I Was Under a Heavy Burden

A compelling biography of an African American women who, despite the challenges of both race and gender, made her mark as an educator, leader, and historian.


Despite the heavily-weighted burden of societal biases, Annie C. Tuggle emerged in her community as a well-educated leader. While maintaining her convictions aligned with the southern Churches of Christ, Tuggle became a published author in religious journals, an evangelizer and organizer of an all-women’s church, and a chronicler of African American Churches of Christ.  


Tuggle certainly experienced first-hand the culturally imposed twin onuses, yet her story stands apart largely because of particular perspectives and interests in the religious movement happening in the Churches of Christ.  Tuggle lends a unique voice to the conversation in the United States, adding richness and complexity to our picture of black Christian women of the time. She symbolizes the countless ordinary African American women who labored to help their people find their way within a distinctive religious construct situated in a society with highly undesirable iron mandates.