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Dr. Anna Shaw, Wash. (LOC)

from The Library of Congress

• 6 older comments, and then…
• Elizabeth Thomsen said:

  Reverend Doctor Anna Howard Shaw (1847 - 1919) "A leader in the women's suffrage movement, Shaw was a master orator for social justice, and the first woman to be ordained by the Protestant Methodist Church. She was the first living American woman to be awarded the U.S. Distinguished Service Medal." Source: Anna Howard Shaw -- National Women's Hall of Fame You can read or download her autobiography from Google Books: The Story of a Pioneer

• Ted Sherarts said:

  Thank you Elizabeth Thomsen.

• In Memoriam: budderflyman said:

  Interesting. She looks a bit masculine, but I do not mean that derogatorily. It perhaps helped her back in those days as very few women received doctorates in any field. Good for you, Dr. Shaw.

• Xavier Jijón said:

  Where did she graduated from?

• Elizabeth Thomsen said:

  "In 1873, she entered Albion College, paying for her two years of education there by preaching and giving lectures on temperance. In 1876, she left Albion to attend Boston Theological Seminary. Upon graduation, in 1878, as the only woman in her class, she took charge of a church in East Dennis, Massachusetts, but the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church refused her application for ordination because she was a woman. It also took steps to revoke her preaching license. Finally, in 1880, Shaw convinced the Methodist Protestant Church to grant her ordination so she could administer the sacraments and continue her ministry in East Dennis. In addition to ministering at two churches, Shaw earned a medical degree from Boston University in 1886. However, she never practiced medicine." Source: Anna Howard Shaw -- National Women's Hall of Fame