20 Facts About Jarena Lee

Jarena Lee was the first woman preacher in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

In 1836, Jarena Lee became the first African American woman to publish an autobiography.

Jarena Lee recounts that she was born into a free black family, and that from the age of 7, she began to work as a live-in servant with a white family.

Jarena Lee later recalled that she did not receive religious instruction as a child.

Jarena Lee was not formally educated, but taught herself to write.

In 1804, Jarena Lee was first introduced to Christianity by a Presbyterian missionary.

Jarena Lee recounted that she struggled with suicidal thoughts and fantasized about drowning herself on at least several occasions.

Joseph Jarena Lee was a pastor of the African American Society at Snow Hill, six miles from Philadelphia.

Jarena Lee moved to Snow Hill with her husband, but knew no one there besides her husband.

Jarena Lee found at Snow Hill that she did not find the same closeness that she had in Philadelphia.

Joseph Jarena Lee died six years into their marriage, after having two children with his wife.

Jarena Lee stepped up and began to preach, the crowd was very intrigued to what she had to say.

Jarena Lee went on to preach throughout the United States, including in the South, where she risked enslavement.

The idea that African Americans and women could preach was an element of the Second Great Awakening, which reached its peak as Jarena Lee began her missionary work.

Jarena Lee became a traveling minister, traveling thousands of miles on foot.

Jarena Lee published an extended version with a hired publisher in 1849, including 70 pages revealing names of those who had rejected the Spirit's movement within her preaching.

Much of the known information about Jarena Lee's life is from these sources.

Archival research by Dr Knight suggests that Jarena Lee died penniless in Philadelphia and was buried at Olive Cemetery.

Jarena Lee is recognized as the first woman to preach in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Jarena Lee has been compared to influential African American women of her time, such as Maria W Stewart and Sojourner Truth.