Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Title
Date(s)
- 1899-1956 (Creation)
Extent
0.45 cubic feet
Name of creator
Biographical history
Elmer Ellsworth Higley (1867-1931), American Methodist minister, was born on July 6, 1867 in William County Ohio. His family moved to Crawford Country, Pennsylvania where he attended Conneautville High School, the Edinboro Normal School, and Allegheny College. Higley was later called to ministry and served his first appointment in Centerville, Pennsylvania. There, he met his wife Alice C. Dowler and they were married on August 16, 1892. Together they had five children, two of which were twin boys who died during infancy.
Higley attended Drew Theological Seminary and completed his degree at New York University. Later he completed pastorates in Sherman, New York; Kane and Newcastle, Pennsylvania; Grace Church, Denver, Colorado; and Grace Church, Des Moines, Iowa.
He then gained charge of the Department of Indian Work under the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension, and the Woman’s Home Missionary Society. Higley was part of a committee that was called to confer with President Coolidge on Native American matters. Through his work, he was recognized as an authority on Indian Life and customs, and was adopted into the Mohawk and Cherokee tribes.
Higley accepted a call at the College Church in Ames, Iowa, and from Iowa he transferred to Park Ridge, Illinois where he gave services and planned Passion Week and Easter. Besides the many poems, songs, cantatas that he wrote, he was also the author of “Homespun Religion” and “The Sterile Soul”. On March 22, he was giving a service when he fell unconscious and was taken to Evanston Hospital. On Tuesday, March 24, 1931 he died without regaining consciousness.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
This collection contains church publications, correspondence, images, newspaper clippings, publications, and sermons from Elmer Elmsworth Higley’s ministry work.
Most of the information within the documents are from the early 1900s-1951 and are related to his work as a Methodist Episcopal preacher. A majority of the images within this collection are of the churches Higley served.
This collection also contains two of his authored publications, and several newspaper clippings acknowledging Higley’s death.
System of arrangement
The records are arranged by genre and topic.
Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions governing access
There are no restrictions regarding this collection.
Physical access
Technical access
Conditions governing reproduction
Detailed use restrictions relating to our collections can be requested from the office of the archivist at the General Commission on Archives and History. Photocopying is handled by the staff and may be limited in certain instances. Before using any material for publication from this collection a formal request for permission to publish is expected and required.
Languages of the material
- English
Scripts of the material
Language and script notes
Finding aids
Acquisition and appraisal elements
Custodial history
Immediate source of acquisition
2018-042 Anita Jensen - 12/04/2018
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information
Accruals
Related materials elements
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related archival materials
Related descriptions
Notes element
General note
The purpose of this finding aid is to help you understand the nature of this collection and to assist you in the retrieval of material from this collection. The following pages contain a brief biographical history of the person, or persons, who created or collected these papers, followed by a general description of the collection in the scope and content note. If more detailed information is warranted then series descriptions also appear. The container listing appears last and is the listing of material in each box, or container, of this collection. To request material you need to turn to the container listing section. It is essentially a listing of file folders, or artifact items, in the collection. Each folder, or item, has a call number associated with it. Each folder also lists the inclusive dates of the material in the folder. On the material request form list both the call number and the folder, or item, title. Use a different line for each folder, or item, requested. When your request sheet is complete, or full, bring it to the archivist and the material will be retrieved.
General note
When citing material from this collection please use the following format: Direct reference to the item or its file folder, Elmer Ellsworth Higley Papers, United Methodist Church Archives - GCAH, Madison, New Jersey. Do not make use of the item's call number as that is not a stable descriptor.
Specialized notes
Alternative identifier(s)
Description control element
Rules or conventions
Sources used
Archivist's note
Prepared by Rachel Li, Student Assistant
Access points
Subject access points
Name access points
- Methodist Church (U.S.) (Subject)
- Methodist Episcopal Church (Subject)