Mary Ely Lyman

Mary Ely Lyman (1887 – 1975) was an American professor of religion.

Life Her education was notable because of the discrimination she suffered due to her gender. She attended Mount Holyoke College which she found empowering and she briefly went into teaching before returning to the college to run the YWCA. By 1919 she had a B.D. from the Union Seminary where she deepened her interest in teaching the bible which she had started whilst at the YWCA. She was not allowed to sit with the other graduates because she was the only woman and she was obliged to sit with the wives. She was already a Professor of Religion at Vassar College where her teaching had resulted in that title in 1923.

In 1926 she married Professor Eugene Lyman. She was his second wife and she became a step mother to his two children. In 1958 she had a public disagreement with Billy Graham concerning his interpretation of the bible.