Daughters of Thunder : Black Women Preachers and Their Sermons 1850-1979

A study of the lives and times of fourteen pioneering Black women preachers, who risked familial opposition for flouting traditional gender roles

A priceless reference work in the history of Christian preaching that will revitalize the preaching of the twenty first century.
--Cheryl TownsAnd Gilkes, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur associate professor of African American studies and sociology, Colby College

This historic collection of never-before-published sermons by African American women preachers gives voice to the long-ignored founding mothers of the African American church. It provides long overdue access to the original text of the sermons coupled with expert contextual analysis by Dr. Bettye Collier-Thomas, a respected scholar of African American history.

These sermons reveal women of great faith, courage, and wisdom and cover a range of topics, from racial and gAnder discrimination in the church and society to the tenets of their shared theology. Addressing causes and issues of Anduring importance, these sermons still resonate today and help us to understand the past.

In a special chapter, Collier-Thomas tells the story of the earliest black women preachers who, while their sermons have yet to be unearthed, greatly influenced both their contemporaries and those who followed by their courageous claiming of the pulpit.

Daughters of Thunder sheds new light on an important chapter in American history. Preachers will find within these pages inspiration for their own sermons.

Bettye Collier-Thomas is associate professor of history and director of the Temple University Center for African American History and Culture.

A ground-breaking study of the lives and times of fourteen pioneering black women preachers, who risked familial opposition for flouting traditional gender roles, includes never-before-published sermons, accompanied by historical and biographical information. 12,500 first printing.