Strangers and Pilgrims: Female Preaching in America, 1740-1845

Margaret Meuse Clay, who barely escaped a public whipping in the 1760s for preaching without a license; “Old Elizabeth,” an ex-slave who courageously traveled to the South to preach against slavery in the early nineteenth century; Harriet Livermore, who spoke in front of Congress four times between 1827 and 1844 — these are just a few of the extraordinary women profiled in this, the first comprehensive history of female preaching in early America.

Drawing on a wide range of sources, Catherin...