author
Ruth Ellis Messenger
1884–1964
Drawn to the long, rich history of sacred song, this American scholar spent decades tracing how Christian hymns developed from the early church through the Middle Ages. Her work helped open a specialized field to curious general readers as well as fellow researchers.
2 Audiobooks
The Medieval Latin Hymn
by Ruth Ellis Messenger
Christian Hymns of the First Three Centuries
by Ruth Ellis Messenger
About the author
Ruth Ellis Messenger (February 29, 1884 – March 3, 1964) was an American historian and hymnologist known for her study of medieval Latin hymns. Sources available here describe her as a specialist in the history of Christian hymnody, especially its early and medieval traditions.
Born in New York City, she earned a B.A. from Normal College of the City of New York in 1905, later completed an M.A. at the University of Illinois in 1911, and received her Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1930. She taught first at Hunter College High School and then at Hunter College, where she rose to full professor before retiring in 1950. After that, she taught hymnology at Union Theological Seminary in New York.
Messenger wrote works including Christian Hymns of the First Three Centuries and The Medieval Latin Hymn (1953). She also served as associate editor and then editor of The Hymn, the journal of the Hymn Society of America, continuing that work until her death in 1964. Her writing is remembered for bringing careful scholarship to a subject that often sits between literature, music, and religious history.