Emma S. Connor Ransom (August 8, 1864 — May 15, 1943) was an American educator and clubwoman, active in the

African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Black church, predominantly African American Methodist Religious denomination, denomination. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology and has a connexionalism, c ...

(AME) and the

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...

(Young Women's Christian Association).

Early life

Emma Sarah Connor (or Conner) was born in

Selma, Ohio Selma is an unincorporated community in Madison Township, Clark County, Ohio, USA. History Selma was platted in 1842 when the Xenia and Columbus Pike was extended to that point. A post office called Selma was established in 1841, and remained in op ...

. She trained as a teacher at

Wilberforce University Wilberforce University is a private historically black university in Wilberforce, Ohio. Affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), it was the first college to be owned and operated by African Americans. It participates in t ...

as a young woman.Judith Weisenfeld
''African American Women and Christian Activism: New York's Black YWCA, 1905-1945''
(Harvard University Press 1997): 56-58, 103.

Career

Ransom was an AME Church minister's wife after 1886, and moved to various cities with his work. She spoke to the annual meeting of the Woman's Mite Missionary Society in Cleveland in 1895, about mission work by African-American women in Africa. She addressed the Illinois Federation of Colored Women's Clubs in 1903, speaking on voting rights. She moved to New York City when her husband became pastor of Bethel AME Church in 1907, and soon became involved in suffrage work and other women's club activities in the city. She spoke to the Equal Suffrage League in Brooklyn in 1908, at the invitation of

Verina Morton Jones Verina Harris Morton Jones (January 28, 1865 – February 3, 1943) was an American physician, suffragist and clubwoman. Following her graduation from the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1888 she was the first woman licensed to practic ...

. From 1908 to 1911, she was president of the New York state branch of the Woman's Mite Missionary Society. In 1909, Ransom was elected chair of the Colored Women's Branch of the YWCA, on 137th Street in Harlem, and served on the leadership board of the branch until 1924, working with

Cecelia Cabaniss Saunders Cecelia Cabaniss Saunders (1879 – February 23, 1966) sometimes written as Cecilia Cabaniss Saunders, was an African-American civil rights leader, and executive director of the Harlem, New York YWCA. She is best known for working against racial d ...

as general secretary. Ransom negotiated a $100,000 building fund for the branch. The program's residential component, including a cafeteria, meeting spaces, and an auditorium, was named the Emma Ransom House in her honor. In 1913, she presided over a celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the

Emancipation Proclamation The Emancipation Proclamation, officially Proclamation 95, was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the Civil War. The Proclamation changed the legal sta ...

at the YWCA. She also served on the Metropolitan Board of the YWCA in New York, and was the first black woman to hold a seat on that citywide board. In 1938, Emma S. Ransom was awarded an honorary doctorate by Wilberforce University.

Personal life

Emma S. Connor married

Reverdy C. Ransom Reverdy Cassius Ransom (January 4, 1861 – April 22, 1959) was an American Christian socialist, civil rights activist, and leader in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He was ordained and served as the 48th A.M.E. bishop. Biography Earl ...

in 1886, as his second wife. They raised two sons, Harold and Reverdy Jr. She died in 1943, from a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

, in

Wilberforce, Ohio Wilberforce is a census-designated place (CDP) in Greene County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,271 at the 2010 census, up from 1,579 at the 2000 census. History After Wilberforce College was established in 1856, the community was a ...

. Reverdy C. Ransom's papers are archived at

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...

, and at Reverdy C. Ransom Memorial Library, Payne Theological Seminary.Reverdy C. Ransom Papers
Reverdy C. Ransom Memorial Library, Payne Theological Seminary.

References

External links

An undated photograph of Emma S. Ransom, Reverdy C. Ransom, and a group of clergymen and their wives
from the Yvonne Walker-Taylor Photograph Collection, National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center.
A 1903 photograph of Reverdy C. Ransom and Emma S. Ransom
in the doorway of the Institutional Methodist Church in Chicago, from the Chicago History Museum. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ransom, Emma S. 1864 births 1943 deaths American educators Wilberforce University alumni People from Clark County, Ohio African Methodist Episcopal Church Clubwomen