Mary Louise VanDyke Papers, 1897-2012
| Oberlin College Archives
Administrative/Biographical History
Mary Louise Enigson was born February 28, 1927 to Oscar Enigson and Mary Teapole Enigson in Rochester, Pennsylvania. She attended the Conservatory at Oberlin College, graduating in 1947 with a B.M.E. in Music Education. During her time at Oberlin, she participated in the Musical Union, YWCA, Ladies’ Literary Society, and as a Big Sister for the Children’s Home. During this time, she also met fellow Oberlin student Don VanDyke (class of 1947), and they married in 1948.
Achieving an M.A. in Music Education from Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve University) in 1953 and a second M.A. in Sacred Music from Kent State University in 1967, Mary Louise VanDyke worked as a music educator, directing children’s choirs and teaching music in public schools for many years, while her husband worked as an ophthalmologist. In 1968, she placed first in the Graduate Theses Division of the Musicological Research Contest sponsored by Mu Phi Epsilon international music sorority with her thesis titled “Literary, Musical and Liturgical Form and Content of the Psalms.” She also volunteered extensively with a number of organizations, including the Oberlin Alumni Association, Allen Memorial Art Museum, and the Friends of Oberlin Artists Series. She also founded the Northern Ohio chapter of the Choristers Guild, where she went on to serve as a national board member for several years.
Perhaps her most notable volunteer work was with the Dictionary of American Hymnology Project (now the Dictionary of North American Hymnology). In the 1970s, VanDyke began creating an annotated bibliography of hymnals kept in the Oberlin College Library Special Collections. She shared her work with Rev. Dr. Leonard Ellinwood, a professor who began indexing North American hymnals for the Directory of North American Hymnology in 1938. Impressed by her work, he worked with her until his retirement in 1984, when he named her as his successor in the role of Coordinator of the Dictionary of American Hymnology Project. When VanDyke took over the role of coordinator, the project’s index materials were stored at First Church in Oberlin, where she served as the children’s choir director beginning in 1974. VanDyke conducted much of her work out of her office in the Terrell Library as a Library [Research?] Associate for Oberlin College.
VanDyke continued her work with the Dictionary of American Hymnology Project until 2010, when she retired and became Director Emerita of the Dictionary of American Hymnology. VanDyke and her husband were founding residents of Kendal at Oberlin, where they lived until her husband’s death on June 22, 2021. VanDyke remained in Oberlin until her death on December 12, 2021.
Sources Consulted
Mary Louise VanDyke student file, Alumni Records (RG 28), Oberlin College Archives.
Record-Courier. “Former Kent Opthalmologist Don VanDyke dies at 95.” Accessed January 25, 2022.
Author: Grace Elliott Forms of Material (links to similar genres) Administrative InformationConservatory Records (RG 10).
Herbert Henke Papers (30/443).
Joe Hickerson Papers (RG 30/453).
William Grant Still and Verna Arvey Papers (RG 30/162).
The papers of Mary Louise VanDyke contain a wide variety of materials related to her work with the Dictionary of American Hymnology and as a hymn writer and researcher. Most of the collection comprises Oberlin College alumni and former student composer files in Series 1, which contain correspondence, biographical information, articles and clippings, photographs, and hymns. Some composer files include booklets or spiral bound collections of hymns. Also included in Series 1 are files of related topics such as Oberlin hymns and African American hymn writers.
Several composer files in Series 1 may be of note to scholars, including files for Leslie Adams, Joe Hickerson (see also his personal papers), Moses Hogan and William Grant Still (see also the William Grant Still and Verna Arvey Papers). Most files include ephemera from prior exhibits and biographical information, though some include correspondence to and from VanDyke, as well as clippings and articles related to the composer. Many of the files contain original compositions or lyrics, either individual or in collections, which may be pertinent to those researching the lyric writing and musical composition of hymns.
Series 2 holds portraits in slides of some of the hymn writers listed in the composer files. Most of these are copies of earlier photographs. Series 3 contains biographical information on Mary Louise VanDyke, articles about her work with the Dictionary of American Hymnology, and some of her own published hymns and articles. Series 4. Publications include hymn books written by Oberlin alumna Dosia Carlson (two volumes), a manuscript by Mary Louise VanDyke on Oberlin alumna hymn writer Caroline Goodenough, copies of miscellaneous hymns and hymn booklets, and a professional recording of music by Moses Hogan on CD-ROM published in 2001.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series 1. Oberlin Alumni and Former Student Composer Files, 1897-2012, n.d. (1.4 l.f.)
Oberlin hymn composer files comprise Series 1. Most of these files contain research notes, biographical information, and ephemera from exhibits, though some contain considerably more, including correspondence between VanDyke and the composer or others knowledgeable about the composer, photographs, published hymns, clippings, and articles.
Series 2. Slides, n.d., (0.05 l.f.)
This small series consists of slides of hymn composers, some of which correspond to hymnwriters who are represented in the Series 1 composer files.
Series 3. Mary Louise VanDyke Biographical File, 1973, 1991-2001, n.d., (0.05 l.f.)
This series consists of biographical material about Mary Louise VanDyke. Included are articles about VanDyke and her work with the Dictionary of American Hymnology and her work as a choir director; sheet music of a hymn adapted by VanDyke; correspondence in support of including one of her hymns in a United Church of Christ hymnal; and correspondence to Oberlin College regarding her academic affiliation to the university.
Series 4. Publications, 1915, 1957, 1984-1987, 1992, 1997, n.d., (0.10 l.f.)
This series contains several published hymnals, booklets and hymn sheets by Oberlin alumni, as well as a manuscript and a published article by Mary Louise VanDyke.