Guide to the Maye Anette Dennis Papers

Maye Anette Dennis was born in Princeton, IA, on February 12, 1887. After graduating from the Presbyterian Training School in Baltimore, she was appointed to the North India Mission by the Board of Foreign Missions (PCUSA). She sailed for India in 1917 and joined the faculty of the Mary Wanamaker School for Girls in Allahabad. In 1919, she was transferred to the city of Mainpuri as an itinerant teacher. She visited homes and zenanas, teaching Mohammedans, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians.

In 1935, she was elected an elder of the Mainpuri Church, the first woman to be so honored. She founded a Christian Opportunity Center in Mainpuri, which attracted pupils from all over the surrounding area. Dennis retired from the Board of Foreign Missions in 1952 and moved to Agra to teach at Holman Institute. She returned to the United States in 1958.