From Home Missions to Social Activism: A Comparative Study of Southern Methodist and Southern Baptist Women during the Progressive Era

Abstract

Evangelical women in the United States have historically engaged in social activism through home missions. Southern Methodist and Southern Baptist women represent two contrasting groups that organized during the Progressive Era. This era provided a unique framework of ideology, theology and politics in which each group constructed their own brand of social activism that is evident today. The Progressive Era was a catalyst for women of these two denominations to become involved in their communities and the public sphere, and changed the trajectory in which they structured home mission goals and activities.