Leontine T. Kelly

Leontine Turpeau Current Kelly (March 5, 1920 – June 28, 2012) was an American bishop of the United Methodist Church. She was the second woman elevated to the position of bishop within the United Methodist Church, and the first African American woman.

Early life and personal life Leontine Turpeau was born in Georgetown, Washington, D.C., on March 5, 1920. The Turpeau family then moved to Cincinnati when Leontine was a young girl. In 1956, Turpeau married James David Kelly, a United Methodist minister.

Education Kelly earned a B.A. degree from Virginia Union University (1960) and completed graduate work in economics, history and humanities at North Texas State University, the University of Cincinnati, and the College of William and Mary. She served as a public school teacher in Richmond and Northumberland County, Virginia, for eight years. She was only the second woman, and the first African American woman, to become a bishop in any major Christian denomination in the world. She was assigned to the San Francisco Episcopal Area, where she served until her retirement in 1988.

Awards and honors In 2000, Kelly was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. She was the 2002 recipient of the Thomas Merton Award.

Kelly held honorary doctorates from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary (1984), DePauw University (1989), Christian Theological Seminary (1989), Virginia Union University (1989), Nebraska Wesleyan University (also 1989), Bennett College (1991), Willamette University (1990) and Dillard University (1992).

In 2021, a stained glass window depicting Kelly was added to the Cathedral of the Rockies in Boise, Idaho. It replaced a window that depicted Robert E. Lee, Abraham Lincoln, and George Washington.