Ida A. Green Collection

Ida Augusta Green was born December 13, 1869 in Malden, Illinois and died March 14, 1963 in Berea, Kentucky.  “Ivy,” was the youngest child of older, Congregationalist parents.  She attended Oberlin College in Ohio, as her brothers Will and Charlie did, and graduated in 1890.  Next, Ida studied at the Chicago Theological Seminary and worked for Associated Charities in Washington, D.C., the National Anti-Saloon League and the Young Woman’s Christian Association (YWCA), with whom she went to France “...but as the armistice was signed while...[she] was on the way, [she] did not see any of the actual fighting.”  Green then “...came to the conclusion that the work which counts for the most in this world is done in the church and Sunday School... [and] decided to go into the ministry.”  She served, among others, at Congregationalist churches in Washington, D.C.,  the Buda Church in Illinois and Webster Congregational Church near Havre de Grace, Md.  Rev. Green traveled a lot, beginning with the YWCA in the early 1900s, continuing with her Prohibition and ministering work, taking her to Japan, South America and much of Europe.  Rev. Green always had a strong opinion or “quirky take” on things, and her journals, letters, and other papers reflect this.