This dissertation is a history of Black African women’s church associations (manyanos) in the South African city of East London during segregation and apartheid. Since the early twentieth century, manyanos have been the largest formal women’s organizations in South Africa. This dissertation examines manyanos in the context of urban history, and asks: how did manyanos shape urban culture between the 1930s and 1990s, a period of rapid urbanization, violent enforcement of racial segregation, and urban protest that ultimately contributed to the fall of apartheid? To answer this question, this dissertation draws on 45 oral history interviews with manyano members from 10 different denominations; church and government archives; newspapers; photographs; and the untapped written records of one local manyano branch. My analysis focuses on the industrial port city of East London and its nearby township, Mdantsane, which by the late twentieth century was South Africa’s second largest township and the urban center of the Ciskei Bantustan, one of apartheid’s nominally independent ethno-states. My analysis makes use of the concept of “public motherhood” developed by scholars of women and gender in Africa, arguing that manyano women debated and practiced changing definitions of Christian public motherhood over time. Their histories show how gendered religious culture has influenced, and been influenced by, the changing landscape of a segregated city. This dissertation argues that these carefully sustained networks fostered urban cultures of sociability between religious groups and across generational and geographical divides. As changes in the regime of urban segregation threatened the security of individual homes, manyanos channelled their members’ home-making duties toward the construction of church buildings, which marked their right to the city. The history of manyanos also highlights new histories of mobility—both physical and social—across an urban landscape specifically designed to limit Black women’s movement. This dissertation’s attention to manyanos from multiple denominations reveals a history of women’s ecumenism that contributes to South African and African histories of Christianity. The focus of this dissertation on Mdantsane also contributes to growing scholarship on Bantustan social history, showing how ordinary people navigated illegitimate but powerful systems. Ultimately, this dissertation demonstrates the value of incorporating religious history into South African social history.
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