Amherst College Missionary Collection

8/10/2019 Amherst College Missionary Collection

1/15

12/21/14 Terras Irradient: Shining a Light on the Past | The Consecrated Eminence

https://consecratedeminence.wordpress.com/2013/06/10/terras-irradient-shining-a-light-on-the-past/ 1/15

(https://consecratedeminence.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/college_seal_1825_ribbon.jpg)Ribbon with 1825 College seal.

The Consecrated Eminence

The Archives & Special Collections at AmherstCollege

Feeds: Posts Comments

Terras Irradient: Shining a Light on the Past

June 10, 2013 by mrdakin

Visitors to the Frost Library in the spring of 2013 were met in the lobby with an exhibitionput together by students from Wendy Ewalds class Collaborative Art: The Practice and

Theory of Working with Communities. Items in the exhibition were selections from archivalcollections the students had used in classroom meetings during the 2012 fall semester. Theresultant class projects used the Amherst College missionary collections for the historicalpart of their work and interviewed local people for thecontemporary part. The class thenproduced an exhibition and a book that connected the two projects. Enlarged pages fromthe book were also on display in the mezzanine gallery above the lobby exhibition.

Exhibition viewers might have wondered how Amherst College came to possess so muchmaterial about Christian missionaries. As many people will know, Amherst College was

founded with the object of educating for the gospel ministry young men in indigentcircumstances, but of hopeful piety and promising talents. When Noah Webster describedthis mission at the laying of the cornerstone of South College in August of 1820, he couldnot have imagined exactly how and to what extent it would play out. However, in the
https://consecratedeminence.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/college_seal_1825_ribbon.jpghttps://consecratedeminence.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/college_seal_1825_ribbon.jpghttps://consecratedeminence.wordpress.com/https://consecratedeminence.wordpress.com/https://consecratedeminence.wordpress.com/author/mrdakin/https://consecratedeminence.wordpress.com/comments/feed/https://consecratedeminence.wordpress.com/feed/https://consecratedeminence.wordpress.com/https://consecratedeminence.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/college_seal_1825_ribbon.jpg


2/15



(https://reader010.{domain}/reader010/html5/0606/5b1794a96c22f/5b1794ac6dc23.jpg)Section of exhibition in lobby, spring 2013

(https://consecratedeminence.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/frost-exhibit-spr-13-mezzanine.jpg)

Enlarged book pages in mezzanine, spring 2013

decades that followed his assertion, Amherst turned out approximately 140 missionaries for20 countries. Many of those missionaries founded something resembling dynasties, inwhich succeeding generations followed their parents and grandparents into missionaryservice. Because of the strong connection between the College and its alumni, many of themissionary families eventually deposited their papers here, over time forming an impressivegroup of missionary collections.

One need not be religious, or interested in the study of religion or the missionarymovement, to find these collections fascinating and extraordinarily important. In general,the collections provide a rich context for study of our history in the Middle East and India inparticular, with a few collections covering other countries. However, the collections may
https://consecratedeminence.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/frost-exhibit-spr-13-mezzanine.jpghttps://consecratedeminence.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/frost-exhibit-spr-13.jpg


3/15



also be approached from many other angles, including international history, Americanhistory, history of religion, politics, womens studies, as well as a basic biographicalapproach to any one of the individuals represented in the collections.

Consider, as an example of the latter approach, the four wives of missionary WilliamFrederic Williams (1818-1871), Sarah, Hattie, Carrie, and Kate. Taken together, their lives

span nearly a century, with much of that time spent living in the Middle East. What wouldthe archival records diaries, letters, photographs, documents tell us about their personallives, or about the role of women in missionary families in the 19th century? How did theyview themselves, their lives, their work? These women had careers at a time when mostAmerican women didnt. Did they recognize this fact in the manner that we do, and didthey acknowledge it in some fashion, or was it unquestioned? To what extent did womendeliberately seek out this work as one of the few socially acceptable ways in which to carveout a career, or to put it differently, what kind of woman decided to leave her home inAmerica for a distant, unknown land in order to do missionary work? What was the

stronger impulse, religion or adventure? Certainly some women came to the work becausethey married men who were already or about to be missionaries, but others went out towork as missionaries on their own and married missionary men they met abroad.


4/15



(https://consecratedeminence.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/wms-chmbrs-slye-bx2-f-1-wfw-4-wives.jpg)

The four wives of William Frederic Williams: top row, left to right, Sarah Pond and HarrietHarding; bottom row Carrie Barbour and Kate Pond. First wife Sarah Pond Williams wasthe mother of journalist and educator Talcott Williams (AC 1873).
https://consecratedeminence.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/wms-chmbrs-slye-bx2-f-1-wfw-4-wives.jpg


5/15



For that matter, one could flip the standard route and look at the life of Laura Bliss,daughter of Edwin E. Bliss, Class of 1837, and his wife Isabella, missionaries in Turkey from1844-1896. Laura was born in Turkey in 1846 and referred to Turkey as home for most ofher life. She did missionary work there (with mixed success) as a young girl, but thenmarried a missionary posted in America (Langdon Ward) and thus gave up her work inTurkey in order to raise a large family in Massachusetts. Laura Ward experienced an early

career as a single female missionary and then a later one as wife and mother in America. Allher children grew up to be missionaries, as did some of their children. I could go on (just askmy colleagues) the possibilities for research topics from our missionary collections seeminfinite to me, and getting to know the people in the collections is the next best thing to timetravel.

