Meet the Reverend Mother Ruth, a Black Protestant nun whose call to ministry
would challenge and change the Episcopal Church
The Strain of Other Blood tells the true story of a trailblazing Black Protestant nun. Born
in Harlem in 1897, Ruth Elaine Younger sought to break away from her impoverished
and turbulent family life and join an American Episcopal order. She was denied
admission because of racial discrimination in the Episcopal Church, so she moved to
Toronto and became a nun in the Anglican Church of Canada. But she never gave up
her dream of living out her vocation in America, and her persistence eventually opened
a path back to New York City, where she founded an Episcopal order for women and a
private K–8 school in 1950 that is still flourishing today.
Mother Ruth was a fascinating figure with a complex relationship to racial identity: on the
one hand, she advocated passionately for multicultural faith and learning communities,
while on the other hand, she sometimes passed as white when doing so enabled her to
achieve her goals more effectively. She was also a controversial leader who
maneuvered around the rules of the institutional church to achieve the goals to which
she felt God was calling her. With compelling and candid storytelling, The Strain of Other
Blood introduces readers to an unexpected civil rights advocate who was ahead of her
time both in the church and in society.
Patricia Allen is a graduate of Ohio Universitys Scripps School of Journalism. She has worked in communications and media relations at a variety of institutions, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, New York University, and Princeton University.
"Full of secrets and scandals, the story of Reverend Mother Ruth is a compelling read through the complexity, rigidness, and fluidity of race in New York City in the twentieth century. A new perspective on Harlem and its strivers and the vision of one woman for the church."
--Winnie Varghese, dean of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine
"The Strain of Other Blood is a must-read book. Patricia Allen uses her love for storytelling, along with her research and her experience living among Episcopal sisters, to tell the story of Reverend Mother Ruth--a person of color who was persistent and did not take no for an answer. Allens book will also shed new light on the Episcopal Churchs religious orders and communities, which are hidden treasures that deserve to be more widely known."
--Promise Atelon, Episcopal priest and sister in the Society of St. Margaret
"Writing with compassion and insight, Patricia Allen takes readers on a journey of one womans dedication and faith through trying times."
--Rick Hamlin, author of Everlasting Jesus: 40 Days of Timeless Wisdom in Modern Living
"The Strain of Other Bloodchronicles portions of the life and work of Reverend Mother Ruth, who lived in the turbulence of being an African American woman who could pass for white and who learned to navigate that turbulence in ways that benefited her people. The courage, ingenuity, and pragmatism she exhibited in her lifetime can be instructive to us all as we navigate the challenges before us in our turbulent times. Patricia Allen gives us a valuable gift by bringing this amazing story to us now."
--Catherine Meeks, author of A Quilted Life: Reflections of a Sharecroppers Daughter
