American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
Organization
Dates
- Existence: 1810
Biographical / Historical
Organized 1810
Found in 30 Collections and/or Records:
ABCFM Daguerreotypes Collection
Collection
Call Number: RG 324
Scope and Contents:
This collection contains daguerreotype images of missionaries who had been appointed for service by The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. The daguerreotype process for creating photographs was used during the 1840s and 1850s. Series III contains two color miniature portraits that date from 1839.
This collection was originally held at the Franklin Trask Library of Andover Newton Theological School and was transferred to the Yale Divinity Library in 2017.
Dates:
circa 1839-1860
Found in:
Yale Divinity Library
>
ABCFM Daguerreotypes Collection
Earle and Thelma Ballou Papers
Collection
Call Number: RG 165
Overview:
Substantive correspondence, photographs, and slides document the Ballous' life and work in China. Earle and Thelma Ballou were missionaries in Tianjin (Tientsin), North China, serving under the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) from 1916 to 1948.
Dates:
1911-1997
Found in:
Yale Divinity Library
>
Earle and Thelma Ballou Papers
Beach Family Papers
Collection
Call Number: RG 60
Overview:
The papers document various aspects of the lives of brothers David Nelson Beach and Harlan Page Beach, including their student days at Yale (1868-1878), Harlan's work in North China (1883-1890), and David's work as a clergyman and with the Anti-Saloon League while in Cambridge, Minneapolis and Denver. David Nelson Beach, 1848-1926, was a prominent Congregational clergyman in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Minneapolis, Minnesota and Denver, Colorado and was active in temperance reform. He was...
Dates:
1858-1961
Found in:
Yale Divinity Library
>
Beach Family Papers
Willard Livingstone Beard Family Papers
Collection
Call Number: RG 108
Overview:
Correspondence, diaries, writings, and collected material provide valuable documentation of the work of Willard Livingstone Beard and his family. Beard was a missionary in China from 1894 to 1941, serving in Fujian (Fukien) Province under the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) and the YMCA.
Dates:
1892-1964
Constance Buell Papers
Collection
Call Number: RG 140
Overview:
Substantive letters and detailed diary entries document Buell's daily work as a missionary, her relationships with colleagues, and her views on events in China. Constance Buell was an educational missionary in north China from 1919 to 1951, serving under the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM). She taught at Kobe College in Japan from 1952 to 1958.
Dates:
1918-1976
Found in:
Yale Divinity Library
>
Constance Buell Papers
Charlotte B. DeForest Papers
Collection
Call Number: RG 178
Overview:
Correspondence, writings, and collected material in the Charlotte B. DeForest Papers document her work in women's higher education in Japan, her literary efforts to translate Japanese poetry and children's books, and her work with Japanese-Americans. Charlotte Burgis DeForest was the daughter of ABCFM missionaries to Japan and a graduate of Smith College. She was a missionary educator in Japan from 1903 to 1940, serving on the faculty and as president of Kobe College. During World War II she...
Dates:
1879-1967
Found in:
Yale Divinity Library
>
Charlotte B. DeForest Papers
Albert Dewey Papers
Collection
Call Number: RG 161
Overview:
Detailed correspondence, writings, collected material, diaries, and photographs document the life and work of Albert Dewey and his family in Turkey. Albert Dewey was an American medical missionary serving under the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions in Gaziantep (Aintab), Turkey from 1919 to 1959.
Dates:
1898-1958
Found in:
Yale Divinity Library
>
Albert Dewey Papers
Eli Smith Family Papers
Collection
Call Number: RG 124
Overview:
Letters, journals, and writings in this record group document Eli Smith's missionary work in the Middle East. Letters of his third wife, Mehitable Simpkins Butler Smith, provide valuable documentation of her ten years in the Middle East. Research materials gathered by Margaret Leavy complement the original holdings. Eli Smith, an early missionary to the Middle East serving under the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, is best known for his translation of the Bible into Arabic.
Dates:
1821-1964
Found in:
Yale Divinity Library
>
Eli Smith Family Papers
Charles Telford Erickson Papers
Collection
Call Number: RG 26
Overview:
The collection consists of correspondence, writings, and printed material dating from 1908 to 1973, relating to Erickson's personal life and a number of aspects of Albanian history during this period. Letters document the Ericksons' journey to and life in Albania, and interactions with statesmen, presidents, senators and others regarding Albania's political situation. Charles Telford Erickson was born in Galesburg, Illinois in 1867. He served as a Congregational minister before and after his...
Dates:
1908-1973
Found in:
Yale Divinity Library
>
Charles Telford Erickson Papers
Evarts family papers
Collection
Call Number: MS 200
Overview:
The papers consist of correspondence, writings, legal and financial material, congressional papers, family memorabilia, and other papers of various members of the Evarts family of Vermont, Boston, and New York. The principal figures, however, are Jeremiah Evarts (1781-1831), author, editor, lawyer, and philanthropist, and his son, William Maxwell Evarts (1818-1901), lawyer and statesman. The papers of Jeremiah Evarts relate to his work and writings on Congregational orthodoxy, his travels for...
Dates:
1753-1960, bulk 1798-1901
Found in:
Manuscripts and Archives
>
Evarts family papers
Lewis and Lois Gilbert Papers
Collection
Call Number: RG 144
Overview:
Letters and photographs provide documentation of religious and political conditions in North China from 1929 to 1941 and document Lewis Gilbert's work at Yali 1925-1926. Lewis and Lois Gilbert were missionaries in North China from 1929 to 1941 serving under the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Lewis Gilbert was also an instructor at Yali, Yale-in-China, Changsha from 1925 to 1926.
Dates:
1925-1980
Found in:
Yale Divinity Library
>
Lewis and Lois Gilbert Papers
Hugh Hubbard Papers
Collection
Call Number: RG 137
Overview:
Correspondence, writings, and collected material document the life and work of Hubbard. Hugh W. Hubbard was an American missionary serving in North China under the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.
Dates:
1943-1974
Found in:
Yale Divinity Library
>
Hugh Hubbard Papers
Merrill Isely Papers
Collection
Call Number: RG 158
Overview:
Correspondence to family members and others, dating from 1919 to 1961, provides detailed documentation of Isely's life and work in Turkey. Merrill Isely and his wife Mildred were missionaries serving under the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions in Gaziantep, Turkey for four decades beginning in 1920.
Dates:
1919-1961
Found in:
Yale Divinity Library
>
Merrill Isely Papers
Henry Harris Jessup Papers
Collection
Call Number: RG 117
Overview:
Correspondence, journals, diaries, writings, photographs, and collected material document the missionary work of Henry Harris Jessup and his wife Theodosia Davenport Jessup in Syria. Henry Harris Jessup (1832-1910) was a missionary in Syria from 1856 to 1910, serving under the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions and Presbyterian Mission Board . He was one of the founders of the Syrian Protestant College, later known as the American University of Beirut.
Dates:
1851-1912
Found in:
Yale Divinity Library
>
Henry Harris Jessup Papers
Chase Kimball papers
Collection
Call Number: MS 313
Overview:
The papers consist of correspondence, minutes, reports, organizational and financial records, speeches, topical files, notes, and printed literature documenting Chase Kimball's participation in some thirty-five national and local social, political, and religious organizations, primarily concerned with international peace and justice, and also with civic improvement in Connecticut and especially Waterbury. Since Kimball was active in or received literature from nearly all peace organizations...
Dates:
1906-1971
Found in:
Manuscripts and Archives
>
Chase Kimball papers
Peter Parker collection
Collection
Call Number: Ms Coll 6
Overview:
Peter Parker graduated from Yale College in 1831 and from the Medical Institution of Yale College in 1834. Ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1834, he sailed that year to China as the first Protestant medical missionary to that country. The papers relate to Parker's medical practice at the Canton Hospital and elsewhere, his missionary activities including his sermons, and his work for the U.S. Government as a diplomat to China. Most of the papers have been photographed at...
Dates:
1825-1947, bulk 1825-1884
Lillian Picken Papers
Collection
Call Number: RG 159
Overview:
Correspondence, writings, and collected materials document Picken's work and the work of the ABCFM in India beginning in 1928. Lillian Picken was an American missionary in India, serving under the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, American Marathi Mission, later known as the United Church Board for World Ministries. She took part in educational, industrial, social, and evangelistic work in the Satara area of western India.
Dates:
1921-1974
Found in:
Yale Divinity Library
>
Lillian Picken Papers
John and Eleanor Reuling Papers
Collection
Call Number: RG 120
Overview:
Letters, reports, and writings document American mission work in South Africa from 1927 to the 1960s. John A. Reuling was director of teachers' training at Adams College, Natal, South Africa, serving under the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, from 1927 to 1941. After 1946 he was an administrator for the United Church Board for World Ministries, serving first as regional secretary for Africa and then as general secretary for Mission. Eleanor Swanson Reuling also taught at...
Dates:
1920-1965
Found in:
Yale Divinity Library
>
John and Eleanor Reuling Papers
Paul and Charlotte Reynolds Papers
Collection
Call Number: RG 193
Overview:
Correspondence, writings, collected material, and photographs document the lives and work of Paul R. and Charlotte Reynolds. The Reynolds were missionaries in north China, serving under the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (1921-1936).
Dates:
1909-2004
Frank Knight Sanders Papers
Collection
Call Number: RG 122
Overview:
The papers include letters from Sanders' parents describing missionary work in Sri Lanka (Ceylon), correspondence and personal diaries of Sanders, writings, genealogical material, and photographs. There is also documentation related to Sanders' uncle, Henry Martyn Knight, who was the founder of the Connecticut School for Imbeciles. The son of ABCFM missionaries to Sri Lanka (Ceylon), Frank Knight Sanders (1861-1933) taught at Jaffna College, Sri Lanka (Ceylon) from 1882 to 1886. He was on the...
Dates:
1815-1953
Found in:
Yale Divinity Library
>
Frank Knight Sanders Papers