Jarena Lee

Born free in New Jersey in 1783, Jarena Lee became a major religious voice in the early 1800s. After moving to Philadelphia, she joined Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church and felt a strong call to preach, even though women faced deep resistance in public ministry.

Lee is remembered as the first woman authorized to preach in the A.M.E. Church. Her ministry took her across long distances as an itinerant preacher, and her writings describe both her religious experiences and the barriers she met as a Black woman speaking with authority in the nineteenth century.

She also left an important literary record. Her autobiographical works, including The Life and Religious Experience of Jarena Lee and later expanded editions, helped preserve her voice and made her one of the earliest African American women to publish a spiritual autobiography.