Records of the Epworth Evangelistic Institute, Sub-Collection of the Vennard College Collection ARC2026-004 - Finding Aid

Authors

• Archives and Special Collections at Asbury Theological Seminary

Files

Alternative Title

Records of the Epworth Evangelistic Institute, Vennard College Collection

Summary

The Records of the Epworth Evangelistic Institute document a short-lived training school for Methodist deaconesses. Iva Durham Vennard founded the Institute in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1902. Opposition from male Methodist leaders in the city led to her resignation and the Institute's closure. Vennard relocated to Chicago in 1910, where she then founded the Chicago Evangelistic Institute.

The collection is a sub-collection of the Vennard College Collection and holds 16 folders and 9 oversized items. It spans 1898 to 1959. Most of the material dates from the Institute’s years of operation (1902-1910), and a smaller group of correspondence from the late 1950s shows how alumni remembered the school. Together the materials offer a view of women’s religious training, deaconess work, and the early career of Iva Durham Vennard.

Publication Date

2026

Keywords

Women in Ministry in the Methodist Church, Holiness Movement, Evangelism, Deaconess, Women in Christianity, Bible Schools, Religious Training Schools

Disciplines

Christian Denominations and Sects | Christianity | History of Christianity | History of Religion | Missions and World Christianity | United States History | Women's History

Recommended Citation

Archives and Special Collections at Asbury Theological Seminary, "Records of the Epworth Evangelistic Institute, Sub-Collection of the Vennard College Collection ARC2026-004 - Finding Aid" (2026). Finding Aids. 164.
https://place.asburyseminary.edu/findingaids/164

Language

English