They Also Served: Stories of Adventist Women

Translating the Word: Georgia Burrus Burgess in India

 In the marketplace, on boats and on streets in late 1890s India, male missionaries found open doors: men interested in hearing their message or reading their material. But when it came to entering people's homes and evangelizing women, doors were shut in the male missionaries’ faces.  In some countries, including India, it was against cultural customs and norms to allow foreign men to talk to their daughters and wives.
These closed doors for male missionaries provided open doors for female ones. And one such woman, Georgia Burrus Burgess, was able to open these doors through a special gift: language. 
Guest: Dr. Edward Allen, retired professor of religion at Union College. 
Explore More
Article | “Georgia Burrus Burgess” by Gordon E. Christo - Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists - https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=AHXD&highlight=burgess 
Article | “Zenana Missions” by Gordon E. Christo - Adventist Review - https://adventistreview.org/magazine-article/zenana-missions/
 

Black Women in White Coats

The Progressive Era in the United States brought many social and political reforms. Many professions that were previously closed off to women and people of color became more accessible and for Seventh-day Adventist women, the medical field brought opportunity for mission-minded work both domestically and abroad.
But this new era didn’t last forever. A new set of challenges for these women - nurses, doctors, and health educators - was on the horizon. 
In this episode, we explore the lives of Mary Britton, Lottie Blake, and Ruth Temple - who blazed trails as some of the first black female physicians in the United States. 
This episode mentions Lottie Blake, Mary Briton, and Ruth Temple.
Guests: Dr. Ella Smith Simmons, Dr. Lisa Clark Diller, and Dr. DeWitt Williams.
Explore More
Article | "Charlotte 'Lottie' Blake" by Ella Smith Simmons - Adventist Encyclopedia - https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=6CDX 
Article | "Ruth Janette Temple"  by DeWitt Williams - Adventist Encyclopedia https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=ECFY 
Article | "Mary Britton" by Courtney L. Thompson - Adventist Encyclopedia - https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=2CE5
Archive | Negro Trailblaizers of California - Library of Congress - https://www.loc.gov/item/19008159/

They Still Serve

In the final episode of They Also Served, we shift our focus from the trailblazing women of the past to the women shaping the church today. Historian and host Dr. Heidi Olson Campbell sits down with educators, administrators, theologians, and seminary students from around the world to explore what inspires their service, who mentored them, and how they’re mentoring others. From breaking barriers to building up the next generation, these women remind us that the call to serve didn’t stop with history—it continues. Because women didn’t just serve. They still do.