Uldine Utley

Uldine Mabelle Utley (March 16, 1912 – October 31, 1995) was an American Pentecostal child preacher.[1]

Uldine Utley
A white girl wearing a knee-length dress, holding a book, standing with an arm raised and a finger pointed
Uldine Utley, from a 1924 publication
Born(1912-03-16)March 16, 1912
Durant, Oklahoma
DiedOctober 31, 1995(1995-10-31) (aged 83)
San Bernardino, California
Other namesUldine Langkop

Early life

Utley was born in Durant, Oklahoma,[2] the daughter of Azle Herbert Utley and Hattie Ellen Bray Utley.[3] Her father was an electrician, and a farmer and postmaster while the family lived in Colorado.[4][5]

Preaching career

Utley had a conversion experience in 1921, inspired by the preaching of Aimee Semple McPherson while she was living in Fresno, California.[6] Within two years Utley was preaching across the United States,[7] and at the age of fourteen she preached to a crowd of 14,000 people at Madison Square Garden.[8][9] During Utley's appearances at the Chicago World's Fair in 1933,[10] during a heatwave, her program was promoted as having "cooled air" and comfortable seats.[11]

In 1935, she was ordained by the Methodist Episcopal Church.[12] Utley was called "the Joan of Arc of the modern religious world".[13] She was also called a "second Billy Sunday"[14] and, as a young woman, "the ingenue of evangelism"[10] and "the Garbo of the pulpit".[15]

Later life

She married salesman Wilbur Eugene Langkop in 1938,[13][16][17] but was committed to a mental hospital shortly after her marriage, and eventually divorced. (He remarried in 1945.) Utley spent the rest of her life in and out of mental institutions.[5] She died in 1995, at the age of 83, in San Bernardino, California. A biography of Utley was published in 2016.[1][18]

References
  1. Robinson, Thomas A. (2016). Preacher Girl: Uldine Utley and the Industry of Revival. Baylor University Press.
  2. Blumhofer, Edith Waldvogel (1993). Aimee Semple McPherson: Everybody's Sister. Eerdmans. p. 182. ISBN 9780802801555. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  3. "Hattie Utley, 86, is Dead". San Bernardino Sun. January 9, 1970. p. 18. Retrieved January 7, 2023 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  4. Father's occupation as listed in 1910 and 1920 United States census returns, via Ancestry
  5. Mez, Kristin Kobes Du (2005). "The Beauty of the Lilies: Femininity, Innocence, and the Sweet Gospel of Uldine Utley". Religion and American Culture. 15 (2): 209–243. doi:10.1525/rac.2005.15.2.209. ISSN 1052-1151. S2CID 233338206.
  6. "Girl Evangelist Prefers Pulpit To Theatrical or Screen Career". Calexico Chronicle. August 2, 1926. p. 3. Retrieved January 7, 2023 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  7. "Child Exhorter Stirs the Multitudes". Midweek Pictorial. 18 (23): 23. 1924-01-31 – via Internet Archive.
  8. Robinson, Thomas A.; Ruff, Lanette D. (2011). Out of the Mouths of Babes: Girl Evangelists in the Flapper Era. Oxford University Press. p. 72. ISBN 9780199790876. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  9. Lavigne, T. J. (2006). Uldine Utley: Why I am a Preacher. Cloud of Witnesses Publishing. p. 4. Ever since the very first services conducted by the young evangelist, the people have kept asking her, 'Why are you a preacher?' desiring to hear the whole story. No service was devoted to telling it, however until Oct. 31, 1926, when in Madison Square Garden, New York City, following four weeks of meetings held in Calvary Baptist Church...14,000 attended.
  10. Black, Ray (March 1, 1933). "Chicago Methodists Fight Over Plan for World Fair Revival by Uldine Utley". Indianapolis Times. p. 1. Retrieved January 7, 2023 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  11. "Uldine Utley Reaches New Heights in Revival Series". Southtown Economist. August 9, 1934. p. 20. Retrieved January 7, 2023 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  12. "Religion: Reverend Miss". Time. 30 December 1935. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  13. "Private Lives". Life. 10 January 1938. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  14. "Girl Second Billy Sunday". Madera Tribune. January 11, 1924. p. 1. Retrieved January 7, 2023 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  15. "Child Evangelist Has Become Well Known Nationally". Santa Cruz Sentinel. January 13, 1936. p. 3. Retrieved January 7, 2023 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  16. "Uldine Utley Marries in New York City". Santa Cruz Sentinel. January 5, 1938. p. 3. Retrieved January 7, 2023 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  17. "Uldine Utley a Bride; She Then Assists at Her Sister's Wedding Ceremony". The New York Times. 1938-01-01. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-01-07.
  18. Maree, M. (2018-12-12). "Review of Preacher Girl". Acta Theologica. 38 (2): 184–186. doi:10.18820/23099089/actat.v38i2.13. ISSN 2309-9089. S2CID 149742485.
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