Evelyn Mae Ramsey (June 16, 1923 - June 25, 1989) was an American medical missionary and linguist associated with the

Church of the Nazarene The Church of the Nazarene is an evangelical Christian denomination that emerged in North America from the Wesleyan-Holiness movement within Methodism during the late 19th century. The denomination has its headquarters in Lenexa, Kansas. and it ...

Biography

Ramsey was born in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

, June 16, 1923. She took her education at Trevecca Nazarene College,

Eastern Nazarene College The Eastern Nazarene College (ENC) was a Private university#United States, private, Christian college in Quincy, Massachusetts, United States. Established as a Holiness Movement, holiness college in Quincy, Massachusetts, in 1900, the college m ...

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

, and

Tufts University School of Medicine The Tufts University School of Medicine is the medical school of Tufts University, a Private university, private research university in Massachusetts. It was established in 1893 and is located on the university's health sciences campus in down ...

. She served at the Raleigh Fitkin Nazarene Hospital in

Manzini, Swaziland Manzini (formerly Bremersdorp) is a large city in Eswatini, which is also the city of Eswatini's Manzini Region. The city is the country's second largest urban center behind the capital Mbabane, with a population of 110,000 (2008). It is known ...

from 1956 until 1968. In 1969 she was transferred to

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

to work at the Nazarene Hospital in Kudjip. Ramsey had always been interested in linguistics, having studied French, Greek, Hebrew, and German and further learned Zulu and Swazi in Africa. In Kudjip she took an interest in the Middle Wahgi language, which was as yet unrecorded; she eventually compiled a dictionary of the language. She also put together a concordance of the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

and the

Psalms The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of B ...

Pidgin English Pidgin English is a non-specific name used to refer to any of the many pidgin languages derived from English. Pidgins that are spoken as first languages become creoles. English-based pidgins that became stable contact languages, and which have ...

. Ramsey retired to

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

in 1988, dying there the following year. The dictionary had been published in 1975. Another book, ''Show Me, Lord'', was published in 1982. Ramsey was also the subject of a book, ''The Ramsey Covenant'' by L. David Duff, published in 1985.

References

1923 births 1989 deaths American members of the Church of the Nazarene Church of the Nazarene missionaries Christian medical missionaries Female Christian missionaries American women linguists 20th-century American linguists 20th-century American physicians 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American women writers Trevecca Nazarene University alumni Eastern Nazarene College alumni Vanderbilt University alumni Tufts University School of Medicine alumni People from Richmond, Kentucky Physicians from Kentucky American women non-fiction writers 20th-century American women physicians Protestant missionaries in Eswatini Protestant missionaries in Papua New Guinea American missionary linguists American Protestant missionaries American expatriates in Eswatini American expatriates in Papua New Guinea {{US-nonfiction-writer-stub