Juliann Jane Tillman
Juliann Jane Tillman was an American preacher in the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME). She is known today largely because a lithograph portrait of her was made in 1844 in Philadelphia. The print, titled “Mrs. Juliann Jane Tillman, Preacher of the A.M.E. Church,” was engraved by Alfred Hoffy and printed by Peter S. Duval. In the portrait, Tillman looks at the viewer and gesturing, urging people to prepare for the second coming of Christ.
The print was produced many times to help the AME Church reach more people, showing her popularity. Little is known about Tillman herself. An 1837 religious newspaper quotes her saying she had overcome doubts and opposition after an angel with a scroll told her, “Thee I have chosen to preach my gospel without delay.” She was never formally ordained.
Following Jarena Lee, the first female preacher in the AME Church, other women like Tillman rose to influence. Some ministers welcomed women preachers and even funded their travel, while others were ambivalent. These women helped grow church membership before the Civil War. The AME Church allowed women to evangelize and teach, but they could not lead the church for more than a century.
Historians offer different views. Aston Gonzalez argues Tillman’s portrait shows how she kept religious leadership despite opposition from some male AME figures. Curtis D. Johnson notes that in the North there was less pushback for Black evangelical women because both Black men and women wanted to strengthen the Black community and fight slavery.
Tillman helped pave the way for later African American women who connected churches with community work. Her portrait has appeared in Library of Congress exhibits on African American history and religion, and in a Smithsonian traveling exhibit about Black churches. In 2007, the Library of Congress featured her portrait in its Women Who Dare calendar.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 19:03 (CET).