July 31, 1861 Helen Barrett Montgomery was born in Kingsville, OH. She is known as an educator and writer, but was also a social reformer. In 1921 she was elected the first woman president of the Northern Baptist Convention and the first of any religious denomination in the U.S. Before that, 1899, she was the first woman elected to the Rochester (NY) School Board, and any public office in the city. This was 20 years before women had the vote. She was also a scholar, publishing a translation of the New Testament from the original Greek, the first woman to do so. ABHS has many articles written by Montgomery, and many books and articles about her.
