Gertrude Williams grew up on her family’s farm in Alabama, in the heart of segregated America. She left school early to help her parents and moved at 18 to Columbus, Georgia, where she became active in the local Baptist church and married Will Morgan in 1928.
Beginning in 1934, she reported a series of divine revelations that led her to leave her husband and devote herself to evangelization. A follower of the Holiness and Sanctified Movement — an African American spirituality emphasizing music, singing, and dance — she moved to New Orleans, where she helped establish a mission and an orphanage.
In 1956, a new revelation commanded her to paint, and art became her means of preaching the divine word. Calling herself “Sister Gertrude,” she described herself as a spiritual nurse serving “Doctor Jesus.” The following year she declared herself the “Bride of Christ,” dressed only in white, and founded the Everlasting Gospel Mission. Visions of the New Jerusalem became central to her work.
In 1974, she stopped painting following another divine injunction.
Sister Gertrude MORGAN (Gertrude MORGAN, born WILLIAMS, known as)
