American Marathi Mission records, 1813 -- 1962
Collection context
- Creator:
- Fisher, Louise Gliem, 1889-1976 and American Marathi Mission
- Abstract:
- This collection contains material related to the American Marathi Mission, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) first Protestant mission in Western India, compiled in 1962 by Louise Gliem Fisher. Materials include general background information and reports on various mission stations, as well as typescript material pulled together from minutes, reports, diaries, brochures, and correspondence.
- Extent:
- 0.5 linear feet (0.5 linear feet; 1 box)
- Language:
- English .
- Scope and content:
-
This collection contains material related to the American Marathi Mission, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) first Protestant mission in Western India, founded in 1813. Materials were compiled in 1962 by Louise Gliem Fisher, who had worked as a public health nurse in the Satara District beginning in 1934, and include general background information and reports on various mission stations, as well as typescript material pulled together from minutes, reports, diaries, brochures, and correspondence.
- Biographical / historical:
-
The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) established their first foreign mission with the American Marathi Mission in Bombay on December 21, 1813. It was the first protestant mission in Western India and spread into hundreds of villages. The mission center moved from Bombay to Ahmednager in 1831 because it was closer to the center of Marathi County. By 1911, Christian converts were attending church and school and learning academic subjects, practical farming, and basic medicine and industry including carpentry and weaving. The mission's aid for famine and plague victims and establishment of a women's Bible training school increased the goodwill towards the Marathi Mission. The Marathi Mission also founded colleges and a theological institution, an institution for care of the blind, and a leper colony at Sholapur throughout the late 1800s to mid-1900s. Although the number of Christians was growing, caste prejudices and the scarcity of Christian leaders continued to be an issue for the organization, and the move for Indian independence led to a downturn in relations between Indian Christians and missionaries. In 1922 the Marathi Mission created an Indian Mission Board to help give locals more independence over their Christianity.
Louise Gliem Fisher was born in Saint Clair, St. Clair County, Michigan on October 27, 1889, to Charles A. Gliem and Mary Elizabeth Meyer Gliem. She married Henry Wellen Fisher in 1926, and worked as a public health nurse in the Satara District with the American Marathi Mission from 1934 through 1959. Fisher died on August 28, 1976.
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, MRL3: American Marathi Mission records, 1813-1962, box #, folder #, 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