The first president of the society was Elias Boudinot, who had served as president of the Continental Congress from 1782 to 1783. John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the United States, was named president of the Society in 1821.

Alice Ball was the first woman to head this illustrious organization as general secretary, appointed in 1979 after having held various positions in the Society since 1955. She led the Department of Volunteer Activities (coordinating the work of more than 60,000 people), served as Secretary for Latin America and as Secretary for the Overseas Advance Program, which covered Asia, Africa and Latin America.

As reported in a press release from the American Bible Society in 1982, Alice “initiated and gave impetus to several important programs… Among these were the creation of women’s activities departments where none had previously existed, adaptation and extension of the new Scripture distribution methods in many areas, establishment of campus ministries in several overseas university centers, and development of regional service centers to expedite Bible Society work.” Alice also served as a member of the Executive Committee of the United Bible Societies, a worldwide fellowship of 67 national Bible societies.

I came to know Alice when my husband, John Howard Sanden, was asked to paint her portrait for the American Bible Society offices. Alice had a quiet humility, and whenever she spoke, you knew that what she was saying had the weight of great wisdom. We loved visiting with her, and in 1984, when our son Jonathan was born, she accepted the role of godmother. We were thrilled.

Although she never married, Alice was twice engaged to men who lost their lives fighting for our country in World War II. She had many friends, and was loyal and steadfast. She was a native New Yorker, educated at Hunter College.

She joined Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in 1982, served as a Trustee and on two pastor nominating committees. Thanks to Alice, the American Bible Society provided pocket-sized New Testaments to the guests of Fifth Avenue’s men’s shelter when it opened in 1986. Following her retirement in 1988, the new position of president and CEO was filled by another Fifth Avenue pastor, the Rev. Dr. Bryant M. Kirkland.

These words from the Bible, which she loved and worked to distribute around the world, were near to her heart: “... so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11)