Amanda Berry Smith, 1837 – 1915

Amanda Berry Smith, 1837 – 1915

Evangelist, Missionary, and Orphanage Founder

Amanda Berry Smith was born into slavery in 1837. Her father eventually earned enough wages to buy his family’s freedom but Amanda would still not be allowed a formal education because she was an African American.

Amanda Berry Smith’s adulthood was full of heartache – losing her first husband in the civil war, the loss of several children, the death of her second husband, and dreams left unfulfilled. But her faith in God remained and she held her calling to preach close to her heart.

In 1870, when Amanda Berry Smith was 33 and the year after her second husband’s passing, Smith began to preach and sing at holiness camp meetings and became well-known for her ministry. Eight years later she began traveling for short-term and long-term missions to India, Great Britain, and Liberia.

Upon her return to the United States, Amanda Berry Smith began pursuing her long-time dream of educating African American children by founding the Amanda Smith Orphanage and Industrial Home for Abandoned and Destitute Colored Children.

“To stay here and disobey God – I can’t afford to take the consequence. I would rather go and obey God than to stay here and know that I disobeyed.” – Amanda Berry Smith