Ruth Ellis Messenger, a famous hymnocologist, was born on February 29, 1884, in New York City to Joseph Ellis Messenger, a physician, and Anne Jane (Dud-man) Messenger. She received an A.B. from Normal college (later Hunter College) in New York City in 1905 and was Phi Beta Kappa. In 1907 she became an instructor in the Hunter College high school, teaching history and the classics. In 1911 she received an A.M. from the University of Illinois, and in 1930 she completed her Ph.D. at Columbia University in history; her thesis was “Ethical Teachings in the Latin Hymns of Medieval England.” In 1933 Messenger joined the history department at Hunter College as assistant professor; she eventually became a full professor. She remained at Hunter until her retirement in 1950; she then taught hymnology at the Union Theological Seminary in New York City and began writing. In 1953 she completed The Medieval Hymn and from 1954 until her death was associate editor and later editor of The Hymn , a quarterly published by the Hymn Society of America. Ruth Messenger assisted in editing A Short Bibliography for the Study of Hymns which was published after her death on March 3, 1964.
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