Publications
The Worthy Virgins: Mary Purnell and her City of David
By Julieanna Frost
January 1, 2014
Tags American Communal Societies Series
American Communal Societies Series, no. 9. 161 pages, with 19 b/w illustrations, 2014.
ISBN: 978-1-937370-14-5 ($15)
The first biography of Mary Purnell who along with her husband Benjamin, led the Israelite House of David in Benton Harbor, Michigan. Mary later formed her own community, Mary’s City of David. Both communities are functioning today. The communities are best known for their bearded baseball teams, but, as Frost’s book shows, they were only a small part of the story.