Remembering Antônia Teixeira marks an abrupt, and welcome, departure from traditional Baptist institutional history in several ways. First, many Southern Baptist mission histories fall into the category of hagiography, presenting Baptist missionaries and their work in a positive light to promote the missionary enterprise. Parsons and Chaves recount a dark chapter in mission history. The work narrates the events surrounding the brutal rape of a young Brazilian girl, Antônia Teixeira, at the home of Baylor University president Rufus Burleson in 1894. Southern Baptist missionaries from Brazil had entrusted Teixeira to the care of the Burlesons, who promised to provide her with a college education in exchange for domestic work. Remarkably, Antônia, a vulnerable young teenager, alone in a foreign country, did not remain silent. She accused a prominent Waco citizen, Steen Morris, of the rape. After Morris’ arrest, Burleson and other powerful Baptist leaders in Waco launched a vicious verbal assault against Teixeira in open court and the press. Burleson published a pamphlet defending himself, Morris, and Baylor by using blatant sexist, racist, and xenophobic tropes to slander Teixeira as lustful, indolent, and dishonest. W. C. Brann, a journalist in Waco, seeing an opportunity to challenge Baylor and sell papers, championed Teixeira in the press, leaving a public record of her defense. Ultimately, the pressure became so intense that she dropped her case against Morris. Antônia moved to Memphis under somewhat suspicious circumstances and then disappeared from history. Parsons and Chaves restore Teixeira to the historical narrative with unflinching candor and remarkable compassion. The events are sobering and difficult to read. This is precisely why they argue her story must be preserved. With this work, Parsons and Chaves challenge the pattern of erasing vulnerable people to preserve the “goodness” of an institution (143).

Remembering Antônia Teixeira marks a second departure from the status quo in its postcolonial critique of the Southern Baptist missionary enterprise. Baptists are just beginning to acknowledge and explore the legacies of racism and sexism in their own backyard, much less the impact of colonialism on their mission activities overseas. The Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board chose Brazil as a mission field in 1859 not only because of its proximity, but also because they appreciated Brazil’s status as a slaveholding society (15). Southerners found Brazilian culture hospitable to White supremacy. Remembering Antônia Teixeira corrects narratives about the Baptist mission in Brazil commonly reported in Southern Baptist missionary correspondence and magazines. Even before Antônia made her fateful journey to Baylor, Southern Baptist missionaries in Brazil bent the narrative of her father, Antônio Teixeira de Albuquerque, to benefit their missionary message. Drawing upon sources from archives such as the Arquivos Públicos de Maceió, Livraria da Pontifica Universidade Católica de Pernambuco, Livraria da Universidade Católica de Petropolis, and the Seminário Teológico Batista do Norte do Brasil, the authors reconstruct the life of Antônio Teixeira. Antônio was a prominent, well-educated, ex-priest whose scandals in Brazil made the national press. Chaves mined sources documenting Teixeira’s education, ministry, and ultimate fall from grace in the Roman Catholic Church in Brazil. These sources were compared to correspondence of American missionaries and mission publications that offer a one-dimensional portrait of Antônio as a successful convert to the Baptist tradition while ignoring his scandalous past and minimizing his superior theological education. The xenophobic and racist treatment of Antônio Teixeira demonstrates the prevalent attitude of the missionaries toward the people of Brazil which is thoroughly documented in the correspondence.

Third, Baptist historiography produced in the UK and the US is largely monolingual. Parsons and Chaves have produced a remarkable model for transnational history, drawing upon primary sources from archives in both Brazil and the United States. Chaves wrote the first half of the book, which focuses on Brazil and Parsons prepared the American section. The writing styles are noticeably different, but this is to be expected in a collaborative work. The authors suggest that this work represents the tip of the iceberg for research in the Brazil mission alone. Since 1845, Southern Baptists have established missions in 185 different countries around the globe, thus, the opportunities for serious transnational research are legion.

Fourth, Parsons and Chaves endeavored to challenge the practice of weaponized silence in religious institutions. The stated purpose of the book is to deconstruct the myths that were deliberately woven to protect and preserve power. “The case of Antonia Teixeira’s rape at Baylor University is important in and of itself, but also because it enables us to explore ways in which power was used by key players in major religious institutions to reconstruct memories and suppress inconvenient truths” (2). The monograph succeeds admirably in its stated purpose.