Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Title
Date(s)
- 1922-1964 (Creation)
Extent
0.45 cubic feet
Name of creator
Biographical history
Ivy Myers (?-?) was a Methodist Episcopal Church Deaconess in the Northwest Indiana Conference from 1928 to 1961. She was born on May 2 in Tioga, Illinois, where she was raised on a farm along with her two sisters and three brothers. Following grade and high school, she attended the Chicago Training School for Missions in Illinois and graduated in 1922. Also in 1922, Myers became a probationary member of the Methodist Deaconess Association as a Deaconess, listed in records as being on a “leave of absence”. She later returned to the Chicago Training School and graduated in 1925 as a preparatory senior from the same institution. Afterwards she received her A.B. degree in Sociology from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1928. Myers also received a Master's Degree in Christian Education from the University of Chicago Divinity School.
Upon graduating from Hamline University in 1928, Ms. Meyers returned to the Chicago Training School as a teacher of History and Latin, where she stayed for six years. In 1928, she was also accepted as a full member of the Methodist Deaconess Association (Serial No. 645). She served as a Deaconess for thirty-seven years, teaching in schools for children from broken homes, the Deaconess School at Helena, Montana and Monnett School for Girls at Renesselaer, Indiana. Other opportunities of service included directorship of Christian Education at First Church, Madison and at Euclid Avenue Church, Oak Park, Illinois. Meyers was hired in 1945 by former Publishing Agent Fred D. Stone as Literature Counselor to do the work of interpreting and promoting church school literature in both Chicago and Nashville for sixteen years. She was an Alumni Representative on the Board of Trustees for the Chicago Training School from 1954 to 1956. Ms. Myers never married, nor had children, and retired from all work in 1961.
Upon retirement, the Broadway Methodist Church elected her to the Committee on Good Literature, the Commission on Education, and Administrative Board. After retiring, she continued her interest and activities in the Northwest Indiana Annual Conference Deaconess Board, the Fellowship of Reconciliation, and the American Friends Service Committee.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
The collection contains information pertaining to the educational and professional life, as well as the home life of Deaconess Ivy Myers, while also exploring topics within the Methodist Deaconess and Missionary organizations as a whole. These documents encompass Chicago Training School (CTS) class and faculty information, images and history between the years 1922, 1925-1927, 1929-1930, and 1933. The most prominent subject within the collection pertains to Lucy Rider Meyer, the founder of CTS, particularly information surrounding her death and accounts by acquaintances regarding Meyer's character and professional experience. The collection accommodates obituaries of other significant members of the Chicago Training School, as well as written correspondence to Ivy from various persons. The publications contain information on both Deaconess and missionary work. Photographs depict CTS faculty and students, as well as Ms. Myers life outside of her education and profession.
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions governing access
There are no restrictions for 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
1995-039
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information
Accruals
Related materials elements
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related archival materials
Mission Geographic Reference Files
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, Ivy Myers Collection, 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 Jordan Aussicker, Student Assistant and Mark C. Shenise, Associate Archivist
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Methodist Episcopal Church (Subject)
- Lesemann, Louis Frederick William, 1869-1941 (Subject)
- James, Belle L. (Subject)
- Meyer, Josiah Shelley (Subject)