
Christian History Home > Issue 55 > An Army of Conservative Women

An Army of Conservative Women
Women played a surprisingly prominent role in early fundamentalism.
Mary Ann Jeffreys | posted 7/01/1997 12:00AM
The history of fundamentalism is primarily the story of men debating, men starting organizations, and men founding colleges and seminaries. But that is only part (albeit the largest part) of the story.
Women certainly played key roles behind the fundamentalist scenes. Ninety percent of Sunday school teachers were women; women raised millions for foreign missions; thousands served on the mission field; women led the fights for the poor, for women's suffrage, and for Prohibition.
Frances Willard founded the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), which grew to two million members by 1897. She called it the "largest army of women inside the realm of conservative theology."
Up-front females
Fundamentalist women also played up-front roles in the rising movement. A few fundamentalist institutions, especially in the late 1800s, supported women's preaching and ordination. In 1888 Christian & Missionary Alliance's (C&MA) Nyack College awarded its annual preaching prize to a woman. In those days, ... To view this item, you must be a member of ChristianHistory.net.
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