU-er inspires you?

What's more, what work do you see WMU doing--if any--to continue the work of racial reconciliation and interracial ministry that was started so long ago by women such as Nannie Helen Burroughs?