Scovel, Myra

Myra Scovel (1905-1994) was an American nurse and missionary for the United Presbyterian Church for more than thirty years. She and her husband, Dr. Frederick Gilman Scovel, were assigned to missions in China (1930-1951) and India (1953-1961). She was also a writer and poet.

From the guide to the Myra Scovel Manuscripts, before 1962, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)

Myra (Scott) Scovel (August 11, 1905- August 26, 1994) was born in Mechanicville, New York to Robert George Myrtle (Fox) Scott and passed away in Lake Placid, New York. She attended Syracuse University, Hospital of the Good Shepard, Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve University), Babies’ and Children’s Hospital and Pediatric Nursing Specialty. Her religion was Protestant. She was a member of Poetry Society of America, National League of American Pen Women, International Platform Association and Author’s Guild. She married Frederick Gilman Scovel, a physician-administrator, on June 15, 1929.

Her career was spent at Cortland County Hospital in Cortland, New York as an obstetrics supervisor from 1927-1928. She then worked at the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions and its successor, United Presbyterian Commission on Ecumenical Mission and Relations, in China from 1930-1951. She also worked in India from 1953 to 1959 as coordinator of Medical Emphasis Program, 1959-1961 and as editor for office of communications, beginning in 1961.

Frederick Gilman Scovel was born in 1902 in Cortland, New York, and was educated at Cornell University. Dr. and Mrs. Scovel had six children.

Dr. Frederick Gilman Scovel and Myra Scott Scovel, R.N., spent nearly 30 years in the overseas mission of the United Presbyterian Church. They worked in China from 1930-1951 and in India from 1953-1959.

After marrying in 1929, the Scovels spent a year of language study in Peking. In 1930 they were assigned to Bachman Hunter Hospital in Tsining, Shantung, China and remained there for fifteen years until they were repatriated in 1943 after a period in a Japanese internment camp.

In 1946 Dr. and Mrs. Scovel worked at Hope Hospital, Huai Yuan, Anhwei, China. They were transferred to Hackett Medical Center, Canton China, in 1948 and remained in Canton a year and a half after the communists gained control. Early in 1951 they returned to the United States.

From 1953-1959 the Scovels were associated with the Christian Medical College, Ludhiana, Punjab, India.

From the guide to the Frederick and Myra Scovel papers, 1930-1974, (Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries)