Emma B. Delaney
(1871-1922)

Died aged c. 51

Emma B. Delaney, born in 1871, was the first African-American female missionary sent to Africa. Born in Fernandina, she completed missionary and nursing training at Spelman College. In 1902 she sailed to British Central Africa and helped establish the Providence Industrial Mission in Malawi. Returning to the United States in 1906 she lectured on her experiences and began raising money to return to Africa. In 1912 she went to Liberia and founded the Suehn Industrial mission near Monrovia, a mission that provided education, industrial arts, home economics and health care. In 1922 she returned to United States and died the same year of tropical fever. Emma Delaney Day is celebrated in Florida Baptist Churches the third Sunday in May.

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