Alma White

Born in Kentucky in 1862 as Alma Bridwell, she later became widely known as Alma White. She was a founder of the Pillar of Fire church and is often noted as the first woman to serve as a bishop in the United States. Alongside her ministry, she wrote extensively, including sermons, religious works, and autobiography.

Her career was closely tied to publishing. She helped build a movement that used magazines, books, and public preaching to reach a wide audience, and her writing gives a vivid picture of her religious convictions and ambitions.

White remains a complicated historical figure. While she broke ground as a woman religious leader, she is also remembered for openly supporting the Ku Klux Klan and promoting racist and anti-Catholic views. Because of that, she is studied both for her place in American religious history and for the harm carried by some of the ideas she championed.