Antoinette Blackwell
From Philosopedia
Blackwell, Antoinette Brown (20 May 1825 - 5 November 1921)
Antoinette Louisa Brown Blackwell (who later dropped Louisa in her name) was the first woman to be ordained as a minister in the United States.
Brown, born in Henriette, New York, was the daughter of Abby Morse and Joseph Brown. At the age of nine, she became a Congregationalist. She studied at the Monroe County Academy, taught for a few years, then attended Oberlin College, graduating in 1847. Although she studied at the Oberlin Seminary until 1850, she was refused a degree and ordination because of her gender.
One of the pioneers in the women’s rights movement in nineteenth-century America, Blackwell wrote The Sexes Throughout Nature (1875).
In 1878 and 1908, respectively, Oberlin awarded her honorary Master's and Doctoral degrees. In 1908 she founded and became minister of the All Souls Unitarian Church in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
In the 1920 political election, at the age of ninety-five, Blackwell finally was able legally to vote.
At the age of 96, she died in Elizabeth, New Jersey
