For the next sixty-five years, Crosby freely collaborated with Protestant denominations of various stripes, but was ultimately associated with Methodist, Wesleyan, and the growing Holiness movement, not surprising given their strong tradition of hymnody. Crosby married fellow teacher Alexander Van Alstyne in 1858, though in her public ministry she retained her maiden name for the rest of her life.Īnother turning point in her life occurred in 1850 when Crosby attended the fall revival meetings at Thirtieth Street Methodist Church (later Broadway Tabernacle) and found herself walking the aisle to the “anxious bench” and experienced a life-changing conversion. Crosby became well known while at the institution, partially because of her poetry (her poetry volume, The Blind Girl and Others, was published in 1844) and partially because of her cheerful, buoyant personality. Collection 35, Box 1, Folder 6.įrom 1835 until 1858 Crosby lived at the New York Institution for the Blind, first as a student and later as a teacher of English and history. The lengthy scripture passages she devoted to memory anticipated her later poetry recitation performances before the US Congress, the New York State legislature, and a myriad other audiences.Īn example of Fanny Crosby’s poetry from 1876. In keeping with her New England Puritan heritage, Fanny’s upbringing included rigorous religious devotion. John Crosby died four months later, and Fanny was raised solely by her mother and maternal grandmother. For the rest of her life, Fanny Crosby could only see shades of light and dark. At six weeks old, she developed an eye infection, a common malady, but was treated by an inexperienced visiting doctor, whose mustard poultices seared Crosby’s optic nerves and permanently damaged her sight. In her memoirs, dictated late in life, Crosby recounts the decisive moment that changed the trajectory of her life, an event she had only heard narrated. The finding aid for Collection 35: Papers of Fanny Crosby provides more details about these materials.įrances Jane Crosby was born on Main Putnam County, New York, the only child of John and Mercy Crosby. The majority of the manuscripts are numbered and dated, a helpful guide for researchers tracing Crosby’s immense literary output. In addition to photographs, song books, and memorabilia, the Archives holds nearly 2,400 original manuscripts of Crosby’s hymns and poetry, composed between 18. Crosby’s enduring popularity is a testimony not only to the extraordinary volume of her musical corpus but also to the simplicity and power of her lyrics to convict, comfort, and inspire audiences around the globe. Her most famous works include “Blessed Assurance”, “To God be the Glory”, “Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior”, and “Safe in the Arms of Jesus.” A household name in her lifetime, Fanny Crosby’s compositions still litter hymnals across American Protestant denominations today. But this March, the Archives remembers poet, hymnist, composer, social reformer, and public speaker, Fanny Crosby (1820-1915), born two hundred years ago this month.Īlthough she could print little more than her name, Fanny Crosby became the most prolific American hymnist of the nineteenth century, writing thousands of sacred songs, sometimes composing up to six or seven hymns a day. Consuella York, Mission Aviation Fellowship pilot Betty Greene, Holocaust-survivor and author Corrie ten Boom, faith-healer and evangelist Kathryn Kuhlman, and many others. When commemorating National Women’s History Month, the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center Archives could celebrate any number of extraordinary women represented in its collections: author and missionary Elisabeth Elliot, evangelist Helen “Ma” Sunday, prison preacher Rev.
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