Another well-documented, very obvious topic in several of our collections is the conflictbetween the Turks and the Armenians. As Christian missionaries posted to the OttomanEmpire, the families represented in the papers would have identified with and focused their

labors on the Armenians, who had a history of Christianity. Many collections illuminate thistopic, including, for example, the letters of Isabella Bliss to her children in the twenty yearsbetween 1876 to 1896, most of them written from her home in Scutari (nowskdar),Turkey. These letters, in Isabellas very legible handwriting, provide numerousdetails about events in Turkey, revealing both what Isabella understood to be the situationas well as how the conflict affected her own situation in Scutari. Later generations of Blissesand Wards (Isabellas grandchildren and great-grandchildren) experienced events thatgrew out of what Isabella had witnessed, giving the family a perspective on the history ofthe region that spanned four generations.

Another example of a resource about the conflict in Turkey may be found in thephotograph albums in Charles Weedens papers. The Weeden papers document a laterperiod, the 1920s.

(https://consecratedeminence.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/weeden-chas-ac1916-album-swain-photo.jpg)

Charles Weeden is seated to right of center, with puppy. George R. Swain, photographer.
https://consecratedeminence.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/weeden-chas-ac1916-album-swain-photo.jpg


6/15



(https://consecratedeminence.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/weeden-chas-ac1916-album-page.jpg)

Page from Charles Weedens album.

(https://consecratedeminence.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/weeden-chas-ac1916-album-page-orphanage.jpg)Page from Charles Weedens album.
https://consecratedeminence.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/weeden-chas-ac1916-album-page-orphanage.jpghttps://consecratedeminence.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/weeden-chas-ac1916-album-page.jpg


7/15



All of the collections are readily available to researchers. We would welcome students whomight be interested to visit the Archives and speak with one of the staff members aboutpaper or project topics. We will continue to improve and add to the collections and theirdocumentation over time, and we also have a long-term goal of describing the links amongthe collections, thereby providing a sense of the community of missionaries withconnections to Amherst College.

In case you didnt get to see the exhibition in Frost, here are a few items from several of thecollections.

(https://reader010.{domain}/reader010/html5/0606/5b1794a96c22f/5b1794b07a4f9.jpg)William Earl Dodge Ward (seated on right), son and grandson of missionaries, and marriedto Dora Judd Mattoon Ward, herself a missionary. With his staff in Bombay, c. 1930. From

the William Earl Dodge Ward (AC 1906) Papers. Dora Wards papers are also in thearchives.
https://consecratedeminence.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/ward-wed-bombay-staff.jpg


8/15



(https://consecratedeminence.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/missionaries1858_img1.jpg)Luminaries in the missionary field: J. W. Parsons; Isaac Grout Bliss (AC 1844); D. Ladd;

Edwin Elisha Blss (AC 1837); Aug. Walker; Cyrus Hamlin; Elias Riggs (AC 1829); WilliamG. Schauffler; H.G. O. Dwight; William Goodell; and Henry Van Lennep (AC 1837).

Constantinople, 1859. Whether one agrees with their goals or not, these missionaries wrotelively, thought-provoking letters and journals that provide a lot of history for the times and

places in which they lived.

(https://consecratedeminence.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/ward-paul-ac1933-bx1-f6-camp-
https://consecratedeminence.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/ward-paul-ac1933-bx1-f6-camp-forward.jpghttps://consecratedeminence.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/missionaries1858_img1.jpg


9/15


https://consecratedeminence.wordpress.com/2013/06/10/terras-i rradient-shining-a-light-on-the-past/ 9/15

forward.jpg)All in the Family: Photo album from Paul Langdon Ward (AC 1933). Ward was the son of

missionaries Edwin St. John (AC 1900) and Charlotte A. Ward (MHC 1903) and thegrandson of missionaries Edwin E. (AC 1837) and Isabella Bliss. He was born in Diarbekr,Turkey, and was schooled in Beirut and at Deerfield Academy before attending Amherst.

Paul became what might be called a scholar-diplomat and spent some of his long,

distinguished career in China. He was also the president of Sarah Lawrence College from1960-65.

(https://consecratedeminence.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/ward-paul-ac1933-bx1-f2-postcard-c1928.jpg)

Postcard (c. 1928) from the Paul Langdon Ward (AC 1933) Papers.

(https://consecratedeminence.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/ward-paul-ac1933-bx1-f1-caw-children-passport-1916.jpg)
https://consecratedeminence.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/ward-paul-ac1933-bx1-f6-camp-forward.jpghttps://consecratedeminence.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/ward-paul-ac1933-bx1-f1-caw-children-passport-1916.jpghttps://consecratedeminence.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/ward-paul-ac1933-bx1-f2-postcard-c1928.jpghttps://consecratedeminence.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/ward-paul-ac1933-bx1-f6-camp-forward.jpg


10/15



Charlotte Allen Ward (MHC 1903) and her children. Passport photo (1916) in PaulLangdon Ward (AC 1933) Papers.

