Aimee Semple McPherson was one of the most influential figures in the early twentieth century. Aimee influenced many people throughout her life and was well known in the United States. She was a missionary, evangelist, teacher, prodigious author, and founded the Foursquare Gospel. Aimee Semple McPherson was born on October 9, 1890 in Canada. Her mother Mildred "Minnie" Pearce served in the Salvation Army and had a major influence on her. Aimee used her life growing up as a way to relate to her listeners. Being a woman at the time she was living and doing what she had done was an amazing thing. Creating a business and a social movement yet not even having the right to vote is a huge accomplishment for anyone. She was a single mother traveling across the …show more content…
country creating a life for herself. Everything Aimee did, she gave credit to God. She reached her listeners in a way no one else had ever before by using modern technology. She had people go see her from all over the country. Her church is still running with millions of members. Being one of the most publicized evangelists ever, she conducted events in front of thousands almost every day. Personally owning a radio station, church, and many other things she created her business. From a life story of creating a huge religious empire to being kidnapped, she lived and is now a part of history. Aimee had a public education and was an honor student throughout her studies. She grew up in a Christian home, but she started having her doubts once she reached her teen years. At high school is where she learned of Darwinism, which was just making its way into the public education system in the U.S. and Canada . This led her to question her religion and she declared herself an atheist for a short while. After being introduced to Darwinism, Aimee attended a revival service led by Pentecostal evangelist Robert Semple. Aimee worked as a minister with Robert and eventually the two got married in August 1908. After they married, they traveled together as he preached and taught in Chicago and Ingersoll area of Canada . They ended up leaving North America to work at missionaries in China. The both of them contracted malaria and within three months of arriving in Hong Kong Robert died. Leaving Aimee poor, pregnant and a widow, she gave birth to her daughter, Roberta Star Semple, and sailed back to the United States to join her mother in New York . Aimee worked with her mother in the Salvation Army traveling and raising money. She met a Christian business man named Harold McPherson. They got married, had a son, Rolf Kennedy McPherson, and Aimee tried to settle down for a normal life but her health started to fade for some reason.
She had two major surgeries within two years but later recovered and was traveling again . Traveling and setting up tent revivals that were doing really well. Life of traveling all the time wasn’t an easy one. Having to sleep in tents or a car, and having to wash clothes in streams was not the life Harold wanted to live. They ended up divorcing in 1921 and Aimee continued her travels. Aimee traveled up and down both coasts and across the United States. In 1923 Aimee established the Angelus Temple, a revival center, in Los Angeles, California. The temple was Aimee’s home; it seated 5,300 people and was her main work place. She also founded the KSFG radio station that broadcasted from Angelus Temple in 1924 that could reach Africa and Australia; she also rounded out her establishment in L.A. with L.I.F.E. Bible College in 1926 . Her sermons were being published everywhere. They were in newspapers from Canada to Mexico. The popularity and attention she was receiving led to multiple threats and attempts to kidnap her. The same year of 1926, Aimee went out for a swim with her secretary. During this swim Aimee disappeared. The whole country mourned her death and
newspapers had reports of the search and alleged sightings. On June 23rd Aimee appeared in Mexico with the story that she had been kidnapped. Her mother had received a ransom note a few days early saying that Aimee would be sold into white slavery if she did not pay. There was speculation that Aimee instead ran off with a man named Kenneth G. Ormiston, who was a radio operator at the Temple and disappeared at the same time she did. There had been rumors of their relationship before the disappearance. His wife had moved back to Australia claiming her husband had an affair with Aimee. Reports of a woman who looked like Aimee had been seen in a resort town with Kenneth during the disappearance . She was taken to court to charge her with things such as conspiracy to commit acts injurious to public morals, but the charges were dropped the next year without explanation. The ministry continued but this situation did have some negatives. The Temple did receive some negative consequences because of the incident but nothing to major. Throughout the church were suspicion and rumors, even her mother split from her. In 1927 Aimee opened a commissary to feed those in need while also supplying clothes and other necessities. They were given physical nourishment as well as spiritual nourishment. Over the next many years it fed more than one and a half million people . Aimee married again in 1931 to David Hutton. He was 10 years her junior and a member of the Temple. Hutton was soon being sued by a woman who he had promised to marry. When she heard the news Aimee fainted and fractured her skull. She woke and a doctor greeted her telling her that she has been hanging on to life for two weeks. The doctor recommended a vacation and when she got back she was presented with not the greatest news. David filed for divorce in 1933 and it was granted in 1934 . Financial difficulties and legal disputes came to the church throughout the following years. Aimee continued the churches activities and thousands still went by to see her. The financial difficulties of the church were overcome by the 1940’s. While ministering in Mexico in 1943 she contracted a bacillus that was eroding the walls of her intestinal track. Though she had been in a terrible state multiple times before, she always managed to get well again but this time was different. A tube running to her kidney ruptured on September 27, 1944. The rupture caused pills she would take to create disastrous effects. Aimee Semple McPherson overdosed on barbiturates because of the rupture . With rumors of suicide, it was said she had the pills for sleep and anxiety so it could have been an accident. The movements Aimee created are still here today, by the end of the 20th century she had about two million members in more than 30 different countries including the 5,300 Temple in California. Her son Rolf took over after she passed and continued the legacy she left behind. When it comes to some of the most influential women, Aimee Semple McPherson is high on that list. She is sometimes said to be the pioneer of the use of modern technology. The radio gave her a huge advantage at what she did. Many women looked up to her and still can. Not just religiously but as a work ethic, she was fully dedicated to what she did. Even with all the scandals and problems she had to deal with people still admired her and what she did.
