Karl and Ada Scheufler Papers

Though the Scheuflers were in China for a relatively brief period of time, their papers provide excellent documentation of Methodist Episcopal Church mission work in Fujian (Fukien) Province during the first half of the 1920s. The internal workings of the Methodist mission, relationships with Chinese church workers, and the impact of political unrest are described in detail.

The letters of Series I, Correspondence, primarily consist of letters written by Karl and by Ada to their respective families in the United States. Written in lieu of diaries, these letters provide nearly weekly, detailed descriptions of the Scheuflers' life in China. Besides describing their daily life and missionary work, including Karl's evangelistic itineration, the letters also make note of frequent military and bandit activity, Chinese festivals and customs, and so forth. Such topics are easily identified by stars of different colors and annotations on the Mylar sleeves in which the letters were placed by the Scheuflers' daughter.

The Notes and Writings of Series II include notebooks used in the study of Chinese, and narratives relating to trips and events experienced by the Scheuflers. Reports of mission work written by other Methodist missionaries are included in Series III, Collected Material. Also included in Series III are travel guide books used by the Scheuflers during their extended voyage back to the United States in 1926, and a wide variety of artifacts, including Chinese robes, decorative fabrics, bound foot shoes, woodblock illustrations, and so forth.

Karl Scheufler was an experienced amateur photographer and his interest in photography is evident in the many photographs found in Series IV. The photographs in the albums from Nanjing (Nanking), Beijing (Peking), and Yanping (Yenping) are very well identified.