(https://consecratedeminence.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/ward-paul-ac1933-bx1-f1-caw-children-1913-beirut.jpg)

Charlotte Allen Ward with two of her children (Esther and Paul), Beirut, 1913. From thePaul Langdon Ward (AC 1933) Papers.
https://consecratedeminence.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/ward-paul-ac1933-bx1-f1-caw-children-1913-beirut.jpg


11/15



(https://consecratedeminence.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/ward-paul-ac1933-bx1-f2-esthers-beirut-c1928.jpg)

Beirut Harbor: Page from Esther G. Ward Eastons photograph album. Esther was adaughter of Edwin St. John Ward (AC 1900), a doctor and missionary with long service in

the Middle East. Album is in the Paul Langdon Ward (AC 1933) Papers.
https://consecratedeminence.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/ward-paul-ac1933-bx1-f2-esthers-beirut-c1928.jpg


12/15



(https://reader010.{domain}/reader010/html5/0606/5b1794a96c22f/5b1794b595975.jpg)Near Orfu. From an album in the Charlotte Allen Ward Papers

(http://www.mtholyoke.edu/lits/library/arch/col/msrg/sum/completed/allen.html) at Mt.Holyoke College.
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/lits/library/arch/col/msrg/sum/completed/allen.htmlhttps://consecratedeminence.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/ward-estj-album-near-orfu-2.jpg


13/15



on July 24, 2013 at 12:17 pm | Reply

(https://consecratedeminence.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/howard-bliss-with-spc-faculty-c1876-b3f5.jpg)

Howard Bliss (AC 1882), son of Daniel Bliss (AC 1852) and his wife Abby Maria Wood,standing in center of back row, with faculty from the Syrian Protestant College (now theAmerican University of Beirut). His father, Daniel Bliss, was a founder of the college, and

Howard followed in his footsteps, serving as president from 1902-20. This line of Blissmissionaries are cousins to Edwin Elisha Bliss and his line. Photograph from the [Daniel]

Bliss Family Papers.

Posted in Amherst College Alumni, College History, Missionaries | Tagged AmherstCollege missionaries | 3 Comments

3 Responses

Henry
https://consecratedeminence.wordpress.com/tag/amherst-college-missionaries/https://consecratedeminence.wordpress.com/category/missionaries/https://consecratedeminence.wordpress.com/category/college-history/https://consecratedeminence.wordpress.com/category/amherst-college-alumni/https://consecratedeminence.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/howard-bliss-with-spc-faculty-c1876-b3f5.jpghttps://consecratedeminence.wordpress.com/2013/06/10/terras-irradient-shining-a-light-on-the-past/?replytocom=1928#respond


14/15



on July 24, 2013 at 1:25 pm | Reply

on August 5, 2013 at 2:35 pm | Reply

I enjoyed this posting. I was a religion major at AC & subsequently went on toYale to continue theological studies. Although I did not enter the clergy, I haveremained an amateur & somewhat episodic student of the missionary field inthe Middle East. I have spent my career as a Foreign Service officer; I grew up partiallyin the Middle East & my mother is an Assyrian Christian from the region. So the partsabove concerning Beirut and Turkey, and the Armenian missions all resonated with me.

I am wondering if any of the collection makes mention of working with NestorianChristians, sometimes referred to as the Assyrians? Thanks!

mrdakinHello, Henry Thank you very much for your comment. Im so glad youenjoyed the post. We have a lot of missionary collections here that werebeginning to examine more closely with the design of making them moreobvious to reseachers. I think the collection that might suit your interests in

particular is the Justin Perkins Papers. He was a missionary among the Nestoriansfor some thirty years, from about the mid 1830s into the 1860s. His collection isnt alarge one, but it contains quite a bit of correspondence with other missionaries, and Ithink youd find that hes represented in other collections as well. Ill write your e-mail address and include a link to a basic list for his collection, and then you can letme know where you want to go from there. Margaret

A Crowd at Mezreh (1909) | The ConsecratedEminence

[] my June 2013 post I mentioned several collections from and about AmherstCollege alumni who had careers as []

Comments RSS

Blog at WordPress.com.

The MistyLook Theme.

Follow

Follow The Consecrated Eminence
http://void%280%29/https://wordpress.com/themes/mistylook/https://wordpress.com/?ref=footer_bloghttps://consecratedeminence.wordpress.com/2013/06/10/terras-irradient-shining-a-light-on-the-past/feed/https://consecratedeminence.wordpress.com/2013/08/05/a-crowd-at-mezreh-1909/https://consecratedeminence.wordpress.com/2013/06/10/terras-irradient-shining-a-light-on-the-past/?replytocom=1954#respondhttps://consecratedeminence.wordpress.com/2013/06/10/terras-irradient-shining-a-light-on-the-past/?replytocom=1929#respond


15/15


Build a website with WordPress.com
https://wordpress.com/?ref=lof

Amherst College Missionary Collection

Documents

Transcript of Amherst College Missionary Collection