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Amanda Smith ( Berry; January 23, 1837 – February 24, 1915) was an American Methodist preacher and former slave who funded the Amanda Smith Orphanage and Industrial Home for Abandoned and Destitute Colored Children in Harvey, Illinois (outside Chicago). She was a leader in the Wesleyan-Holiness movement, preaching the doctrine of entire sanctification throughout Methodist camp meetings across the world.
Early life
Smith was the youngest of the thirteen children of enslaved parents Samuel Berry and Mariam Matthews in Long Green, Maryland, a small town in Baltimore County. Her father was a well-trusted man, and his master's widow trusted him enough to place him in charge of her farm. After his duties for the day were done, Mr. Berry was allowed to go out and earn extra money for himself and his family. Many nights he would go without sleeping because he was busy making brooms and husk mats for the Baltimore market. He purchased his own freedom, then that of his family; they then settled in Pennsylvania.
Having had only three and a half months of formal schooling, Amanda went to work near York, Pennsylvania, as the servant of a widow with five children. While there, she attended a revival service at the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Adult life
Smith worked as a cook and a washerwoman to provide for herself and her daughter after her husband was killed in the American Civil War. By the time Smith was thirty-two, she had lost two husbands and four of her five children. Attending religious camp meetings and revivals helped her work through her grief and avoid depression. She immersed herself in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church and met Phoebe Palmer, a Methodist preacher who led the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. Smith always wore a plain poke bonnet and a brown or black Quaker wrapper, and carried a carpetbag suitcase.
In 1878, Smith arranged for her daughter, Mazie, to study in England, where they both stayed for two years.
She faced conflict with the orphanage due to financial problems, as well as a fire that destroyed the building, conflict between Smith and the staff, complaints from neighbors, and failed inspections by the orphan home investigators. Two years after Smith's death another fire broke out in the home, killing two girls, and it was closed for good.
Later life and death
Her autobiography was published in 1893, titled An Autobiography, The Story of the Lord's Dealing with Mrs. Amanda Smith, the Colored Evangelist Containing an Account of her Life Work of Faith, and Her Travels in America, England, Ireland, Scotland, India, and Africa, as An Independent Missionary.
See also
- African Methodist Episcopal Church
- Mary G. Evans
- Jarena Lee
- Martha Jayne Keys