Harriet Beecher Stowe was born on June 14, 1811. Her father was Lyman Beecher, pastor of the Congregational Church in Harriet’s hometown of Litchfield, Connecticut. Harriet’s brother was Henry Ward Beecher who became pastor of Brooklyn’s Plymouth Church. The religious background of Harriet’s family and of New England taught Harriet several traits typical of a New Englander: theological insight, piety, and a desire to improve humanity (Columbia Electronic Library; “Biography of Harriet Beecher Stowe”).
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, born in 1815, was known for her dedicated role as a women’s rights activist. At the peak of her career, she teamed up with Susan B. Anthony and formed the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) and also eventually brought about the passage of the 19th amendment, giving all American citizens the right to vote. But before all that, Stanton started out as an abolitionist, spending her time focused on abolishing slavery but then later becoming more interested in women’s suffrage. One of her most famous moments was
One of the leading black female activists of the 20th century, during her life, Mary Church Terrell worked as a writer, lecturer and educator. She is remembered best for her contribution to the struggle for the rights of women of African descent. Mary Terrell was born in Memphis, Tennessee at the close of the Civil War. Her parents, former slaves who later became millionaires, tried to shelter her from the harsh reality of racism. However, as her awareness of the problem developed, she became an ardent supporter of civil rights. Her life was one of privilege but the wealth of her family did not prevent her from experiencing segregation and the humiliation of Jim Crow laws. While traveling on a train her family was sent to the Jim Crow car. This experience, along with others led her to realize that racial injustice was evil. She saw that racial injustice and all other forms of injustice must be fought.
Born on February 15, 1820 in Adams, Massachusetts (SBA House), she was brought up into a large Quaker family with many activist traditions. Quakers believed highly in education and a strong work ethic from an early age. “They believed in peace, temperance and justice, and this was to affect her adult concerns about injustices toward women, as well as social problems that come from alcohol,” (Grace). As well as believing that men and women were equal partners before God, which later had an influence on her belief in women's rights. Her mother, Lucy, loved to sing and dance which led to much controversy between her father’s harsh Quaker faith, which later on to her convictions of women equality. “No toys or music were allowed in the Anthony home for fear that they would distract the children from God's word” (Linder). Anthony’s father, Daniel, ran a cotton mill with strong values to refuse slave-picked cotton. At the age of six, Anthony and her family moved to Battenville, New York because Daniel was asked to manage other mills (Grace). Her education began in quaint schools in the small of New York but at fifteen, bega...
Leroy and Norma Jean in the short story, “Shiloh” by Bobbie Ann Mason, are a married couple, and they experience a series of events, which shapes them and determines there future. The final setting, Shiloh, works well to highlight the battles of war to the battles between Norma Jean and Leroy. Throughout the story Mason is focused on the persistency of grief, the instability of gender roles, along with the distance and lack of communication separating Leroy and Norma Jean from each other. Mason illustrates how marriage can be a struggle striving to work out to the very end.
Annie Oakley was born on August 13, 1860 in Darke County, Ohio. Her original name was Phoebe Ann Moses, but her family called her Annie. Annie Oakley was short in stature, coming in at around five feet tall. She had wavy brown hair that fell past her shoulders and she wore costumes that she sewed herself. To maintain her ladylike attitude, Annie always wore a skirt and never wore pants.
