This panel features new historiographical reflections and challenges to the legend of Ellen White within the broader context of American religious women leaders. The obscurity of works about her life in the wider scholarly academy has left a lacuna filled by these three papers that contextualize her life and writings.
This paper compares Ellen G. White’s claim to divine inspiration with prevalent perceptions of her claim among her adherents and detractors, as well as nineteenth-century views of divine inspiration that oscillated between the Holy Spirit’s strict dominance and a subjective heightening of the intellect.
This paper examines the translation of three major women in religious leadership. Case studies include Mary Baker Eddy, Catherine Booth, and Ellen White, and how in each instance the translation of their writings has contributed to their lasting influence and curated into legend.
Comparing the historiographical attention afforded to Seventh-day Adventism's prophet-- Ellen White--to that directed toward her contemporaries, this paper reflects on the intellectual and cultural currents that draw scholarship toward some historical objects over others, examining the causes and consequences of the relative silence surrounding White.