Basel Mission on the Gold Coast, West Africa educational records, 1894 -- 1904
Collection context
- Creator:
- Evangelische Missionsgesellschaft in Basel
- Abstract:
- This collection contains records from the Basel Mission relating to its educational work on the Gold Coast (Ghana), West Africa.
- Extent:
- 0.25 linear feet 0.25 linear feet; 1 box
- Language:
- German .
- Scope and content:
-
This collection contains records from the Basel Mission relating to its educational work on the Gold Coast (Ghana), West Africa, including practical manuals given to missionaries as standards for teaching at the primary and middle school levels, and a pamphlet on its educational approach.
- Biographical / historical:
-
The Basel Mission, a protestant missionary society named for the Swiss city, was founded in 1815. All the directors, most of the lecturers in the Mission college, and more than half of the overseas staff were recruited from Wurttemberg, Germany. Missionaries were first sent to the Gold Coast in the 1820s; however, due to illness, their presence was not truly felt until the 1840s. Other locations for the Mission included India, China, Cameroon, and Kalimantan. The two main goals of the Basel Mission for its first century were to build a Christian village culture among farmers, and to concentrate on building church life and education in the vernacular languages. In the 19th century, the Mission ran Ghana's first organized school system, from the village primary school to the Teachers' Training College. The Basel Mission reached its peak just before 1914 when more than 300 people were in their service abroad. Expelled during the period of World War I and World War II, the Basel Mission never regained the same presence abroad. In 2001, the Basel Mission merged with three other independent protestant mission societies to form mission 21.
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
This collection is open for research.
Onsite storage.
- Terms of access:
-
Some material in this collection may be protected by copyright and other rights. Information concerning copyright, fair use, and reproduction requests can be consulted at Columbia's Copyright Advisory Office.
- Preferred citation:
-
Item description, MRL1: Basel Mission on the Gold Coast, West Africa educational records, 1894-1902, box #, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York.
- Location of this collection:
- Before you visit:
- Researchers must book an appointment at least 5 business days in advance to view special collections material in the reading room. To make the most of your visit, be sure to request your desired materials before booking your appointment, as researchers are limited to one item per hour of appointment time.
- Contact:
- burke@library.columbia.edu