Amanda Berry Smith

How this work helped shape America

Born enslaved in Maryland in 1837, Amanda Berry Smith gained freedom with her family and later became an internationally known evangelist and missionary. In 1899 she established the Amanda Smith Orphanage and Industrial Home near Chicago to care for Black children and provide education and practical training. Smith used speaking, fundraising and organizational work to sustain the institution, extending her public ministry into a permanent system of care and opportunity for children excluded from adequate support.