When Annie Armstrong and other women within the Southern Baptist denomination wanted to support mission work from a church-wide perspective, the Southern Baptist Convention leaders sent delegates from participating states to organize this group. These delegates first met on May 14, 1888, in Richmond, Virginia, and they formed what is now the Women’s Missionary Union. Armstrong was elected as the first corresponding secretary, and she worked tirelessly to support the organization. It is estimated that in 1893 alone, she wrote upwards of 20,000 letters. The SBC honored her in 1934 by naming its Easter missions offering after her.
