Maud A. B. Fuller

Maud Anna Berry Fuller (October 7, 1868 - January 26, 1972), also known as M. A. B. Smith and M. A. B. Fuller, was an American educator and a leader in the Baptist church. She was the founder and the editor of the Woman's Helper, a national newspaper. Fuller served for 41 years as the president of the National Baptist Convention's Women's Auxiliary.

Maud A. B. Fuller
Born
Maud Anna Berry

(1868-10-07)October 7, 1868
Lockhart, Texas
DiedJanuary 26, 1972(1972-01-26) (aged 103)
Lockhart, Texas
NationalityAmerican
Alma materTillotson College, Guadalupe College
Occupation(s)Educator, Editor, Missionary
Spouse
William Handy Fuller
​
​
(m. 1914⁠–⁠1941)​

Biography

Maud Anna Berry was born in Lockhart, Texas on October 7, 1868.[1][2] She was the daughter of Hugh and Anna Berry.[3] She attended Tillotson College and then went on to Guadalupe College.[4] Berry went on to teach for some time in Seguin, Texas.[5] She later taught in Austin, Texas and in other Texas cities.[3][2]

Before 1913, Berry used the married name Mrs. M. A. B. Smith. At this time, she was the corresponding secretary of the Women's Auxiliary, General Baptist State Convention of Texas and ran the Missionary Training School of Guadalupe.[6]

Smith married William Handy Fuller in 1914, taking his last name. They were together until his death in 1941.[2][7] Later, in 1932, they would purchase and run the N.W. Rhambo Funeral Parlor and a funeral home.[2] The Fullers were known for taking in orphans and providing education for young people and educated them both at her home and abroad.[8] Margaret Taylor Simms, was orphaned at 13 and came to live with Fuller.[9] Simms would go on to work at Fisk as a dean.[9][10] Maude Fuller George of Liberia graduated from the Florida Normal and Industrial Institute in 1943.[11]

She became the secretary to the Woman's Auxiliary of the National Baptist Convention in 1916 and then became president in 1928.[1] She wrote literature for missionaries, including Guides for Home and Foreign Missionary Societies.[12][4] She also founded and edited the national newspaper, the Woman's Helper.[2]

Fuller raised the money to build a mission in Liberia in 1944.[13] She went on several missions to Africa, including the one that secured the land for the permanent mission in Liberia.[2] She also gave speeches and spoke about her missionary work around the country.[14][15][16][17][18][19]

In 1954, she was given an honorary humanities degree and a doctorate from the Union Baptist Theological Seminary.[3] Fuller retired as the president of the Woman's Auxiliary of the National Baptist Convention in 1968 and became the president emeritus.[20]

Fuller died on January 26, 1972, in her home in Lockhart.[2][8] She is buried in Austin in the Evergreen Cemetery.[3] She was fondly called "Mother Fuller" or "Aunt Maude" by people who knew her.[8] The prayer room of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Austin is named after Fuller.[2]

References
  1. Winegarten, Ruthe (1996). Black Texas Women: A Sourcebook. Janet G. Humphrey and Frieda Werden, Consulting Editors. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. p. 249. ISBN 9780292785564.
  2. Craig, Algerene Akins (2010). "Fuller, Maud Anna Berry". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
  3. "Maud Anna Berry Smith Fuller - Austin - TX - US". Historical Marker Project. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
  4. "First Ladies of Colored America - No. 12". The Crisis. 50 (9): 272. September 1943 – via Google Books.
  5. Glasrud, Bruce A. (2008). "Time of Transition: Black Women in Early Twentieth-Century Texas, 1900-1930". In Glasrud, Bruce A.; Pitre, Merline (eds.). Black Women in Texas History. College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University Press. pp. 108–109. ISBN 9781603444095.
  6. Bacote, Samuel William (1913). Who's who among the colored Baptists of the United States: volume I. Kansas City, Mo.: Franklin Hudson Pub. Co. pp. 80–81.
  7. Smith, A. Arro. "Fuller Funeral Home". The Business of Burying the Dead in Early East Austin: Black-owned Mortuaries. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  8. Thomas, Willa (February 12, 1972). "Church Events". Indianapolis Recorder. Retrieved February 22, 2018 – via Hoosier State Chronicles.
  9. Malone, Sheterric; Beasley, Marsha (1993). "Margaret Simms Collection Papers, 1950-1974" (PDF). Fisk University. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
  10. Major, Gerri (March 3, 1960). "Society". Jet. 17 (19): 38 – via Google Books.
  11. "Liberian Graduate". The Crisis. 50 (8): 254. August 1943 – via Google Books.
  12. Library of Congress Copyright Office (1921). Catalogue of Copyright Entries. Vol. 18. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. p. 51.
  13. Winegarten, Ruthe; Kahn, Sharon (1997). Brave Black Women: From Slavery to the Space Shuttle. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. p. 44. ISBN 9780292785557.
  14. "Mrs. M.A.B. Fuller is New Light Speaker". San Antonio Register (San Antonio, Tex.). 9 (43): 8. November 24, 1939 – via The Portal to Texas History.
  15. "Noted Baptists". Indianapolis Recorder. October 13, 1951. p. 8. Retrieved February 20, 2018 – via Hoosier State Chronicles.
  16. "Out-Of-State Leaders Will Include Texan". Tampa Bay Times. March 14, 1960. p. 20. Retrieved February 21, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. "Baptist Leader to Speak Here". Arizona Republic. August 12, 1939. p. 6. Retrieved February 22, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. "Women Hear President". The Pittsburgh Courier. September 20, 1952. p. 4. Retrieved February 22, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. "Annual Meeting of Woman's Missionary Union, Southern Baptist Convention". Word and Way. May 28, 1942. p. 7. Retrieved February 22, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. "J.C. Sams Is Reelected by Baptists". The Times. September 9, 1968. p. 4. Retrieved February 22, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
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