Tonight on The Gist of Freedom www.BlackHistoryUniversity.com, Meet Jamel Robinson!  After spending 21 years in the foster care system without being adopted, he beat the odds and is now a successful child welfare reform advocate.

 

This show is dedicated to  Amanda Berry Smith 1837-1915

 devoted her life to the ministry of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church. Her most noted achievement is the opening of the first orphanage for black children in Illinois.

 In 1899, the orphanage opened its doors to homeless African American girls. The 12-room brick house that served as the orphanage was the first of its kind in Illinois.

The community at large was receptive to Smith’s evangelical message and supported the presence of the orphanage. By 1910, the building housed 33 children, up from 12 in 1900

In Harvey, Illinois, a suburb founded by temperance groups south of Chicago, Smith took up the duties of the national representative for the WCTU, and wrote her life’s story. An Autobiography: The Story of the Lord’s Dealings with Mrs. Amanda Smith, the Colored Evangelist was published in 1893. Through book sales, donations, and lecturing fees, she began to raise money for a new cause: an orphanage for black children. She founded and distributed a small newspaper, The Helper, in order to generate publicity and income for the orphanage and other worthy charities

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