Arthur Clayton Ryan

Background

Arthur Clayton Ryan was born on a farm at Grandview, Louisa County, Iowa, eldest of the eight children of Charles Hammond and Nettie (Lockwood) Ryan.

Education

After preparation at the Wilton (Iowa) Academy he entered Grinnell College. Later he attended Oberlin College, returning to Grinnell in 1909 to receive the degree of A. B. He graduated from Oberlin Theological Seminary in 1911.

Career

During his final year in the college Ryan was appointed as a missionary by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. On May 11, 1911, at Oberlin, he was ordained to the Congregational ministry, and in September set sail for Turkey. On his arrival he was stationed at Talas. He spent the following year in language study and in travel through Central and Southern Anatolia, familiarizing himself with the country and the general work of the mission. When the missionaries at Constantinople were overwhelmed with relief work among both Moslem and Christian refugees who had fled to the neighborhood of the capital as a result of campaigns and changes in boundaries during the Italo-Turkish and Balkan wars, he was transferred to that station, September 1912.

Assigned to relief work, he acted during 1913 and 1914 as agent of the American and British Red Cross societies in their attempt to rehabilitate devastated Thrace. His great energy and ability led to his appointment as secretary of the Constantinople chapter of the American Red Cross, a position which he held until the end of the Dardanelles campaign, while simultaneously engaged in mission activities.

In March 1916 he left for the United States by way of Switzerland, and immediately after his arrival threw himself with characteristic vigor into the work of raising funds for the Near East Relief. With headquarters in Chicago, he not only campaigned for this organization, but also aided in the home promotion work of the American Board.

In August 1919 he returned to Constantinople and was occupied with the delicate task of reclaiming mission property seized by the Turkish government during the war when, in October 1920, he was appointed secretary of the Levant agency of the American Bible Society. Though his office was in Constantinople, he spent most of the next four years in travel throughout Eastern Europe and Nearer Asia, studying the problems connected with translating, publishing, and distributing the Scriptures.

While on a year's furlough in the United States in 1924, he was called to the Society's headquarters in New York to fill temporarily the vacant office of general secretary. So deeply did his ability, thoroughness, and capacity for work impress the board of managers that they chose him unanimously to hold the position permanently.

While apparently in the prime of life and abounding in vigor, he fell ill of pneumonia and died at his home in Scarsdale, N. Y. , after only two days of sickness, survived by his wife and two children.

Achievements

• Ryan was notable for his work for American Bible Society. He was responsible for producing and circulating the Bible among European and Middle Eastern countries. He was engaged in the most intense activity, for he had administrative charge not only of the central organization but also of publicity and the task of interesting individuals, churches, and other bodies in supporting the Society's work. He made frequent and effective addresses both on the activities of the organization and on his own experiences abroad. In promoting the expanding program of the Society he proved himself both a good administrator and a most capable manager of campaigns for contributions.

Connections

Ryan married on December 24, 1907, Edith, daughter of Henry and Sarah (Hubbard) Hoover of Muscatine.

Father:

Charles Hammond Ryan

Mother:

Nettie (Lockwood) Ryan

Spouse:

Edith Hoover