Modern Pentecostalism in America began around the turn of the twentieth century, and most historians of this history have drawn from the available English-language sources. Very few historians of American Pentecostalism knew of source materials in the Scandinavian languages of Norwegian and Swedish. This present volume argues that American Pentecostal history cannot be understood apart from both the texts and the people who participated in and contributed to the Pentecostal movement in America, including first-generation immigrants from Scandinavia and second-generation Scandinavian-Americans. Revising Pentecostal History describes ways in which Scandinavian-Americans have contributed to and played a role in the development of the Pentecostal movement. The volume presents crucial findings from rarely, if ever, used sources that inform how American Pentecostalism is understood. These findings prompt a revising of Pentecostal history.

The invisibility of women in historical research is a problem that requires dedicated attention and concrete efforts to overcome. This book aims to make a small contribution toward this goal by shedding light on the significant contributions of Scandinavian women in early Pentecostalism. The authors of this volume bring to light the stories of mostly unknown female Pentecostal pioneers and how they shaped their respective movements and Pentecostalism internationally. The stories range from key leaders, like Laura Barratt and Anna Larssen Bjorner in Norway and Denmark, to obscure "apostles" in the Arctic regions, like Alma Halse and Gerda Astrom, to missionaries in Africa and Brazil, like Hilda Backlund, Linnea Halldorf, Ingrid Lokken Chawner, and Frida Vingren. The stories provide a window into the challenges and possibilities of Pentecostal women at the turn of the twentieth century. These "empowered voices" have finally received an audience that they so deeply deserve.