Annalee Stewart

Annalee Stewart (1900-1988) was one of the first ordained female ministers of the U.S. Methodist Church and was the first woman to be a guest chaplain for the U.S. House of Representatives. She was a peace activist and served as president of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) between 1946 and 1950.

Annalee Kyger Stewart, 1962

Biography

Annalee Hayes Kyger was born on February 17, 1900 in Bloomington, Illinois[1] to Herbert E. Kyger and Iva Belle Hayes.[2][3] She graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1921[4] and went on to study at Boston University School of Theology, Colgate Rochester Theological Seminary, and Union Theological Seminary in New York City.[5] On 17 April 1931 received full ordination as a Methodist clergy,[4] becoming one of the first ordained female ministers of the Methodist Church in the US. In 1924, she became involved with the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), serving in various capacities until the 1960s.[1] She was Chicago chapter president in 1943[5] and then National President between 1946 and 1950, Legislative Secretary from 1949 to 1964 and again in 1966, and served as Legislative and Branch Liaison between 1964 and 1966.[1]

Stewart became Director of Religious Education at the Centre Methodist Church of Malden, Massachusetts between 1937 and 1943. During World War II, Stewart and her family moved to Chicago[6] and until the early 1950s they traveled back and forth between Washington, D.C. and Chicago. On 11 June 1948,[7] Stewart became the first woman to lead a prayer for the U.S. House of Representatives[8] and as late as 1967 had been the only female guest chaplain of the House.[9] Stewart actively lobbied against war, co-chairing the WILPF Committee to Oppose Conscription of Women for World War II, visiting Congress to speak against the Korean War,[6] as well as the Vietnam War, and calling on scientists to stop germ warfare and nuclear tests, urging total disarmament.[10]

Stewart traveled widely participating in conferences around the world speaking for world peace,[1] attending seven international world congresses[6] and advocating for a strong United Nations.[11] In 1947, she was one of the WILPF delegates to the Primer Congreso Interamericano de Mujeres held in Guatemala City.[12] In the decade after the end of World War II, she made five trips to Europe, traveled to Palestine, traveled throughout the United States,[13] as well as fact finding missions like the 1965 clergy visit to Vietnam[10] and trips to India, Israel, Japan, Poland, and the USSR.[6]

In 1966, Stewart received a Distinguished Alumni Award from Illinois Wesleyan University[14] and received an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from the school in 1967. She retired in 1970.[6]

Stewart died in November 1988 in Middlesex, Massachusetts.[1] She had been married to Alexander Stewart, who was also a Methodist minister. They had two daughters and a son.[6]

References
  1. "Annalee Stewart Collected Papers, 1945-1988". Swarthmore, Pennsylvania: Swarthmore College. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  2. "1910 Census". Mocavo. United States Census Archives. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  3. "Herbert E. Kyger". Bloomington, Illinois: The Pantagraph. 2 January 1949. p. 2. Retrieved 27 September 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "50 Years Ago". Bloomington, Illinois: The Pantagraph. 17 April 1981. p. 8. Retrieved 27 September 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Annalee Stewart to Speak for WSCS". Bloomington, Illinois: The Pantagraph. 20 May 1945. p. 13. Retrieved 27 September 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. Barr, Eleanor (1985). "Women's International League for Peace and Freedom Collection (DG043)". Swarthmore, Pennsylvania: Swarthmore College. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  7. "Prayer Leader". Sikeston, Missouri: The Daily Standard. 11 June 1948. p. 1. Retrieved 27 September 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "Woman Leads House in Prayer". Decatur, Texas: Wise County Messenger. 1 July 1948. p. 1. Retrieved 27 September 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Three Local Residents Receive Degrees from IWU". Blue Island, Illinois: Sun-Standard. 8 June 1967. p. 15. Retrieved 27 September 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. Lewis Jr., Fulton (5 July 1965). "Clergymen Visit Vietnam". Traverse City, Michigan: Traverse City Record-Eagle. p. 4. Retrieved 27 September 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. "Peace Lobbyist Sets 1970 as a Deadline". Kansas City, Missouri: The Kansas City Times. 29 November 1962. p. 29. Retrieved 27 September 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. Flores Asturias, Ricardo (6 June 2011). "Las Mujeres no Votan Porque Sí: Congreso Interamericano de Mujeres, 1947". Politica y Sentido Comun (in Spanish). Guatemala City, Guatemala: Ricardo Flores Asturias. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  13. "Washington Woman to Speak at Pewaukee Methodist Church". Waukesha, Wisconsin: Waukesha Daily Freeman. 26 November 1954. p. 5. Retrieved 27 September 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. "Mrs. Stewart, Alikonis Receive Alumni Awards". Bloomington, Illinois: The Pantagraph. 5 June 1966. p. 20. Retrieved 27 September 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
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