Susan "Sue" Harper Mims (b. Harper) (1842-1913) was born in Brandon, Mississippi, and died in Brookline, Massachusetts. As a young girl she was very religious, and she united with the Episcopal Church at an early age. Her father was a prominent lawyer, and the family enjoyed a lifestyle typical for the well-off in the antebellum South, filled with rounds of social events. She attended Trinity School for Girls in Pass Christian, Mississippi, and traveled and studied in Europe. In 1866 she married Livingston Mims (1833-1906), a prominent businessman and American Civil War veteran who had fought for the Confederacy and would later become the mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, in 1901. The Mimses moved their home to Atlanta in 1879, where they became well known in social, public, and civic life. Mims' husband was the president of the city's Capitol City Club and entertained guests such as United States President Grover Cleveland. Mims was the first president of Home for the Friendless, an Atlanta charity for youth, and one of the founders of the city's Shakespeare Club.
In 1886 Mims attended a talk on Christian Science given by one of Mary Baker Eddy's students, Julia S. Bartlett. Mims began studying Eddy's Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, and was healed by Bartlett using Christian Science treatment through prayer. She then devoted her life to Christian Science and studied it with another one of Eddy's students, Augusta E. Stetson. Mims joined The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, on July 1, 1893 and was mainly responsible for organizing and establishing Christian Science in Atlanta. A small group began holding Christian Science services in Mims' home until she helped found First Church of Christ, Scientist, Atlanta, Georgia; the church was dedicated in 1899 and Mims served as First Reader. Mims was invited by Eddy to attend her last Normal class, which she completed, in November 1898. That same year, she and Annie M. Knott, another one of Eddy's students, were appointed to The Christian Science Board of Lectureship, the first women to serve in this capacity. Mims lectured in this role for over a decade, until 1911, and was the first Christian Science lecturer to deliver a lecture in the southern United States. She contributed many articles to The Christian Science Journal and the Christian Science Sentinel, and she answered attacks and cleared up misunderstandings about Christian Science in the columns of local Atlanta newspapers. Mims was listed in the directory of The Christian Science Journal as a Christian Science teacher and practitioner in Atlanta from 1891 until her death.
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Susan "Sue" Harper Mims (b. Harper) (1842-1913) was born in Brandon, Mississippi, and died in Brookline, Massachusetts. As a young girl she was very religious, and she united with the Episcopal Church at an early age. Her father was a prominent lawyer, and the family enjoyed a lifestyle typical for the well-off in the antebellum South, filled with rounds of social events. She attended Trinity School for Girls in Pass Christian, Mississippi, and traveled and studied in Europe. In 1866 she married Livingston Mims (1833-1906), a prominent businessman and American Civil War veteran who had fought for the Confederacy and would later become the mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, in 1901. The Mimses moved their home to Atlanta in 1879, where they became well known in social, public, and civic life. Mims' husband was the president of the city's Capitol City Club and entertained guests such as United States President Grover Cleveland. Mims was the first president of Home for the Friendless, an Atlanta charity for youth, and one of the founders of the city's Shakespeare Club.
In 1886 Mims attended a talk on Christian Science given by one of Mary Baker Eddy's students, Julia S. Bartlett. Mims began studying Eddy's Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, and was healed by Bartlett using Christian Science treatment through prayer. She then devoted her life to Christian Science and studied it with another one of Eddy's students, Augusta E. Stetson. Mims joined The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, on July 1, 1893 and was mainly responsible for organizing and establishing Christian Science in Atlanta. A small group began holding Christian Science services in Mims' home until she helped found First Church of Christ, Scientist, Atlanta, Georgia; the church was dedicated in 1899 and Mims served as First Reader. Mims was invited by Eddy to attend her last Normal class, which she completed, in November 1898. That same year, she and Annie M. Knott, another one of Eddy's students, were appointed to The Christian Science Board of Lectureship, the first women to serve in this capacity. Mims lectured in this role for over a decade, until 1911, and was the first Christian Science lecturer to deliver a lecture in the southern United States. She contributed many articles to The Christian Science Journal and the Christian Science Sentinel, and she answered attacks and cleared up misunderstandings about Christian Science in the columns of local Atlanta newspapers. Mims was listed in the directory of The Christian Science Journal as a Christian Science teacher and practitioner in Atlanta from 1891 until her death.
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