Lange, Laura J. Vance
(born: 1879 - died: 1948)Reverend Laura J. Vance Lange was the first African American woman ordained an elder in the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Born in St. Matthews, KY, she attended grade school in Jefferson County followed by three years at a private school. She was a graduate of Garrett Biblical Institute [now Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary] and was ordained a deacon in 1926 by Bishop Theodore Henderson in Cincinnati, OH, and ordained an elder by Bishop M. W. Clair in 1936.
Rev. Lange was a pastor at various churches in Kentucky, including churches in the towns of Eddyville, Smithland, and Harned.
Her death certificate gives the following information: she was the widow of Clarance Lange, daughter of Mary Humble and Alford Vance.
Reverend Lange was a diabetic, and she died at the Red Cross Hospital in Louisville. For more information and Lang's picture see History of Lexington Conference, by Dr. D. E. Skelton.