Helen Barrett Montgomery (1861-1934) was born in Ohio, but her family moved to Rochester, NY, when she was 9 years old. While she was at Wellesley she began the study of Greek, which she continued for the rest of her life. She was very active in the Lake Avenue Baptist Church, organizing and leading a women’s Bible Class which she taught for 44 years.
Her concern for social reform and civic causes grew out of her biblical and theological understandings. As the first woman elected to public office in Rochester (twenty years before women got the vote), she served on the Rochester School Board and served for 10 years.
While the cause of woman’s suffrage was important to her, most of her efforts were given to the women’s missionary movement. She wrote many books, led many missionary groups, and traveled to many mission fields.
In 1921 she was elected the president of the Northern Baptist Convention and presided over the 1922 convention. As the first women president of any protestant denomination, she led the Baptists through controversy with grace and prayers.
ABHS has a booklet about her life called Envoy of Grace, by Conda Delite Hitch Abbot. It is available for $5. Order by sending a check to ABHS, 3001 Mercer University Drive, Atlanta, GA 30341.
