Alma Bridwell White

Infobox Person
name = Alma Bridwell White

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image_size = 250px
caption = White circa 1900-1910
birth_name = Mollie Alma Bridwell
birth_date = birth date|1862|6|16|mf=y
birth_place = Lewis County, Kentucky
death_date = death date and age|1946|6|26|1862|6|16|mf=y
death_place = Zarephath, New Jersey
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residence =
nationality = American
other_names =
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employer =
occupation = Bishop in Pillar of Fire Church
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predecessor =
successor = Arthur Kent White
party =
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religion = Methodist
spouse = Kent White (1860-1940)
partner =
children = Ray Bridwell White
Arthur Kent White
parents = Mary Ann Harrison (1832-1921)
William Moncure Bridwell (1825-1907)
relatives = Arlene White Lawrence, grandaughter


website =
footnotes =

Alma Bridwell White (June 16, 1862 – June 26, 1946) was the founder, and a Bishop, in the Pillar of Fire Church.cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Bishop Alma White, Preacher, Author; Founder Of Pillar Of Fire Dies at 84. Established Several Schools And Colleges. |url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40712FF395C14738DDDAE0A94DE405B8688F1D3 |quote=Bound Brook, New Jersey June 26, 1937 (Associated Press) Bishop Alma White, founder of the Pillar of Fire Church and author of thirty-five religious tracts and some 200 hymns, died here today at the headquarters of the religious group at near-by Zarephath. Her age was 84. |publisher=Associated Press in New York Times |date=June 27, 1946 |accessdate=2007-07-21 ] In 1918, she became the first woman bishop in the United States.

Birth and early years

She was born as Mollie Alma Bridwell on June 16, 1862 in Kinniconick, Lewis County, Kentucky to William Moncure Bridwell (1825-1907) of Virginia; and Mary Ann Harrison (1832-1921) of Kentucky. []

Alma studied at the Millersburg Female College in Millersburg, Kentucky. An aunt invited one of the seven Bridwell sisters to visit Montana Territory, Alma was her last choice. Each of the others was afraid to make the journey, but in 1882, nineteen-year-old Alma took the chance and went to Bannack, Montana. She stayed to teach, first in public school, and later in Salt Lake City's Methodist seminary. In 1887 she married Kent White (1860-1940), who at the time was a Methodist seminarian. They had the following children: Ray Bridwell White; and Arthur Kent White.cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Alma Bridwell White |url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9126064/Alma-Bridwell-White |quote=Née Mollie Alma Bridwell. American religious leader who was a founder and major moving force in the evangelical Methodist Pentecostal Union Church, which split from mainstream Methodism in the early 20th century. Alma Bridwell grew up in a dour family of little means. She studied at the Millersburg (Kentucky) Female College and in 1882 moved ... |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica |date= |accessdate=2007-08-21 ]

Alma and Kent started the Methodist Pentecostal Union Church in Denver, Colorado in December 1901. She led hymns and prayers and at times preached sermons. In 1907 Caroline Garretson, formerly Carolin Van Neste Field, widow of Peter Workman Garretson, donated a farm for a community at Zarephath, New Jersey. In 1918, Alma was consecrated as a bishop by William Godbey. She was now the first woman bishop in the United States.

Ku Klux Klan and white supremacy

Alma was involved with, or at least sympathetic to the Ku Klux Klan as a white supremacist. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Bound Brook Mob Raids Klan Meeting: Thousand Hostile Citizens Surround Church and Lock In 100 Holy Rollers. |url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0C15FF3C5416738DDDAB0894DD405B838EF1D3 |quote=Bound Brook, New Jersey, Wednesday, May 2, 1923, Until the arrival of eight State troopers to reinforce the local police here at 1 o'clock this morning about one hundred members of the Holy Rollers were locked up in their church, the Pillar of Fire, in Main Street, surrounded by a mob of nearly 1,000 hostile citizens, several hundred of whom broke up a meeting held by the Holy Rollers to organize a Klan here last night. |publisher=New York Times |date=May 2, 1923 |accessdate=2007-08-21 ] Jon Blackwell writes: " [In 1924] the small towns around Trenton were more hospitable places for Klan activity. The police chief of Hightstown, New Jersey, Carlton Conover, was a member. So was Bishop Alma White, of the Pillar of Fire Church in Bound Brook." [cite news |last=Blackwell |first=Jon |authorlink= |url=http://www.capitalcentury.com/1924.html |title=Hatred wore a hood in Jersey |accessdate=2008-06-13 |quote= |publisher=Capital Century ]

