WEEK 2: Jim Crow Era - Rosa Young
Rosa Young was a Black Women whose strength and determination helped her spread the development of Black Lutheranism in the South during the beginning of the 20th Century. This was in a time that Black Americans faced very harsh racial restrictions.
She resided in Alabama and operated a school for Black American Children. Seeking financial assistance, she wrote a letter to the Lutheran Synodical Conference asking for help. To her surprise being Methodist, the Lutheran Synodical Conference responded and supported the school. They not only supported the school monetarily, but they sent Lutheran pastors to the area to start Lutheran Congregations.
Rosa was committed to lifting up Black people in rural Alabama through education. She was responsible for becoming the driving force behind new Black Lutheran congregations and parish schools across the county. By 1927 there were 29 Black Lutheran congregations and preaching points in the area, and 27-day schools. During this period Wilcox County was the fastest-growing area of Lutheranism in the United States.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT ROSA YOUNG
- Article - (https://www.livinglutheran.org/2021/02/the-mother-of-black- lutheranism-in-america/)
- Video - Rosa Young - Hero of the Faith YouTube - Concordia Publishing House
https://www.google.com/url? sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjH2rHMtr38AhV QD1kFHQwgDQIQwqsBegQIMBAF&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=Ry1Hc0jOoRo&usg=AOvVaw1Cw9r4QynZfKeASaO9DmLV - Book - Light in the Dark Belt by Rosa Young published in 1930
- Children’s Literature - Rosa Young (Hero of Faith) (ages 9 - 12) by Christine S. Weerts
A special thank-you to the Florida-Bahamas Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America for putting together this resource.
https://fbsynod.com/just-love/lutherans-you-should-know-in-black-history/