Christian Woman's Board of Missions

The Christian Woman's Board of Missions (CWBM) was a missionary organization associated with the Restoration Movement.^[1] Established in 1874, it was the first such group managed entirely by women.^[1] It hired both men and women, and supported both domestic and foreign missions.^[1]

History

The Christian Woman's Board of Missions was created by the American Christian Missionary Society on October 21, 1874.^[1] It was a grassroots organization intended to serve women and children worldwide.^[1] While many members also supported other 19th century causes such as temperance and suffrage, "CWBM was the 'grand passion' in the lives of many nineteenth- and twentieth-century Christian Church women."^[1]

The CWBM's first mission was in Jamaica, where Dr. and Mrs. W.H. Williams were sent in 1876.^[1] The first missionary who was a single woman, Jennie Laughlin, was sent in 1876.^[1] India became the major focus of the CWBM's overseas efforts, which included evangelistic efforts focusing on women and children, as well as building a variety of social service facilities such as schools, hospitals and orphanages.^[1] The organization was particularly effective, both at home and abroad, in reaching women and children in settings where it would be difficult or impossible for men to go.^[1]

For an example of the work being done, see the full program of the Kentucky C.W.B.M. Convention, September 21–22, 1903, published in The Bourbon (Paris, Ky.) News.^[2]

The CWBM merged with several other organizations in 1919 to form the United Christian Missionary Society.^[1][3]

Notable people

• Sarah Bostick (1868–1948), co-organized the first African-American Christian Woman's Board of Missions auxiliary in 1892
• Selina Huntington Bakewell Campbell (1802-1897), an important woman in the Restoration Movement
• Eunice Caldwell Cowles (1811-1903), educator
• Clara H. Hazelrigg (1859–1937), author, educator, reformer
• Luella St. Clair Moss (1865-1947), educator, suffragist
• Caroline Neville Pearre (1834–1910), founder of the Christian Woman's Board of Missions
• Jessie Trout (1895–1990), missionary

See also

• Women's missionary societies