Rosa Jinsey Young (May 14, 1890 – June 30, 1971) was an African American Lutheran educator who worked primarily in the Black Belt of Alabama. Born in Rosebud, Alabama, to Grant, an

African Methodist Episcopal The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Methodist denomination based in the United States. It adheres to Wesleyan–Arminian theology and has a connexional polity. It cooperates with other Methodist ...

pastor, and Nancy Young, Rosa Young was the valedictorian of her 1909 graduating class at Daniel Payne College in

Selma, Alabama Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, in the Black Belt region of south central Alabama and extending to the west. Located on the banks of the Alabama River, the city has a population of 17,971 as of the 2020 census. Abou ...

. She founded her first school, Rosebud Literary and Industrial School, in 1912. Within two years, attendance at her school grew from 7 to 215. In 1914, the cotton boll weevil infested Wilcox County, and the resulting economic hardship meant that students' families were unable to afford the tuition. Desperate to keep the school open, she requested aid from the Methodist Church, but to no avail. She wrote to

Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, and orator. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the primary leader in the African-American community and of the contemporary Black elite#United S ...

at the

Tuskegee Institute Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU; formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute) is a Private university, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama, United States. It was f ...

, and he suggested she contact the

Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America The Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America (), often known simply as the Synodical Conference, was an association of Lutheran synods that professed a complete adherence to the Lutheran Confessions and doctrinal unity with ea ...

(of which the

Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

was the largest member) for assistance. Upon receiving her letter dated October 27, 1915, the conference's Mission Board sent Nils Bakke to Rosebud in January 1916 to investigate. They agreed to support the school and pay Young $20 per month to teach. Young herself became the first black Lutheran convert in Alabama, and a congregation, Christ Lutheran Church, was soon established. On Palm Sunday in 1916, 58 people were baptized and 70 were

confirmed In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. The ceremony typically involves laying on of hands. Catholicis ...

. Word of the school and resulting Lutheran church in Rosebud spread among the African-American communities in Alabama and neighboring states, with requests being made to the Synodical Conference to start additional schools and churches. By 1927, there were 27 congregations with their associated schools. Altogether, Young helped establish 30 schools and 35 churches in Alabama. The number of congregations peaked in the 1930s, and the Great Migration led to the decline of rural communities generally and Lutheran churches in particular. The exodus of African-American Lutherans from Alabama seeded Lutheran congregations across the country. In 1977, 35 African-American pastors in the LCMS could trace their roots to the Alabama Field. In 1922, Young helped establish Alabama Lutheran Academy and College in Selma. Later called

Concordia College Alabama Concordia College Alabama was a Private historically black college associated with the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and located in Selma, Alabama. It was the only historically black college among the ten colleges and universities in the C ...

, Young served as a professor there from 1946 to 1961. Concordia operated until 2018. Young's autobiography, ''A Light in the Dark Belt'', was published in 1930 and republished in 1950. She received an honorary doctorate from

Concordia Theological Seminary Concordia Theological Seminary is a Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, Lutheran seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It offers professional, master's degrees, and doctoral degrees affiliated with training clergy and deaconesses for the Lutheran Churc ...

in 1961.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Rosa 1890 births 1971 deaths People from Wilcox County, Alabama African-American Christians 20th-century African-American educators 20th-century American educators African-American women educators American Lutherans Christians from Alabama Converts to Lutheranism Former Methodists Lutheran religious workers Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod people