The Dean and Fanny Wickes papers provide valuable documentation of their work as missionaries of the North China Mission of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions during the years 1912 to 1934. The Wickes were well-educated individuals dedicated to their work in China. Their letters home to their parents are detailed and substantial, with a focus on recounting their daily activities and surroundings in China.The Wickes papers complement other collections held at the Yale Divinity Library, including fellow North China Mission missionaries Earle and Thelma Ballou, Constance Buell, Emery Ellis, Lewis and Lois Gilbert, James and Maude Hunter, Helen Kintner, Harold Matthews, Alice Reed, Olga Robinson, and Ernest Shaw.
The Family Correspondence of Series I is primarily from the Wickes to their parents, a regular series of detailed letters. General Correspondence includes letters to and from colleagues in China.
Series II provides fairly sparse biographical documentation but does include family photograph albums and statements by the Wickes regarding their faith and work.
The Mission-related Collected Material of Series III provides insight into issues and concerns of the American Board mission during this era of political disruption in China and financial stress for missions.
Series IV contains a number of interesting reflections by both Dean and Fanny Wickes on their work and on events and customs in China. Some of these writings were published and others prepared to inform their supporters in the U.S.