Faculty Member
Myra Tracy, a teacher from the same county as Charles Tracy, went to Merzifon in 1865 following her husband to begin a long tenure that would prove pivotal to the development of Anatolia College.
In the missionary community, the wives, in addition to running the household and raising the child, also undertook community service. Myra Tracy was able to become a leading figure in the community, often spearheading major initiatives.
In 1894 when a cholera pandemic broke out in the area, she was the one who coordinated the distribution of medicine, saving many lives.
In the fall of 1896, when the attacks against the Armenians intensified and the number of orphaned children increased, Myra Tracy took the initiative to rent quarters within walking distance of the school facilities to accommodate nearly sixty orphaned boys, while the number of orphaned girls housed at the Girls’ School reached fifty.
Leaving Merzifon for good in 1913, she and her husband left behind an educational hub that could hardly have been imagined. From a makeshift building with a handful of students they found when they first arrived, an entire school complex had now emerged, with hundreds of enrolled students.
