Experience Fitz-Randolph

Experience "Perie" Fitz-Randolph was the eldest of eleven children. After completing grade school, she taught in the settlements surrounding Ritchie County, West Virginia, where she had grown up. After studying at Alfred University from 1874 to 1879, she returned to her home and continued teaching. She even instructed her own siblings during her career.

When Perie was about thirty years old, she decided to begin preaching and learning ministry. The Seventh Day Baptist community, which had been an integral and essential aspect of her upbringing, was increasingly important to her. There were no women preachers during the time, and though her course was pockmarked with resistance, her family supported her ambitions.

She returned to Alfred. In 1885, she was ordained the first woman Seventh Day Baptist minister.

Pursuing her calling, Perie traveled across America to serve in SDB communities. Her choice to become a minister has since been documented in various studies and books. By bending the boundaries established for women during her lifetime, Perie has been memorialized as a pioneer for women in religious positions.