Collections : [Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary]

This series contains historical information on the formation of the Chinese Church in Korea from its creation in 1912. Fact sheets, pamphlets, and indices of school names and other demographic data place the Chinese Church of Christ in the larger context of Protestant missionary work in Korea. News articles, programs, informational pamphlets, statistics and graphs contain evidence related to the founding and operation of the Church and missionary-run schools along with more general resources on Korean missionary efforts, school demographics, and resources for newcomers to Korea. Documents related to the foundation of the Church include the Constitution and minutes of the first meeting. Articles and reports, most of which are commissioned by the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, and research from the committee of Christian Education Mission Schools chronicle the establishment and administration of church centers and schools. Correspondence excerpts include narrative history of the Church founding and operation and indices listing key members of the Church and missionary school community. A listing of Mission Stations in Korea dated 1915 includes Japanese spelling equivalents. More than thirty fact sheets on the socio-political condition of South Korea, specifically violation of human rights, are also found in this collection. The work of the Chinese Church of Christ in Korea proceeded against a backdrop of larger historical context, including references to riots and unrest that interrupted missionary work in 1931, and later with the advent of World War II [see folder 1].

This series contains records relating to the establishment of NECA and the work William Adams Brown and others did to complete the task, an example of which are the Five Year Stabilization Fund reports. In August 1936, a plan was approved to contract with Tamblyn and Brown to conduct a five-year stabilization fund. The goal was to raise $120,000 annually for a period of five years, which would be dispersed among the colleges. Allen W. Dulles became Chairman of the Stabilization Fund Committee. While fundraising was successful during the first few years, it faltered during World War Two. In addition to general information on the organization, specific materials relating to professors, their position in the college and their education form part of the collection Other documents reveal who returned to America from Turkey and their addresses. There exists a document listing preferred prospects and their addresses for membership in NECA, and if the individual could donate funds or at times, "literature only." The majority of those on this list were in Metropolitan New York, with a small number from "miscellaneous states." Also of note is a letter between Cleveland Dodge and W. A. Brown regarding the establishment of a Near East Society from March 1935. This society would be formed by NECA and the Near East Foundation, the purpose of which was to provide information to the American public on happenings in the Middle East. It officially formed in 1948.