After teaching for 15 year, she became active in temperance. However, because she was a women she was not allowed to speak at rallies. Soon after meeting Elizabeth Cady Stanton she became very active in the women’s right movement in 1852 and dedicated her life to woman suffrage.
Women, who made things possible for the African American after the Civil War, were Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth. They both were born into slavery. Harriet Tubman was also called Moses, because of her good deeds. She helped free hundreds of slaves using the underground railroads, and she helped them join the Union Army. She helped nurse the wounded soldiers during the war, as well as worked as a spy. She was the first African American to win a court case and one of the first to end segregation. Tubman was famous for her bravery. Sojourner Truth is known for her famous speech “Ain’t I a Woman”. She spoke out about the rights women should be allowed to have, and that no matter the race or gender, everybody was equal. Those women made things possible for the black people during that time. They were the reason many slaves were set free when the Civil War ended.
Another inspiring women abolitionist in the 18th century, Jarena Lee, produced The Life and Religious Experiences of Jarena Lee, which is a women’s spiritual autobiography. Lee believed God called her to preach, despite the impropriety of women preachers due to the time period. Lee experienced hostility and prejudice as she traveled and spread the word of the Gospel, but continued to fight for her devotion to faith with the intention of fulfilling her calling from God. In The Life and Religious Experiences of Jarena Lee, Lee formats her text as a sermon and associated her qualifications with her production of a religious service in order to convince her audience of her abilities. Also, Lee associates herself with male ministers because of shared characteristics and experiences.
It is clear that because her family’s involvement with religion would be one reason why Aretha Franklin became as famous as a Gospel singer. Some people would say that her love for religion is unbelievable, but after researching her childhood it is very believable. Her father, Reverend Clarence LaVaugh Franklin, jumped off a mule in Shelby Mississippi and preached while living the life of a sharecropper. As soon as he had enough money, he would move to Memphis, Tennessee to become a pastor of two churches. After a couple of years he attended LeMoyne College, and he studied Education and English Literature. With his education he was able to bring a more liberal view to his preaching’s. Then he moved the family to Buffalo, New York. When he had the resources, he moved the family again to Detroit, Michigan were he settled and became a pastor of a churched called New Bethel Baptist Church. He quickly became one of the most famous pastors in the city of Detroit. Aretha was two years old when they made their final move, she would grow up here and grab the emotion of Church and incorporate it into her music. Aretha Franklin’s mom, Barbara V.
Shirley Chisholm was a crucial figure in Black politics, and the first African-American woman elected to the U.S. Congress. She defeated civil rights leader James Farmer on November 5, 1968, and served 7 terms in the House of Representatives till 1982. Also, she was the first woman and person of color to run for President. Chisholm is a model of independence and honesty and has championed several issues including civil rights, aid for the poor, and women 's rights.
Sojourner set out on her mission, to educate all people on the subject of slavery, and became a very powerful speaker. She became an influential speaker for women’s rights, as well for the abolishment of slavery all over the country. She became famous for being the first black women to speak out against slavery.
In 1821, Harriet Tubman became one of the foremost activists for slave freedom in history. Born into slavery, she grew up hearing poems and songs, like “Go Down Moses”, which inspired her to become a Moses for her own people, once she had escaped slavery herself. By means of the Underground Railroad, a network of people dedicated to helping runaway slaves to freedom, Harriet eventually escaped to Philadelphia.
Harriet Tubman is a lady of belief and dignity, who saved a great number of African American males and females through her determination and love for God. People might think that what would motivate anyone to take all that pain and misery to one’s self in order to help other people. Harriet Tubman was an African American lady that took upon several roles throughout her lifetime just like a protester, philanthropist, and a Union Spy in the time of the American civil war. Her actions, not just saved many lives during these horrible time’s but at the same time gave other African Americans the confidence and courage to get up for what they have faith in and accomplish same human rights for males and females in all over the world, regardless of what their skin color or sex was.
Harriet Tubman had many struggles that she overcame such as, escaping slavery and encouraging others to change their lives around after the escape of slavery. Harriet Tubman birth is said to be between the years of 1820 and 1821 but there is no actual record of her birthday was born Araminta Ross to her slave parents Ben and Harriet Green. The specific dates of her. She became a slave at the age six after leaving her grandmother's home on the plantation. She has been planning her escape for many years now. Harriet Tubman was a wise young girl she knew many things about god, at least she thought she did. Slaves such as Harriet didn't have an education on many things. Believe it or not but some of them we're pretty clever with their reputation in educational categories.