YWCA executive, YWCA worker, Social welfare worker. The Edith M. Lerrigo Papers are primarily related to her professional and public life, dating from 1922 to 1989. Types of materials include correspondence, sermons, prayers, meditations and worship services, photographs, reports, subject files, and writings. The bulk of the papers date from 1930s to 1981 and consist primarily of notes, outlines, and texts for Lerrigo's many speeches and presentations, the bulk of which were given at YWCA events and meetings, or about the YWCA. They provide some especially valuable insight into Lerrigo's work with youth and college and university students, as well as her leadership on issues related to race, the women's movement, and the place of religion in the YWCA. Materials about Lerrigo's professional activities include press releases; notebooks of ideas, discussion notes, and on talks and events attended from her days in youth work in New Jersey in the 1930s, through her work in the College and University Division of the YWCA in the early 1940s; materials about Lerrigo's time in China and her continued relations with YWCA women there; a file on a 1982 trip to China; and a transcript of an oral history primarily about Lerrigo's time in China and about the YWCA's role in the world as an ecumenical lay movement. Subject files inlcude files on Christianity in China, files of raw materials for worship services, and notes on miscellaneous reading and lectures attended by Lerrigo. Writings consist of manuscript poems, prayers, and school essays; copies of articles by Lerrigo; and a compilation of articles Lerrigo wrote for The YWCA Magazine published by the YWCA as a retirement tribute.

Terms of Access and Use:

Restrictions on use:

Permission must be obtained to publish reproductions or quotations beyond "fair use." Copyright ownership of Edith Lerrigo's writings is unknown. Copyright to materials authored by persons other than Edith Lerrigo may be owned by those individuals or their heirs or assigns. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights.

Permission to publish reproductions or quotations beyond "fair use" must also be obtained from the Sophia Smith Collection as owners of the physical property.