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Amanda Smith

Amanda Smith
Artist
T. B. Latchmore, 1832 - 1908
Sitter
Amanda Berry Smith, 23 Jan 1837 - 24 Feb 1915
Date
c. 1885
Type
Photograph
Medium
Albumen silver print
Dimensions
Image/Sheet: 9.3 x 5.9 cm (3 11/16 x 2 5/16")
Mount: 10.4 x 6.3 cm (4 1/8 x 2 1/2")
Topic
Interior
Printed Material\Book
Home Furnishings\Curtain
Photographic format\Carte-de-visite
Amanda Berry Smith: Female
Amanda Berry Smith: Religion and Spirituality\Preacher\Evangelist
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Object number
NPG.2008.12
Exhibition Label
Born Long Green, Maryland
A follower of the Protestant Holiness movement, which encouraged testimonies of faith, Amanda Smith experienced a spiritual awakening, or “sanctification,” in 1868. Devoting herself to itinerant preaching, Smith became the nineteenth century’s foremost Black woman evangelist. Although most denominations, including her own African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church, would not ordain women, Smith preached widely throughout the United States to diverse audiences who valued her oratory skills.
Beginning in 1878, Smith took her ministry abroad to places in Europe, Africa, and Asia. Her missionary work helped shift attitudes regarding women’s roles within the church. After returning home in 1890, Smith published her autobiography and continued her evangelism through the temperance movement, which was dedicated to limiting alcohol consumption. Later in life, she founded the Amanda Smith Orphanage and Industrial Home for Abandoned and Destitute Colored Children.
Nacida en Long Green, Maryland
Amanda Smith, seguidora del movimiento de santidad protestante, el cual fomentaba los testimonios públicos de fe, experimentó un despertar espiritual, o “santificación”, en 1868. Se dedicó a ser predicadora itinerante y llegó a ser la evangelista negra más destacada del siglo XIX. Aunque la mayoría de los credos religiosos, incluida su propia Iglesia Metodista Episcopal Africana (A.M.E.), no ordenaban a mujeres, ella predicó por todo Estados Unidos ante públicos diversos que admiraban su talento oratorio.
A partir de 1878, Smith extendió su ministerio a Europa, África y Asia. Su labor misionera ayudó a cambiar las actitudes hacia los roles femeninos en la iglesia. Al regresar a su país en 1890, publicó su biografía y continuó su evangelización a través del movimiento de la templanza, dedicado a evitar el consumo excesivo de bebidas alcohólicas. Luego fundó el Orfanato y Hogar Industrial Amanda Smith para Niños de Color Indigentes y Abandonados.
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Exhibition
Out of Many: Portraits from 1600 to 1900
On View
NPG, East Gallery 123