Legath *08 highlights the lives of American deaconesses, American Protestant women who modeled the lifestyles of Catholic nuns the late 19th century by teaching, nursing and general welfare work for no salary. Sanctified Sisters: A History of Protestant Deaconesses (NYU Press) argues that the deaconess movement enabled Protestant women to gain power in the male-dominated church and offers insight to the questions of today’s ordination debates.
