The First Annual Report of the Trustees of the Female Missionary Society of the Western District (Utica, 1817). In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries a wave of religious revivals swept across New England and New York State. The converted were exhorted to work for the salvation of others. Women's participation in this undertaking was welcomed, and through organizations such as the Female Missionary Society of the Western District they raised money to spread the Gospel, found churches, and distribute tracts. These undertakings gave women their first experience in working together for a semi-public cause.
Female Missionary Society of the Western District (N.Y.), “First Annual Report of the Trustees of the Female Missionary Society of the Western District,” RBSCP Exhibits, accessed March 15, 2025, https://rbscpexhibits.lib.rochester.edu/items/show/512.