One of the most significant archive collections for research into the history of the debates on the ordination of women in the Church of Scotland is the Mary Levison Collection which is held in the National Library of Scotland. Mary Levison or Mary Lusk as she was known at the time when she presented her petition to the 1963 General Assembly of the Church of Scotland asking for the opportunity to have her sense of a call to the Ministry of Word and Sacrament tested. Her petition kick started the final ultimately successful phase of debate which led to the 1968 General Assembly of the Church of Scotland voting in favour of opening ordination to the Ministry of Word and Sacrament to women.
I first came across the collection during research for my Undergraduate dissertation in which I examined the role of the Scottish Churches in the women’s movement between 1870 and 1970. I looked primarily at the role of the Churches in Education and in opening leadership positions to women. It was not until I began work on my Masters dissertation on the Ecumenical Dimension of the debates on the opening of ordination to the Ministry of Word and Sacrament in the Church of Scotland that I actually looked at the collection in much detail. It ended up being the most important source which I used aside from the formal Church reports and minutes.
It was fascinating to read the letters which were sent to Mary Levison during the debates from people on all sides and see all the newspaper articles which were printed covering the debates. As the material was organised mostly in chronological order I got a real sense of the progression of the debates, the moments of frustration and elation.
The full list of the contents of the Mary Levison Collection is available here.
Gemma's Odd Thoughts 