Antoinette Louisa Brown Blackwell

1825-1921. Reformer and one of the first ordained American women. Born in Henrietta, New York, she graduated from Oberlin in 1847, then completed a theological course (1850). Refused a preaching license due to her sex, she finally became pastor of the Congregational Church of South Butler, New York. She resigned after four years because of theological problems, became a Unitarian, and gained fame as a temperance speaker. She also espoused abolitionism and women's rights.