Outsiders in a Promised Land: Religious Activists in Pacific Northwest History . By Dale E. Soden

Abstract

Outsiders in a Promised Land: Religious Activists in Pacific Northwest History . By Dale E. Soden. (Corvallis: Oregon State University Press, 2015. xiii + 306 pp. Illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. $24.95, paper.) In a well-researched account of religious activism in the Oregon Territory from the late nineteenth century to the present, Soden draws several meaningful conclusions. He shows that despite the fact that the region has always had a reputation for secularists, atheists, and “nones” (people who elect no religious affiliation), religious activists have had a continuous and important presence within the region. He thoroughly chronicles these religious influences from the Victorians who planted colleges and hospitals to the ecumenical activists of the twenty-first century. In casting such a long-term history, … janine.giordanodrake{at}ugf.edu