The sun., 1912-07-07
WOMEN ARE IN CHARGE
OF MANY CHURCHES
Besides Preaching They Are
Prominent in Work
for Reform.
PIONEERS IN THE PULPIT
Early Opposition to Them
More Than $500 Women
Preach in This Country.

Women preachers we're few generation
ago. Their number has increased In
recent years with the invasion OF all fields
of business and professional life by women
until now there are in the United States
more than 500 ordained women preachers
For the most part they belong to the
liberal denominations. The Unitarian
and Universalist faiths claim the majority
OF them Several have been ordained
In the Methodist and Congregational
churches. Women in the pulpit are posi-
lively forbidden In the Catholic. Episcopal
and Lutheran churches.
Many OF these women preachers have
gained . national and some an inter-
national reputation. One OF the most
widely known Of them 10 the Rev. Caroline
Bartlett Crane Of Kalamazoo, Mich.
who breaches not only the oreed of the
Unitarian Chruch but also the gospel
of civic cleanliness and who believes that
. clean city IL on the way TO be moral
one. So successful has she been In preach
ing the latter gospel that her reputation
is now international.
Mrs. Crane was horn in Hudson. Wis.
about fifty-fve years ago, and In all these
years she has, a. she expresses It herself.
been doing things' After leaving the
city schools she was graduated from
Carthage College in Illinois and later took
Q post graduate course at the University
Of Chicago In 1879 she took up teaching
and for five years followed that calling.
Then Newspaper work claimed her at
tention. and after working a . reporter
she became the city editor OF . small
weekly paper in Wisconsin. From news
paper work she went to the ministry
and after her ordination became the
pastor Of All Soula' Church ct Sioux Falls.
8. D.. She preached on Sundays and did
newspaper work during the week. From
Sioux Falls she went TO Oshkosh. Wis.
for q short time and then 70 Kalamazoo
to take charge Of the First Unitarian
Church.
Arriving in Kalamazoo she found only
q handful Of people In her new church
She began the work OF building up her
congregation. and 90 we'll did che sue
ceed that soon . new church was needed
and erected Then In 1893 she established
the Peoples Church. . crsvdless. institu-
tional organization In which she was
ordained pastor Of liberal religion
The underlying principle OF the church
u personal and civic betterment. and in
order TO interest people and educate them
, she established classes In manual train
ing. . gymnasium and domestic science
classes. which taught marketing. house,
keeping and sewing. These classes were
30 successful that they were incorporated
In the Kalamazoo public school system.
After three years Of successful pastor
ship she was married to DR.. A. W. Crane.
. physician Of Kalamazoo, and together
they continued the work. With her church
we'll established Mrs. Crane turned her at
tention to cleaning up the town and started
various municipal reforms. One day she
photographed a number OF back yard
scenes and then in lecture In her church
, showed the pictures on Q screen. Inside
Of twenty four hours there was general
cleaning Of back yards in the town. Then
hotels. business places and public institu-
tions were investigated, the waste OF the
| organized charities was stopped and sani.
tary conditions we're improved. 4 new
savings bank was organized and soon
Mrs. Crane and some Of the other lead
ing women OF Kalamazoo investigated the
slaug ghter houses Of the town and did
not like what they saw. Finding the came
conditions in Lansing, Grand Rapids
and other towns OF the State Mrs. Crane
had q bill introduced in the State Legis-
lature to remedy matters. Hearing one
night that the bill was about to be defeated
she got out of bed. dressed and took u
train for Lansing. writing on the way
thither Q statement of the reasons why
the bill should he passed. In the morn
ing she had the statement printed and
saw that a copy was laid on the desk
Of each legislator. Getting the privilege
Of the floor she spoke for her own bill.
the result being that it passed, sl to rs.
and Kalamazoo got meat inspection.
This made her famous, and soon other
cities began asking for her advice in re-
gard TO questions Of municipal house,
cleaning. and now hardly a week passes
but she travels to some city To study its
needs. Recently. speaking in Chicago,
she denounced the unsanitary conditions
OF the tenement districts Of the large
cities. With all her work for civic re-
form she keeps up her preaching, and last
year she preached in several pulpits
abroad.
The first woman to become a minister
In the United States was tho Rev. An
toinette Blackwell, who was ordained in
the egational Church in 1853. Later
she changed her faith and became a
Unitarian and now breaches once u
month in All Souls Church at Elizabeth.
y. j.
Antoinette Louise Brown was born
in Henrietta, n. Y. After her graduation
at Oberlin College she determined to be-
come minister and asked TO he enrolled
as a student in the Oberlin Theological
Seminary. The professors opposed her
on account OF her seq. but she won her
point, and In ls%s preached her first ser
mon in her native town, Her first church
was mt South Butler. n. Y, She was
married TO DR.. Samuel Blackwell, Al
though the mother Of several children
and the wife Of busy physician she still
continued to preach and now, at the age
Of ~ years. Is as interested and active in
her church work as she was years ago. She
a. a N rdnpt helievar in yot as for uop>n