This finding aid is made available for public use following the Universal 1.0 Public Domain Dedication Creative Commons designation.
This collection is open for research.
The following boxes are located offsite: Box 1-30 (entire collection). Please note that requests for use of boxes held in offsite storage must be made three business days in advance.
This collection was assembled from records in the Missionary Research Library before its 1976 closure. These records were accessioned by the Burke Library at the time of the MRL's closure in 1976.
This collection is arranged in six series: Series 1: Committees and conferences; Series 2: Education; Series 3: Churches, Christianity, and Religion; Series 4: Missions and Missionaries; Series 5: Photographs and Maps; and Series 6: Subject and Topic files.
The Missionary Research Library was created by John R. Mott in 1914 after the World Missionary Conference, held in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1910. It was created to be a resource for missionaries and to document the missionary movement, and was initially funded by John D. Rockefeller. It was located at the Madison Avenue headquarters of the Foreign Missionary Conference of North America. By the 1920s, funding was becoming scarcer; therefore it was moved to the Brown Tower of the Union Theological Seminary, New York City in 1929. The Library was an important center of information and research. Active missionaries would consult the material of the Missionary Research Library while on furlough. Much of the Library's success was due to the director and librarian, Charles H. Fahs. Upon his retirement in 1948, the MRL's financial difficulties continued until it was finally integrated as one with the Burke Library's collections in 1967. In 2004, the Burke Library was fully integrated with the Columbia University Library System.
Missionary Research Library Archives: MRL12, Ecumenical/World Mission
Item description, MRL12: Missionary Research Library collection on ecumenical and world-wide mission work, series #, box #, folder #, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York.
Materials were placed in new acid-free folders and boxes. The collection was organized following the "More Product, Less Process" method. This means that the collection was generally organized, but not taken to the folder level of description. The clips and staples were also left in the folders. This allows the collection to be made available more quickly and gives researchers a general idea of what is available in the collection. The finding aid was created by Brigette Kamsler in 2014 with financial support from the Henry Luce Foundation, and edited by Leah Edelman in 2022.
This collection contains material related to ecumenical and world-wide mission work and committees and conferences, education, churches and religion, and missionaries, as well as photographs and maps and subject and topic files, including some on geographic locations, as well as the earliest records in the collection (1792) which pertain to Presbyterian Moderators of the General Assembly. Formats include reports, minutes, papers, photographs, negatives and maps.
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.
This series is open for research.
This series is unarranged.
This series contains material related to committees and conferences.
Conference on Missionary Societies; National Study Conference on the Church and International Situation; Advisory Committee Christian Higher Education; Friends World Committee; National Peace Conference; Ecumenical Conference on Christian World Mission
American Committee on Preservation of the Sacred Places in the Holy Land; Committee of the Inquiry; Methodist Committee for Overseas Relief; Belgian Annual Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church; Citizens Committee of One-Thousand; Intermountain Conference of Evangelical Churches; Committee on Missionary Education
This series is open for research.
This series is unarranged.
This series contains material related to Education.
Christian Colleges; Missionary Education; Theological Colleges; Board of Christian Education; Institute of International Education; Problems in Administration of Missionary Education; Sunday School
This series is open for research.
This series is arranged chronologically.
This series contains material related to Churches, Christianity and Religion.
Presbyterian Church of the United States; Brethren of Christ; Christians throughout the World; Christian Witness; Christian Bases of World Order; Undenominational Fellowship of Christian Churches and Churches of Christ; Aid to Churches in Other Lands; Christian Union Quarterly
The Church and the Urban Industrial Revolution; Protestant Churches in Europe; Christian Relations with Muslims; Christian Relations with Post-War Europe; International Christian Movements; World Affairs of Christian Churches; Constitutions of Councils of Churches
Catholic Societies; Church in Modern Society; Church Social Relations; Christian Literature
This series is open for research.
This series is unarranged.
This series contains material related to Missions and Missionaries.
Missionary Bulletins; World Missions; Biographies of Women and Pioneer Missionaries; United Mission in Mesopotamia; Language Study Courses for Missionaries; Paris Missionary Society; German Evangelical Mission
Correspondence from Missionaries; Missions and World Affairs; Agricultural Missions
Worldwide Missions; Orphaned Missions; Study of the Turnover of Missionaries; World Atlas of Christian Missions; Statistics of Mission Work; Board of World Missions; Missionary Orientation Center Workbook; Furlough Address of Missionaries
Agricultural Missions; General Conference Concerning Missions; Education of Missionary Children
Mission Fields and Stations; Christian Missions and Other Religions; Veterans for Missions; Missionary Giving; Rural Missions
This series is open for research.
This series is unarranged.
This series contains photographs and maps.
Maps; Photographs; Photo Album of Lepers; Missionary Education Exposition; Church Missionary Entertainment; Souvenir Pins (1 of 2)
Maps; Photographs; Photo Album of Lepers; Missionary Education Exposition; Church Missionary Entertainment; Souvenir Pins (2 of 2)
This series is open for research.
This series is unarranged.
This series contains subject and topic files, including some on geographic locations, as well as the earliest records in the collection (1792) which pertain to Presbyterian Moderators of the General Assembly.
Statistics; Agency Data; American Baptist Foreign Missions; Baptist Young People's Union; Homiletics; Thesis by Robert Lee
World Affairs; Franklin H. Littell; Social Problems; Measurement of Social Attitudes and Personality Traits; Litton Report; Language of Ikoka; Williamstown Meeting Minutes
Pamphlets; Anti-Opium Information Bureau; Church Union in Canada; Frank Millican; The Catholic Church Problem in Mexico; Address by Pope Paul
Translation Documents; Sermons and Poetry; Ancestor Worship and Filial Piety; Anti-Christian Movement; United Clearing Board
American Relations with Asia; John Milton Society for the Blind; History of American and South Asian Contacts; Government; John Mackay and Robert Speer Correspondence; Communism through Europe and Prussia
Correspondence, Letters and Articles; International Relations Commission; Post-War Planning; Evangelism; Mussolini; SeventhDay Adventists; Christian Libraries in New York City; Reformed Church in America
World Presbyterian Alliance; International Living; Presbyterian Moderators; United Church Board for World Ministries
Methodist Episcopal Church; Plays, Pageants and Religious Dramas; Far East Opium Report; Moving Pictures Abroad