Edwin Longstreet Shuey

Background

Edwin Longstreet Shuey was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of Sarah (Berger) and William John Shuey, a minister of the United Brethren in Christ. In 1865 the family removed to Dayton.

Education

He received his early education in Dayton. In 1874 he entered Otterbein College at Westerville, Ohio, where he majored in Latin and Greek, and three years later received the degree of B. A.

Career

Following a year devoted to the study of law, he turned to teaching in academies in Indiana and northwestern Ohio, and in 1881 was invited to Otterbein to organize a preparatory department, of which he became the principal.

In 1885, prompted by the urgings of his father, he returned to Dayton to assume charge of the retail bookstore of the denominational publishing house. Through this work he became interested in advertising, in which he afterwards became a national expert.

Asked by a Bible publishing company in Philadelphia to organize commentaries on the Scriptures from an American point of view, he obtained contributions from British and American experts and secured the compilation of a "word book" for assistance to readers of the Bible; these helps were sold as the Bible Readers' Aids of the International Bible, the compiler appearing only as the American editor.

After his removal to Dayton he became active in the work of the Young Men's Christian Association as chairman of a local committee with the task of arranging evening study classes for young men.

Although in New York cultural subjects had been taught in free evening sessions, in Dayton technical courses were offered with a charge for tuition and were so successful that Shuey was appointed in 1893 to the International Y. M. C. A. Committee; for over thirty years a member of this committee, he assisted in the development of its educational policies.

In 1899 he was president of the International Convention; from 1917 to 1920 he was a member of the National War Work Council; and in 1923 he was active in devising a new plan for the national administration of the organization.

In 1897 he became head of the welfare department of the National Cash Register Company. His success in this work led to his writing Factory People and Their Employers (1900) and to his being consulted by other prominent corporations interested in welfare programs.

In 1900 he associated himself with the Lowe Brothers Company of Dayton, paint manufacturers, to develop advertising and promote an effective sales policy; he achieved conspicuous success and remained with the company until his retirement in 1918. In 1915-16 he served as president of the Association of National Advertisers, whose declaration of ethical standards was due in part to his efforts.

He died of cancer a few months after the death of his wife.

Achievements

• A delegate to several quadrennial conferences of the Church of the United Brethren, he was a successful advocate at the last one he attended of a liberalization of the Book of Discipline. For five years he was president of the board of trustees of Otterbein College.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Factory People and Their Employers

    ( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

  • A Hand-Book of the United Brethren in Christ

    (This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curat...)

  • A Handbook of the United Brethren in Christ

    (This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curat...)

  • Factory people and their employers, how their relations are made pleasant and profitable; a handbook of practical methods of improving factory conditions and the relations of employer and employe

    (This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

  • Factory People and Their Employers: How Their Relations Are Made Pleasant and Profitable; A Handbook of Practical Methods of Improving Factory Conditi

    (This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

Personality

He was an imaginative, quietly dynamic man, whose decided opinions made enemies as well as friends.

Connections

On August 15, 1882, he married Effie Mitchell of Springfield, Ohio, by whom he had two daughters and a son.

Father:

William John Shuey

Mother:

Sarah (Berger) Shuey

Spouse:

Effie Mitchell