Schiess, Betty Bone 1923–

PERSONAL: Born April 2, 1923, in Cincinnati, OH; daughter of Evan Paul (an inventor) and Leah (a homemaker; maiden name, Mitchell) Bone; married William A. Schiess (a physician), August 28, 1947; children: William (deceased), Richard, Sarah Schiess Moncheur. Ethnicity: "White, Anglo-Saxon Protestant." Education: University of Cincinnati, B.A., 1945; Syracuse University, M.A., 1947; attended Rochester Center for Theological Studies, 1972. Politics: Democrat. Religion: Episcopal. Hobbies and other interests: Collecting art, wood-block art.

ADDRESSES: Home—6987 Van Antwerp Dr., Cicero, NY 13039. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Ordained Episcopal priest, 1974–; Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, chaplain, 1976–78; Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, chaplain, 1978–79; Grace Episcopal Church, Mexico, NY, rector, 1984–89. Episcopal Church in the United States, advisor to Women in Mission and Ministry, 1987—New York State Life and Law, member.

MEMBER: International Association of Women Ministers (past president).

AWARDS, HONORS: Governor's Award for Women of Merit in Religion, 1984; inducted into National Women's Hall of Fame, 1994; Ralph Kharas award, American Civil Liberties Union.

WRITINGS:

Why Me, Lord? One Woman's Ordination to the Priesthood, with Commentary and Complaint, Syracuse University Press (Syracuse, NY), 2003.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Editing the letters of Mary Ann Corlis, 1815–1850.

SIDELIGHTS: Betty Bone Schiess told CA: "My primary motivation for writing is that I can't stop efforts to reform. Influences on my writing include English teachers Miss Ferguson and William Sill Clark and my memory of their help and encouragement. I am also influenced by the need to renegotiate my experiences in the light of my insights and whims.

"I write or rewrite from eight o'clock until noon. I fade away after twelve. Then I do research or read.

"I was inspired to write because I was afraid that history would distort the story of our historic change in the direction of religion—the effort on the part of women, not the hierarchies."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

OTHER

WomanPriest: A Portrait of the Reverend Betty Bone Schiess (documentary film), New Futures Enterprises, 1986.