The Memoirs of Old Elizabeth presents a rare and important slave narrative in which the stories of African American women intersect with the experiences of African Americans in roles of religious leadership. Elizabeth broke many of the conventions of society at the time by preaching and holding religious meetings despite being a woman. Her religious work received negative reactions from the Church and many others who did not accept the idea of ​​a woman leading religious services, but she continued to practice until her health don't allow it anymore. This is unusual because most of the narrative is devoted to the period after her freedom rather than focusing on the time she was enslaved as many slave narratives do. Although Elizabeth lived under slavery, there is evidence in her memoirs that suggests that she had at least some level of agency and was able to exercise that agency relatively freely, but not without consequences. At one point in her youth, Elizabeth was able to leave the plantation she lived on without her master being denied permission to see her mother. This shows that although she was definitely bound to her master's will and although she was harshly punished for disobeying the overseer, there was nothing physically stopping her from leaving the plantation if she truly wanted to. She was able to stay with her mother for several days before returning to her mother's plantation and then being sent back to her own plantation. Upon her arrival, she was severely punished by whipping, and she was able to spend at least part of her time doing what she wanted, as shown by her ability to go to the haystacks and pray. The level of agency she exercised during her gender, while paying less attention to how her race affected the way she lived her life. The Memoirs of Old Elizabeth is an important historical document because it both presents the history of slave women and provides many insights into how religion influenced the lives of slaves and how it played a part in their lives daily. This intersection of religion and gender shows the additional difficulties women faced compared to their male counterparts. Elizabeth's narrative is typical because it emphasizes her gender rather than her race, which directly conflicts with the typical slave narrative which focuses primarily on how race influences the lives of the author or subject of the story. Elizabeth, Memoirs of Old Elizabeth: A Colored Woman. (Philadelphia: Collins Printer, 1863) 4.