author

Old Elizabeth

b. 1766

Born into slavery in Maryland around 1766, this Methodist preacher later shared a vivid life story of faith, endurance, and hard-won freedom. Her brief memoir remains an important early Black women's narrative from the nineteenth century.

1 Audiobook

Memoir of Old Elizabeth, A Coloured Woman

Memoir of Old Elizabeth, A Coloured Woman

by Old Elizabeth

About the author

Old Elizabeth, also known simply as Elizabeth, was an African American Methodist preacher and former slave who was born in Maryland around 1766. According to accounts of her life, she spent her early years in slavery, was separated from family members as a child, and was eventually freed as an adult.

She became known as an itinerant preacher, traveling and speaking publicly about Christian faith at a time when both her race and gender made that role especially unusual. Her life story was published as Memoir of Old Elizabeth, A Coloured Woman in 1863, and the work has since been recognized as an important slave narrative.

What makes her story stand out is its plainspoken power. Rather than focusing on literary style, the memoir offers a direct account of suffering, spiritual conviction, and perseverance, giving modern readers a rare first-person glimpse into the life of a Black woman preacher born in the eighteenth century.