Grace Loucks Elliott Papers, 1918-1966
General International Standard for Archival Description
Sophia Smith Collection Smith College Northampton, MA
Finding aid encoded in NoteTab Pro. Encoded by Margaret Jessup. 2008-12-08
Encoded Archival Description
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
collection
Grace Loucks Elliott Papers
Creation of Grace Loucks Elliott Papers
Time of Creation of Grace Loucks Elliott Papers
Elliott, Grace Loucks, b. 1891
Biographical History for: Grace Loucks Elliott Papers
Biographical Note Grace Loucks was born February 19, 1891, in Alverton, Pennsylvania, to John Lepman and Sarah Jane (Hunsberger) Loucks. While attending Findlay College in Findlay, Ohio, Loucks first joined the YWCA. After earning her B.A. in 1910, she taught high school at Findlay College Academy (1911-12), East Huntington High School in Alverton (1912-14), and the Irwin (Pennsylvania) High School (1914-16). Loucks attended the YWCA National Training School in New York (1916-17), then joined the YWCA national staff as a student field secretary based first in Dallas, Texas (1917-20) "riding the college circuit" in the southwest, and later as secretary in charge of student conferences in New York City (1920-27). While in New York, Loucks studied religious education at Teachers College and Union Theological Seminary, completing a Masters degree in 1924. On June 24, 1927 Grace Loucks married Harrison Sacket Elliott, who eventually became head of the Religious Education Department at Union Theological Seminary. The couple had three children: David Loucks, Donald Harrison, and Margaret Jean. Following her marriage, Grace Loucks Elliott continued to work for the student movement of the YWCA as a volunteer member of the National Student Council. In 1930 she was elected to the National Board of the YWCA. She also obtained a Ph.D. in religious education from Columbia University, completing her degree in 1934. From 1936 to 1943 she taught in the Union Theological Seminary summer school. Elliott published her first book, The Sex Life of Youth, co-authored with Harry Bone, in 1929. This was followed by Understanding the Adolescent Girl in 1930, Women After Forty, in 1936, and Solving Personal Problems, co-authored with her husband, also in 1936. In addition, Elliott was a frequent contributor to educational, social, and religious journals. Elliott was well known outside the YWCA for her work in adolescent and adult psychology, and was a popular lecturer in the field of family life education. In the fall of 1943 Elliott accepted the post of General Secretary (chief executive) of the YWCA of the U.S.A. Taking the helm during the difficult post-war years, Elliott's tenure included, among other things, the unionization of the national staff, regular attacks on the Association as a "red" organization, constant pressure to merge with the YMCA, demands for a more inclusive, less explicitly Protestant Christian organization, continued struggles with interracial issues within the Association, and the flight of much of its traditional membership from urban areas to the suburbs. Elliott's husband Harrison died in 1951 and she retired from the YWCA in the spring of 1953. Post-retirement, Elliott carried out several assignments in the 1950s related to leadership training for the World YWCA. She received an honorary degree from Hood College in 1952 and was the first woman to deliver a Commencement address there. She was a visiting professor at Wells College, 1954-56, then served as acting president of Beirut College for Women in Beirut, Lebanon, 1958-59. Particularly interested in the YWCA's religious purpose, Elliott served as a consultant to the 1964-67 Commission to Study the YWCA as a Christian Movement. This effort sought to assess the significance of Christianity to the contemporary issues and programming. The study concluded that a dynamic Christianity, responsive to the increasing social consciousness of the young, remained central to the programming of the YWCA In a 1978 article for YWCA Interchange, YWCA archivist and librarian Elizabeth Norris, described Grace Loucks Elliott as "administrator, Bible scholar, curriculum designer, Doctor of Philosophy, feminist thinker, mother, organization executive, pioneer in group work methodology, psychologist, sex educator, student counselor, teacher, theologian, wife, World YWCA Council member, and writer." Grace Loucks Elliott died on August 4, 1979 in Alexandria, Virginia.
The Grace Loucks Elliott Papers came to the Sophia Smith Collection with the Records of the YWCA of the U.S.A. in 2002. Grace Loucks Elliott donated them to the YWCA in 1978.
Scope and Contents of the Collection The Grace Loucks Elliott Papers consist of 1 linear ft. and are primarily related to her work with the YWCA. Nearly half of the volume is the contents of three looseleaf notebooks compiled by Elliott entitled "My Fifty Years with the Y.W.C.A., 1917-53." This compilation includes a narrative by Elliott accompanied by photographs, postcards, clippings, brochures, pamphlets, correspondence, reports, and copies of other original documents from Elliott's work with the YWCA. The rest of the papers consists of speeches and writings by Elliott plus a small amount of general biographical information.
The Papers are open to research according to the regulations of the Sophia Smith Collection without any additional restrictions.
Copyright ownership of Grace Loucks Elliott's writings is unknown. Copyright to materials authored by persons other than Grace Loucks Elliott may be owned by those individuals or their heirs or assigns. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights. Permission to publish reproductions or quotations beyond "fair use" must also be obtained from the Sophia Smith Collection as owners of the physical property.
Related materials are in the YWCA of the U.S.A. Records.
Processed by Maida Goodwin, 2008
Adolescent psychology --Research
lcsh
Religion -- Study and teaching -- History -- Sources
Teenage girls -- United States -- History
Women -- Psychology -- History -- Sources
Women -- United States -- Health and hygiene -- History -- Sources
lcnaf
Young Women's Christian Association of the U.S.A.
General 1940-88
"My Fifty Years in the YWCA, 1917-53": notebooks [disassembled] 1917-53
Speeches
"Decision Making: Four Addresses given at the 21st National Convention of the YWCA of the U.S.A.," 1958
"Live Lives Worthy of Your Calling," World YWCA Council 1 Sep 1955
"Maturity Supplements Youth: the Importance of Maturity and Social Philosophy for Group Leaders and Supervisors," National Conference of Social Work May 1937
Writings
Miscellaneous 1946-78
"To Come Full Circle Toward an Understanding of Death," 1971 and 1972
"The Family-Covenant with Posterity," reprint from Social Action 15 Feb 1942
"From Deep Roots: the Story of the YWCA's Relgious Dimensions," by Frances Helen Mains and Grace Loucks Elliott, YWCA Bureau of Communications 1974
"New Testament Insights for Later Life," uncompleted manuscript 1979
"On Openness" by Grace Loucks Elliott and Jean Elliott Johnson, YWCA Bureau of Communications 1967
"Our Heritage as Christians," YWCA Publications Services 1952
"Resources for Bible Study and Prayer for Groups of Different Christian Backgrounds," YWCA Publications Services 1961
"Some Assumptions for a Theology for a New Age,": typescript n.d.
Understanding the Adolescent Girl, NY: Henry Holt & Co. 1930 and NY: The Woman's Press, 1949
Women After Forty: the Meaning of the Last Half of Life, NY: Henry Holt & Co. 1936