Anna Knight
MISSISSIPPI GIRL
Anna was born into slavery and took the name 'lKnightIg from the
White slave owner who bought the family and took them to Mississippi.
One of Mr. Knight's
sons didn't believe in slavery.
were freed, the son took Anna's
So when the slaves
family to another part of Mississippi
where he helped them buy land of their own.
Life was hard in those days and even harder for Anna and her family
because blacks weren't
taught to read or write.
So on Sundays Anna
would play with some white neighbor children. By listening to them read
and spell, she soon learned the basic skills.
Having no paper or
pencil, she practiced her writing by scratching the earth with a stick.
Even though she had never been in a classroom, by the time she was a
teenager she was knowledgeable in all areas of study.
Anna wrote to a New England newspaper requesting that reading
materials be sent to her. A reader of the newspaper saw the article and
sent her the Signs of the Times.
After reading the magazines she was
converted to the Seventh-day Adventist faith. On accepting this faith,
she ran into much oppression and had to leave home.
Through the help of a conference worker in Tennessee, Anna was able
to attend Mount Vernon Academy in 1894.
Four years later she graduated
from Battle Creek College as a missionary nurse and returned to her home
state to operate a self-supporting school for black children in Jasper
County
.
At the 1901 General Conference session Anna volunteered to serve in
India and went to Calcutta for six years. After hard work and extensive
20
travel she was given a two year furlough to return to Mississippi to
rebuild the educational work for black children.
In 1909 Anna was called as a Bible instructor to the Southwest
Union.
Later she became the supervisor of the black conference
elementary schools.
She wrote about her life in the book Mississippi
Girl.
Anna Knight died at Riverside Sanitarium in 1972 at the age of 98
and is buried in the Knight family plot in Mississippi.
References:
Mississippi Girl by Anna Knight
SDA Commentary Dictionary