Fanny Crosby

Who was Fanny Crosby?

Frances Jane van Alstyne née Crosby, more commonly known as Fanny Crosby, was an American mission worker, poet, lyricist, and composer. A lifelong Methodist, she was one of the most prolific hymnists in history, writing over 8,000 hymns and gospel songs, with over 100 million copies printed. This is despite her being blind from shortly after birth. Crosby is also known for her preaching, teaching, and her rescue mission work. By the end of the 19th century, she was "a household name".

Known as the "Queen of Gospel Song Writers", and as the "Mother of modern congregational singing in America", with most American hymnals containing her work, as "with the possible exception of Isaac Watts and Charles Wesley, Crosby has generally been represented by the largest number of hymns of any writer of the twentieth century in nonliturgical hymnals". Her gospel songs were "paradigmatic of all revival music", and Ira Sankey attributed the success of the Moody and Sankey evangelical campaigns largely to Crosby's hymns. Some of Crosby's best-known songs include "Blessed Assurance", "Pass Me Not, O Gentle Saviour", "Jesus Is Tenderly Calling You Home", "Praise Him, Praise Him", "Rescue the Perishing", and "To God Be the Glory". Because some publishers were hesitant to have so many hymns by one person in their hymnals, Crosby used nearly 200 different pseudonyms during her career.