Alma wrote "The Ku Klux Klan in Prophecy" in 1925, a pro Klan, antisemitic, anti Roman Catholic tract.cite book |last=White |first=Alma |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=The Ku Klux Klan in Prophecy |year=1925 |publisher=Pillar of Fire |quote=The unrepentant Hebrew is everywhere among us today as the strong ally of Roman Catholicism. ... To think of our Hebrew friends with their millions in gold and silver aiding the Pope in his aspirations for world supremacy, is almost beyond the grasp of ... The Jews in New York City openly boast that they have the money and Rome the power, and that if they decide to rule the city and state, ...| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=XeH1wYi_Ke4C&pg=PP1&ots=TeZw5dOLWF&dq |isbn= ] The book cites anti-Catholic and anti-semitic reasons for supporting the Klan as an "instrument in God's hands." In 1926 she wrote "Klansmen: Guardians of Liberty" with an introduction by Arthur H. Bell, the Grand Wizard of the New Jersey Ku Klux Klan.cite book |last=White |first=Alma |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Klansmen: Guardians of Liberty |year=1926 |publisher=Pillar of Fire |quote=I believe in white supremacy. | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=NadkzQt6imAC&pg=PA159&vq |isbn= ]

In 1928 she authored "Heroes of the Fiery Cross". The book contains an introduction by Hiram Wesley Evans, the Imperial Wizard (national leader) of the Ku Klux Klan. She wrote "The Jews are as unrelenting now as they were two thousand years ago." [cite book |last=White |first=Alma |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Heroes of the Fiery Cross|year=1928 |publisher=Pillar of Fire |quote= | url=|isbn= ] The book has a chapter titled "White Supremacy", where she expresses sympathy for former slave owners, in that they were not compensated for their loss of "property" following the American Civil War, she expresses her fear and distress toward racial mixing, and uses biblical citations as divine justification for white supremacy.

In 1943, three years before her death, she republished "Guardians of Liberty" as a three volume set, removing the word Klansmen from the title. Volume two of "Guardians" contains a forward by Bishop Arthur Kent White, Alma's son and successor as General Superintendent of the Pillar of Fire Church.

Rivalry

Time magazine wrote on October 22, 1928:

Aimee Semple McPherson [spoke] ... Worst of all, there came a rival female evangelist from New Jersey, a resolute woman with the mien of an inspired laundress — the Reverend "Bishop" Mrs. Mollie Alma White, founder and primate of the Pillar of Fire Church. Bishop White, who has thousands of disciples ("Holy Jumpers") in the British Isles, clearly regarded Mrs. McPherson as a poacher upon her preserves or worse. Squired by two male Deacons, the Reverend Bishop sat herself down in a box at Albert Hall, with an air of purposing to break up the revival. The dread potency of Bishop White, when aroused against another female, may be judged from her scathing criticisms of the Church of Mary Baker Eddy: "The teachings of the so-called Christian Science Church ... have drawn multitudes from the orthodox faith, and blasted their hopes of heaven! ... A person who is thus in the grip of Satanic power is unable to extricate himself ... [and is] left in utter spiritual desolation." Well might buxom Aimee McPherson have quailed as she faced 2,000 tepid Britons, over 8,000 empty seats, the two Deacons and "Bishop" Mrs. White. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Poor Aimee |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,732031,00.html?promoid=googlep |quote=Worse still, a mere 2,000 slummy people paid admission the second evening. Worst of all, there came a rival female evangelist from New Jersey, a resolute woman with the mien of an inspired laundress—the Reverend "Bishop" Mrs. Mollie Alma White, founder and primate of the Pillar of Fire Church. Bishop White, who has thousands of disciples ("Holy Jumpers") in the British Isles, clearly regarded Mrs. McPherson as a poacher upon her preserves or worse. Squired by two male Deacons, the Reverend Bishop sat herself down in a box at Albert Hall, with an air of purposing to break up the revival. |publisher=Time (magazine) |date=Monday, October 22, 1928 |accessdate=2007-08-21 ]

