September 11

Annie Cooke, Subramanya Bharathi, and the National Day of Service

Author

David Barnhart
September 11, 2025

Meadow, Gurley, Alabama, 2023. Own photo.

Today marks the death, in 1878, of Annie Cook, who, like Constance and Her Companions, stayed in Memphis to take care of those with yellow fever and died from the disease. Like Lou Wooster of Birmingham, who famously stayed to take care of people during the cholera epidemic in 1873 (but survived), she was a Madam of a local brothel. Their witness highlights Jesus’s saying to his religious leaders: “Prostitutes and tax collectors will go into the Kingdom of God before you” (Matthew 21-32). 

Today also marks the death, in 1921, of Subramanya Bharathi, a Tamil poet who was also an activist for Indian independence and against the caste system. 

Today is a National Day of Service in the United States as a way of memorializing and honoring the victims of the September 11 attacks in 2001. 

Reflection: 

A newspaper article referenced the sacrifice of Annie Cook:

“An act so generous, so benevolent, so utterly unselfish should not be passed over without notice. History may not record this good deed, for the good deeds of women seldom live after them, but every heart in the whole country responds with affectionate gratitude to this noble example you have set for Christian men and women.”

Subramanya Bharathi wrote: 

“We shall not look at caste or religion. All human beings in this land — whether they be those who preach the vedas or who belong to other castes — are one.”

Prayer: God, help us follow the example of Subramanya Barathi, Annie Cooke and Lou Wooster, refusing to let our own social status, or the status or caste of others, stand in the way of the opportunity for compassionate service that is right in front of us. Amen.