wfn.org | Hall of Fame inducts Bishop Kelly, 3 other Methodist women

[NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG]

Oct. 30, 2000 News media contact: Linda Bloom·(212) 870-3803·New York
10-31-71BP{493}

NOTE: A photograph of Bishop Leontine Kelly is available with this report.

By United Methodist News Service

When retired United Methodist Bishop Leontine Kelly was inducted into the
National Women's Hall of Fame in October, she was overwhelmed both by the
honor and her fellow honorees.

During the ceremony, she sat next to the niece of the late Anna Howard Shaw,
the first woman to be ordained by the Methodist Protestant Church, and was
thrilled to meet U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, whom she considers to be
a "humble" woman of great faith.

Later, as she walked through the Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, N.Y., Kelly
said she just had to reach out and touch the photographs of those she
admired, such as Barbara Jordan, the late Congresswoman, and Mary McLeod
Bethune, the educator. They are among the 176 women, including the class of
2000, who are now part of the hall.

Kelly holds the distinction of being the first African-American woman to be
elected bishop by any major religious denomination. Along with Reno and
Shaw, she was among the 19 distinguished American women inducted this year.
Another Methodist woman of history, Frances Willard, was inducted, along
with Ida Tarbell, a graduate of United Methodist-related Allegheny College
in Pennsylvania.

To her surprise, the bishop was nominated by her adopted daughter. Pamela
Kelly, who is in law school, attended the Hall of Fame festivities with her.
The bishop's family also established a scholarship at United
Methodist-related Africa University in honor of her 80th birthday this year.

Kelly, who comes from a family of Methodist ministers, heard her calling to
ordained ministry after her husband, also a Methodist pastor, died in 1969.
She was elected to the episcopacy in 1984. Retired now for 12 years, the
bishop said she is beginning to slow down but continues to travel and work
for the church. Currently, she is involved with the United Methodist Council
of Bishops' Initiative on Children and Poverty.

The bishop was "very excited" when the United Methodist Church elected three
African-American women as bishops in July. "Praise God, I'm no longer the
only one," she said.

Anna Howard Shaw (1847-1919) was the "only one" when she was ordained in
1880 by the Methodist Protestant Church after being denied ordination
earlier that year by the Methodist Episcopal Conference. A graduate of the
Boston University theological school, she also became a medical doctor.

Her interest in practical reform led Shaw to finally resign her pastoral
position in East Dennis, Mass., to become a lecturer for the Massachusetts
Woman Suffrage Association. Later, she was a leader in the National Women's
Christian Temperance Union and National American Woman Suffrage Association.

Her Methodist compatriot, Frances Willard (1839-1898), was president of
Evanston College for Ladies and dean of women at Northwestern University.
She became president of the national temperance union in 1879 and the world
temperance union in 1891, helped form the Prohibition Party and was later
elected president of the National Council of Women.

Although elected as a lay delegate, Willard was denied a seat at the 1888
Methodist Episcopal General Conference. With Anna Oliver, she worked toward
securing the full participation of women in the Methodist Church.

Ida Tarbell (1857-1944), a Methodist and the only female graduate in the
Allegheny College class of 1880, was a different type of reformer and
sometimes clashed with the suffragettes. As an investigative journalist, her
most influential work was what became a two-volume tome on "The History of
the Standard Oil Company." Her painstaking research revealed the illegal
means used by John D. Rockefeller to dominate the fledgling oil industry and
led to a 1911 Supreme Court decision to break up the Standard Oil monopoly.

A native of Titusville, Pa., Tarbell's accomplishments have been recognized
by that state's House of Representatives, which recently declared Nov. 4,
2000, "Ida Tarbell Day" in Pennsylvania. 

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United Methodist News Service
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