page_title: African and African-American women in Christianity
section_title: Jane Elizabeth Manning James
hierarchical_section_title: African and African-American women in Christianity / Notable African and African-American women / Jane Elizabeth Manning James
caption_attribution_description: English: Title: Frontis.: portrait of Phyllis Wheatley, and title p. of Wheatley, Poems on Various Subjects..., London, 1773 Abstract/medium: 1 print&#160;: engraving.
context_page_description: Women of African descent have always been active in Christianity since the very early days of this religion. African-American women mainly worship in traditionally black Protestant churches, with 62% identifying themselves as historically black Protestants. Many hold leadership positions in these churches and some lead congregations, especially in the American deep south. Black women also have served as nuns in the Catholic Church in the United States since the early 19th Century.
context_section_description: Jane Elizabeth Manning James was born free in Connecticut and became a Presbyterian at a young age. She heard a sermon by a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, converted and was baptized to this sect in 1842. She had several unique, recorded spiritual experiences and eventually decided to move west in 1843. Denied their passage to Nauvoo by boat, she and nine other African-American members of the Church walked the 800 miles to Nauvoo to unite with the rest of their church. She endured the same persecution that other members of the Church of Jesus Christ endured at this time. James moved west with the Church in 1847, eventually settling in the Salt Lake valley, thereby becoming one of the first black women to live in Utah.
caption: Phyllis Wheatley, writing a poem
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