African American evangelist Zilpha Elaw wrote a memoir at the conclusion of a five-year religious sojourn in England and dedicated the volume "To the Saints and faithful Bretheren in Christ, who have honoured my ministery with their attendance, in London and other localities of England." Elaw's book offers readers a glimpse into the lives of the courageous African American women who managed to wrest authority from religious and familial institutions by relying on the higher authority of their God.

The second of three children born to free black parents, Zilpha Elaw was born circa 1790, somewhere in the vicinity of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. When Elaw was twelve, her mother died while giving birth to her twenty-second child. Only Zilpha, an older brother, and a younger sister survived childhood. Shortly after her mother's death, Elaw was placed in service with the Mitchels, a Quaker family. Her father died approximately eighteen months...