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China Records Project Miscellaneous Personal Papers Collection

 Collection
Call Number: RG 8

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of more than 380 boxes, with no individual accounting for more than three linear feet. Some collections that were formerly part of this record group have now been given separate record group numbers.

The papers in the first series of this collection are arranged alphabetically by name. When the information was available, each missionary's sending agency, geographical location in China and period of service have been noted. A key to abbreviations used to represent the mission sending agencies is given below. The designation "L" in the indications of period of service means that these are approximate dates derived from listings in available copies of the Directory of Protestant Missions in China (1902, 1904-05, 1908-11, 1916, 1921, 1923-24, 1926-30, 1932-36, 1940, 1950). An asterisk following the name of an individual means that at least a portion of the papers of that individual are available on microfilm (and therefore accessible via Interlibrary Loan)and through the Adam Matthew "China Through Western Eyes" database: http://www.researchsource.amdigital.co.uk/ASChina.

Some photographs in the collection have been digitized and are available through the Internet Mission Photography Archive (IMPA) - http://www.usc.edu/isd/archives/arc/digarchives/mission/. If availability in IMPA is indicated, search the IMPA database using the name of the individual, e.g., search for "Edward Abbott Papers."

The records in this collection include biographical information, correspondence, diaries and journals, writings, printed material, tape recordings, artifacts, photographs and maps. The medical, educational and evangelical work of both men and women missionaries in China is reflected in the material. Social issues such as footbinding, opium reform, education of women, cruelty to animals and child labor are also touched upon. The material is particularly valuable for the descriptions of daily missionary life and work which it provides. Missionary opinion about major social and political issues is less prevalent in the material, although personal accounts of some political events (such as the Boxer Rebellion and the internment of missionaries by the Japanese) are given.

The Oral History Transcripts of Series II are from the China Missionaries Oral History Project conducted at Claremont Graduate School in Claremont, CA in the early 1970s.

For a full list of personal papers that are part of the China Records Project see: https://web.library.yale.edu/divinity/china-papers.
Abbreviations for missions agencies used in this finding aid:
  1. ABCFM -American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
  2. ABFMS -American Baptist Foreign Missionary Society
  3. ACM -American Church Mission (Episcopal)
  4. ALM -American Lutheran Mission
  5. AUG -Augustana Synod Mission
  6. BMS -Baptist Missionary Society (British)
  7. CBM -Church of the Brethren Mission
  8. CCC -Church of Christ in China
  9. CIM -China Inland Mission
  10. CLS -Christian Literature Society
  11. CMML -Christian Missions in Many Lands
  12. CMS -Church Missionary Society
  13. ChCC -China Continuation Committee of the National Missionary Conference
  14. EPM -English Presbyterian Mission
  15. FCMS -Foreign Christian Missionary Society
  16. FFMA -Friends' Foreign Mission Association
  17. LCMS -Lutheran Church Missouri Synod; pre 1947 MELCM; pre 1927 ELSM
  18. LMS -London Missionary Society
  19. LUM -Lutheran United Mission
  20. MEFB -Methodist Episcopal Church
  21. MES -Methodist Episcopal Church South
  22. MGC -Mennonite General Conference
  23. MMS -Methodist Missionary Society
  24. PN -American Presbyterian Mission, North
  25. PS -American Presbyterian Mission, South
  26. RC -Roman Catholic
  27. RCA -Reformed Church in America
  28. RCUS -Reformed Church in the United States
  29. SBC -Southern Baptist Convention
  30. SDA -Seventh Day Adventist Mission
  31. SVMM -Student Volunteer Movement
  32. UCC -United Church of Canada
  33. UCMS -United Christian Missionary Society (Disciples of Christ)
  34. WFMS -Women's Foreign Missionary Society of Methodist Episcopal Church
  35. YM -Yale in China Association
  36. YMCA -Young Men's Christian Association
  37. YWCA -Young Women's Christian Association

Dates

  • 1834 - 2017

Conditions Governing Access

The materials are open for research.

Existence and Location of Copies

Several sets of papers in this collection have been microfilmed and are now also available in digital format at http://www.researchsource.amdigital.co.uk/ASChina. The Adam Matthew digital database is accessible only to the Yale community; microfilm can be requested via interlibrary loan. Individuals whose papers are available on microfilm and digitally are noted with an asterisk.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gifts of various donors.

Arrangement

  1. I. Papers of Individuals: A-G
  2. II. Papers of Individuals: H-M
  3. III. Papers of Individuals: N-Z
  4. IV. Oral History Transcripts

Extent

170 Linear Feet (326 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Catalog Record

A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog

Persistent URL

https://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/divinity.008

Additional Description

Overview

The China Records Project Miscellaneous Personal Papers Collection is an open collection. It currently contains material from more than 325 individuals, primarily Protestant missionaries to China. The time period covered is approximately from 1834 to 1998. The China Records Project was initiated by the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A in 1968. The aim of the project was to insure the preservation of the personal records of former missionaries to China and to provide a central repository where these papers would be available to historians. The Yale Divinity School Library was chosen as this central repository in 1969 and has continued to solicit and accept China-related papers since that time.

Biographical / Historical

The China Records Project was initiated by the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A in 1968. The aim of the project was to insure the preservation of the personal records of former missionaries to China and to provide a central repository where these papers would be available to historians. The Yale Divinity School Library was chosen as this central repository in 1969 and has continued to solicit and accept China-related papers since that time.

The first Protestant missionary to China was Robert Morrison, who arrived in 1807. Elijah Coleman Bridgman was the first American missionary to China, sent by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions in 1829. Protestant missionaries were active in China until ca. 1950 when they were forced to leave by the new Communist government.

Processing Information

Place names were modernized in the description, with the name originally used in the collection material or in an older version of the finding aid in parenthesis: e.g. “Beijing (Peking)” or “Benin (Dahomey)”.

Subjects

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title
Guide to the China Records Project Miscellaneous Personal Papers Collection
Author
Compiled by Nungshitula Jamir and Martha Lund Smalley
Date
2004-2018
Description rules
Finding Aid Prepared According To Local Divinity Library Descriptive Practices
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Repository Details

Part of the Yale Divinity Library Repository

http://web.library.yale.edu/divinity/special-collections
Contact:
409 Prospect Street
New Haven CT 06511 US
(203) 432-5301

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