The Prophetic Voice: Antoinette Brown Blackwell’s Jeremiads in the Social Purity Movement

The late nineteenth century was a dramatic time for changes in the role of women in society. As they fought for the right to speak in public and to vote, women established many new public spaces for their own participation. Women spoke as prophets for transformation in an unequal system. When speakers see a need for change, especially due to crisis, their voices often take on a prophetic quality. The jeremiad, as a rhetorical genre, demonstrates the prophetic voice. We hear speakers today using this form in response to pandemics, environmental issues, political crises, among many other circumstances. This book examines the work of Antoinette Brown Blackwell, the first woman to be ordained as a protestant minister in the United States in 1853. Brown Blackwell modeled the prophetic voice in her determination to prevent the legalization of prostitution. The examination of her rhetoric for the Social Purity Movement underscores the significance of the jeremiad as a genre for illuminating crisis communication, especially in a Christian context.