Blackwell, Antoinette Brown (1825-1921), was the first ordained woman minister in the United States. She worked to promote civil rights for blacks and women’s right to vote.
Blackwell was born on Mary 20, 1825, in Henrietta, New York, near Rochester. She finished her religious studies at Oberlin College in 1850. However, the college did not permit her to graduate because it opposed women’s becoming ordained ministers. For the next three years, Blackwell lectured against slavery and in favor of women’s rights and efforts to outlaw alcoholic beverages. She also preached at any church that accepted her.
In 1853, Blackwell was ordained a minister of a Congregational church in Wayne County, New York. Blackwell resigned in 1854 because she considered many of the church’s doctrines to be too strict. Blackwell then joined a Unitarian church, where she occasionally preached.
Blackwell wrote The Sexes Throughout Nature (1875). In this book, she criticized the famous British scientist Charles R. Darwin, who had become known for his theory of evolution. Blackwell accused Darwin of using his theory to try to prove that women were inferior to men. She died on Nov. 5, 1921.