Expansion

In 1927, a transmitter and radio equipment were installed at Belleview College in Westminster, Colorado to promote the college based in the Westminster Castle. By June of 1929, the call letters had been changed to KPOF and the station was broadcasting regular sermons from Alma Temple, the Pillar's Denver Church. In March 1931, WBNY was sold to Bishop Alma White and the Pillar of Fire Church for $5,000. The call letters were changed to WAWZ (the letters standing for Alma White, Zerephath. In its initial broadcast, Alma White told listeners, "The station belongs to all regardless of your affiliation."cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Bishop v. Drink. |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,763099,00.html |quote=Her church became known as the Pillar of Fire. Widowed, Mrs. White started a pious, shouting, camp-meeting community in New Jersey, named it Zarephath after the place where the 'widow woman' sustained Elijah. Alma White was soon acting like a bishop toward her flock; why should she not be "the first woman bishop in the history of the Christian church?" Pillar of Fire consecrated her as such in 1918. Indomitable Bishop White has built 49 churches, three colleges. She edits six magazines, travels continually between Zarephath and the West. She learned to drive an automobile at 50, to swim at 55, to paint in oils at 70. She has two radio stations, WAWZ at Zarephath, KPOF in Denver, where her Alma Temple is also a thriving concern. Her Prohibition plays, written with broadcasting in mind, had their premiere there. Her audience, recruited from Denver churches, thought them pillar-powerful, fiery-fierce ... |publisher=Time (magazine) |date=December 18, 1939 |accessdate=2007-08-21 ] In 1961 Pillar of Fire also started WAKW in Cincinnati. The AKW represents the name of Arthur Kent White, Alma's son.

Death

She died on June 26, 1946 in Zarephath, New Jersey. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Fundamentalist Pillar. |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,778753,00.html |quote='Political parties yell themselves hoarse when the name of a nominee is mentioned. Why not shout in ecstasy when the name of the Lord is called? If you are happy, let the whole world know it. Do not keep your joy bottled up.' Fundamentalist ecstasy and hallelujah-shouting were a vital part of masterful, deep-voiced Alma White's faith. On it she built a sect called Pillar of Fire — with 4,000 followers, 61 churches, seven schools, ten periodicals and two broadcasting stations. Last week, as it must even to 'the only woman bishop in the world,' Death came to the Pillar of Fire's 84-year-old founder. |publisher=Time (magazine) |date=July 8, 1946 |accessdate=2007-09-25 ]

Timeline

*1862 Birth of Alma White as "Mollie Alma Bridwell" in Kinniconick, Kentucky on June 16th
*1870
*1880
*1882 Moved to Bannack, Montana Territory, where she taught school
*1887 Marriage to Kent White
*1896 Church established in Denver, Colorado
*1900 in Denver, Colorado
*1901 Methodist Pentecostal Union Church in Denver, Colorado in December
*1902 Ordained an Elder in March
*1904 "Pentecostal Union Herald" changed to "Pillar of Fire"
*1905 (circa) Separates from Methodist Episcopal Church
*1907 Creation of community at Zarephath, New Jerseycite book |last=Balmer |first=Randall |authorlink=Randall Balmer |coauthors= |title=Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism |year=2004 |publisher= |quote=Alma White moved to Zarephath, New Jersey, in 1907, where a donation of land made ... She founded Alma White College (since renamed Zarephath Bible College) ... | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Vjwly0QyeU4C&pg=PP1&dq |isbn=1-932792-04-X ]
*1909 Separates from husband after he converts to Pentecostalism
*1917 Name of church officially changed to "Pillar of Fire"
*1917 Alma White College founded in Zarephath, New Jersey
*1918 Ordained as first woman bishop in the United States
*1920 Acquires Westminster, Colorado property and opens Westminster University
*1920
*1924 Publishes "Woman's Chains", which is in print until 1970
*1927 KPOF radio station in Westminster, Colorado
*1931 WAWZ radio station in Zarephath, New Jersey
*1932 Church established in Morrison, Colorado
*1946 Death of Alma White on June 27th
*1946 Death of Ray Bridwell White on November 5th

