In 1819, an itinerant Methodist preacher set off across a brand-new nation to spread the gospel to its people. Over the decades of her unique ministry, Jarena Lee would witness both incredible progress and maddening injustice – and publish the first spiritual autobiography ever written by an African American woman. But what message was her book actually meant to send?
Discover the incredible life of this forgotten spiritual powerhouse with our guests, Lisa Gring-Pemble and Martha Watson, authors of the fascinating new book Your Daughters Will Prophesy.
You can read Jarena Lee’s groundbreaking spiritual autobiography for free at Project Gutenberg.
Dr. Lisa Gring-Pemble, an associate professor at George Mason University, is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of St. Olaf College. Her research focuses on how people strategically use language to transform their realities because as one scholar notes “A choice of words is also a choice of worlds.” She is also passionate about teaching and is the recipient of several teaching awards including the George Mason University Teaching Excellence Award, Mentoring Excellence Award, Alumni Association Faculty of the Year Award, and John Toups Presidential Medal for Faculty Excellence in Teaching. She currently serves as the Academic Director for the College of Public Health’s Learning Laboratory and in that capacity works with community members, non-profit organizations, for-profit organizations and undergraduate and graduate students to investigate and address community-identified health challenges in Northern Virginia. Outside of academia, she treasures time with her family.
Martha Watson was a professor at Auburn University, the University of Maryland-College Park, and the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, where she also became founding dean of the Greenspun College of Urban Affairs. Her academic home was always in departments of communication. However, because no one understands what a rhetorical critic is (that’s how she thinks of herself) and because her focus was the 19th century woman’s movement, she often describes herself as a social historian. She was editor of both the Southern Communication Journal and the Quarterly Journal of Speech as well as serving as president of both the Southern States Communication Association and the National Communication Association. Late in life, she left the academic world to go to seminary to become an Episcopal priest, which has been an interesting and challenging second career. It was during her time in seminary that she first learned of Jarena Lee. Her real life, however, has been as the mother of two wonderful daughters and the proud grandmother of three remarkable young women and one remarkable young man.
Music featured in this episode included
“Good News” and “Go Down Moses” performed by the Tuskegee Institute Singers
“Way Down in Egypt Land” performed by the Georgia Singers
“If I Had My Way” performed by the Heavenly Gate Quartet
“My Way’s Cloudy” performed by Marian Anderson
“Jonah Go Down Yonder” performed by Ed Jones
“I’m a Pilgrim” performed by Alfred Hamilton
Your purchases help support the podcast!
When you purchase through links on our website, we might earn a tiny commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting the podcast! Every bit helps us make more episodes.