During the antebellum period in America, Black women preachers had to navigate limitations imposed on them based on their gender and race as they responded to God’s call on their lives. Despite being certain about their calls to preach, they were silenced by the male religious leaders of their time, and they were often further dissuaded by members of their families and communities. Most Christian denominations prohibited women from holding official roles as preachers, or even preaching inside churches in an unofficial capacity, and the idea was deemed unseemly by entire communities; thus, these women had to forge their own paths to follow God’s call to preach. Several Black women preachers during this period authored autobiographies through which they not only provided Christian witness to their experiences and faith, but also claimed and proclaimed their spiritual authority to preach. These women did not wait for permission to tell their stories, they seized the power to do so on their own. Autobiographies by women in any context were rare at that time and the expectation for women to observe proper decorum was so prevalent that having the audacity to publish their stories was a definitive step into what had traditionally been male territory. Particularly in the Christian church, women were expected to be proper and controlled so presenting oneself in the public eye with a message of Christianity challenged the male dominance present in the church; even the act of ensuring their stories were recorded was itself a demonstration of defiance and agency.I examine the autobiographies of two such women, Harriet A. Baker and Julia A. J. Foote, to identify similarities and differences between their experiences, attitudes, and actions, and to investigate the roles their autobiographies played in their claims of spiritual authority. The primary questions shaping my argument are: How did Harriet Baker and Julia Foote, through their autobiographies, challenge gender roles and establish religious authority to preach? What do their life stories reveal about race and gender oppression within religious communities? I show that the creation of their autobiographies was an integral part of their lives and ministries; the autobiographies both told of their experiences and served to stake their claim of authority to preach. Baker and Foote demonstrated courage and conviction by being among the earliest women of color to take this bold step.