Co-founder of Bethlehem Centers of Nashville
More than 100 years ago, Estelle Haskins, a white missionary with the Methodist Training School in Nashville, and Sallie Sawyer, an African American graduate of Fisk University, teacher and member of Capers Memorial Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, merged their services to start a kindergarten, well-baby clinic, sewing circle and recreation programs.
These two women broke racial and gender barriers of their time to form a ministry to serve those in need. Today, Bethlehem Centers of Nashville is a United Methodist Women-related national mission institution with a ministry that’s still “changing lives and building futures” by helping inner-city working families.
