Illustration study of a rose-filled vase for a poem by Mary Baker Eddy

After a series of tragic deaths in her family, Oakley abandoned all hope in medicine. Although she still attended Episcopal services with her mother, like thousands of women at the turn of the century, she was attracted to Christian Science, a new religion founded by Mary Baker Eddy. Eddy professed belief in a “father-mother” Creator, valued the “divine mind” over medical intervention, and proclaimed that death was impossible for a creature with an immortal soul._x000D__x000D_In 1903, Oakley officially joined the Church of Christ, Scientist. She was instrumental in building the first two Christian Science churches in Philadelphia: the First Church of Christ, Scientist at 40th and Walnut Streets (now the Rotunda) and the Second Church of Christ, Scientist, at 5443 Greene Street (now part of Germantown Friends School). _x000D__x000D_Oakley designed a cover for Eddy’s book of poems and illuminated her hymn “Christ My Refuge,” published in 1939._x000D_