Careers of Service: The Norwegian Lutheran Deaconesses from Vesterheim, Vol. 5, No. 1, 2007
During the last quarter of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century, a group of dedicated Norwegian-American women organized to further the work of the Lutheran church. They were part of a larger, international Protestant movement, and they called themselves deaconesses.
Although the number of Norwegian Lutheran deaconesses was always relatively small, the impact of their lives of service is significant. Their contributions to the fields of health care, social services, and mission work equaled their contributions to the lives of individuals: Norwegians, immigrants, Americans. Learn more about Norwegian Lutheran deaconesses in this article by Vesterheim Chief Curator Laurann Gilbertson.
