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Politics Foreign Affairs Culture Fellows Program

The Mysterious Woman In Black

Ivan Plis says this story has me all over it, and he’s right: She moves silently and quickly through the countryside, clad all in black—but she’s no ghost or figure from a dark folktale. Shrouded heavily in all-black clothing, a woman alleged to be an Army veteran and a bereaved mother of two has been […]

Ivan Plis says this story has me all over it, and he’s right:

She moves silently and quickly through the countryside, clad all in black—but she’s no ghost or figure from a dark folktale.

Shrouded heavily in all-black clothing, a woman alleged to be an Army veteran and a bereaved mother of two has been steadily making her way north through the Appalachian U.S., drawing interest from locals and Internet onlookers all over the country.

Traveling mostly along rural highways and small towns, the#womaninblack, as she has quietly become known on the Internet over the last two months, doesn’t do a lot of talking. Sometimes she’ll accept help from strangers, but never rides. Most of the time she simply walks on.

The Woman In Black is named Elizabeth Poles, and has ended her journey in Winchester, Virginia. According to USA Today, her brother says she is a US Army veteran and a widow. She has been receiving treatment for mental illness since her husband died in 2008 and her father in 2009.

If you click on the story I first linked to, you’ll see that this mysterious pilgrim became a quasi-religious figure to many people who have seen her, or who have been following her. For example:

But whatever the reason for her strange journey, and however many gawkers there are along the way, it seems the woman in black has had plenty of help as she has walked through the rural Southern U.S. Many people have referenced Hebrews 13:2 regarding their treatment of the woman—”Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”

What’s more interesting to me than the fact of the Woman in Black is what feelings and thoughts her presence among us provokes. People are looking for a sign.  They see a woman who appears to be mad, but wonder if the black-clad pilgrim is some sort of angel, or a holy fool.

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