Abstract
Jarena Lee was the fi rst woman preacher in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church. She joined the antislavery movement and had her autobiography printed, fi rst in 1836 and then again in 1849. Despite these signifi cant contributions, she faded from the historical record. This essay synthesizes disparate and in cases contradictory archival, published, and digital sources to uncover her place and date of death. This project thus adds new biographical information about Lee, and it also refl ects on methodological issues posed by research in early African American women’s history.