Publications

*cite book
title=Looking Back from Beulah
author=Alma White
year=1987
publisher=Garland Pub.
isbn=082400681X
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=G9Y2AQAACAAJ&dq (c1905-1910)
*Demons and Tongues (1910)
*cite book
title=My Trip to the Orient
author=Alma White
year=1911
publisher=Pillar of Fire
isbn=
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=aHo9deAVxC4C&pg (1911)
*The New Testament Church (1911–1912) in two volumes
*Truth Stranger Than Fiction (1913)
*The Titanic Tragedy: God Speaking to Nations (1913)
*cite book
title=Why I Do Not Eat Meat
author=Alma White
year=1915
publisher=The Pentecostal Union, (Pillar of Fire)
isbn=0790569132
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=LJluAAAACAAJ&dq (1915)
*cite book
title=Restoration of Israel
author=Alma White
year=1917
publisher=The Pentecostal-union
isbn=
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=8IxlClbGWUcC&dq (1917)
*The Story of My Life (1919–1930) in five volumes
*cite book
title=Ku Klux Klan in Prophecy
author=Alma White
year=2006
publisher=Kessinger Publishing
isbn=1428610758
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=XeH1wYi_Ke4C&pg=PP1&ots=TeZw5dOLWF&dq (1925) "The unrepentant Hebrew is everywhere among us today as the strong ally of Roman Catholicism. ... To think of our Hebrew friends with their millions in gold and silver aiding the Pope in his aspirations for world supremacy, is almost beyond the grasp of ... The Jews in New York City openly boast that they have the money and Rome the power, and that if they decide to rule the city and state, ..."
*cite book
title=Klansmen: Guardians of Liberty
author=Alma White
year=2006
publisher=Kessinger Publishing
isbn=142549000X
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=NadkzQt6imAC&pg=PA159&vq (1926) "I believe in white supremacy."
*cite book
title=Musings of the Past
author=Alma White, Alma (Bridwell) White
year=1927
publisher=Pillar of fire
isbn=
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=s0M3AAAAIAAJ&dq (1927)
*cite book
title=Heroes of the Fiery Cross
author=Alma White
year=1928
publisher=The Good Citizen
isbn=
url= (1928) "The Jews are as unrelenting now as they were two thousand years ago."
*Hymns and Poems (1931)
*cite book
title=With God in the Yellowstone
author=Alma White, Cairns Collection of American Women Writers
year=1933
publisher=Pillar of Fire
isbn=
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=L1AXAAAAIAAJ&dq (1933)
*The Sword of the Spirit (1937)

References

Further reading

*cite book |last=Stanley |first=Susie Cunningham |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Feminist Pillar of Fire: The Life of Alma White |year=1993 |publisher=The Pilgrim Press |quote= | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=88paAAAACAAJ&dq |isbn=0-8298-0950-3
*Alma White's Evangelism Press Reports, compiled by C. R. Paige and C.K. Ingler (1939)
*Kristin E. Kandt; Historical Essay: In the Name of God; An American Story of Feminism, Racism, and Religious Intolerance: The Story of Alma Bridwell White, 8 Am. U. J. Gender, Soc. Pol. & L 753 (2000)