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Finding aid available
This collection is open for research.
Onsite storage.
Originally part of the independent Missionary Research Library, these records were donated by Thayer to MRL in 1971. Thayer made further donations over the next few years to add to his personal papers. In 1976 the records were accessioned by the Burke Library archives with the closure of the MRL.
This collection is arranged in three series: Series 1: Correspondence; Series 2: PhD Thesis; and Series 3: Studies.
Clarence Richmond Thayer was born on June 11, 1901 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He attended Linden Public School, Peabody High School, the University of Pittsburgh, and Western Theological Seminary. He received a Master of Theology degree from the Pittsburgh-XeniamTheological Seminary. Thayer was a life-long member of the United Presbyterian denomination. He focused his life's work on the study of missionary testing. Training and preparing missionaries for the field was a costly and time-consuming job. Various missionary boards hoped to create a test that would predict the success of potential missionaries. This would allow appointments to be made on more than the evaluation of references and papers by missionary boards. The Committee on Missionary Personnel, part of the Foreign Missions Conference of North America (FMCNA), formed a subcommittee in 1929 to "study the aid which might be given by such tests as the intelligence, interest, emotional stability and social adjustability tests." A five-year experimental study program was designed by the subcommittee. In 1931, 1932 and 1933 a series of conferences focusing on outgoing missionaries were held by the FMCNA. During these conferences, with the aid of a local psychological examiner approximately 200 missionaries were tested. The scores from the tests were made available to the boards after the data was analyzed. Dr. Thayer used this data from the 1930s for his PhD thesis, The Relationship of Certain Psychological Test Scores to Subsequent Ratings of Missionary Field Success. The results were inconclusive. Thayer continued to test new missionaries, including conducting three major studies in 1966, 1969 and 1972. Along with an effort to re-test the original group of 200, Thayer went on to test over 4,000 further subjects. The tests were the same for each missionary – two interest tests: Strong Vocational Interest Blank and Kuder Preference Record; four personality adjustment tests: the Bell Adjustment Test, the Bernreuter Personality Inventory, the Guildford-Martin STDCR Test and the Cornell Index; and the sentence completion test by Kelly and Fiske. Dr. Thayer died on March 5, 1986 in Irwin, Pennsylvania.
Missionary Research Library Archives: MRL12, Ecumenical/World Missions
Item description, MRL 12: Clarence R. Thayer papers, series #, box #, folder #, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York.
Some papers and computer cards were cataloged by Lynn A. Grove on 1988-08-04. Folded items were flattened and materials were placed in new acid-free folders and boxes. Acidic items were separated from one another by interleaving with acid-free paper as needed. Any items in an advanced state of deterioration were placed in Mylar envelopes. The finding aid was created by Brigette C. Kamsler in 2012 with the support of the Henry Luce Foundation, and edited by Leah Edelman in 2024.
MRL12: Missionary Research Library collection of Missionary Personnel records, series #, box #, folder #, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York.
MRL12: Missionary Research Library collection on the preparation of missionaries, 1920-1963, box #, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York.
This collection contains correspondence about studies as well as information about the donation of the collection to the Missionary Research Library; annotated copies of Dr. Thayer's PhD Thesis from the University of Pittsburgh; as well as records from the studies including results and data tables and the complete set of computer cards from the 1972 study.
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 arranged roughly chronologically.
This series contains correspondence about the studies as well as information about the donation of the collection to the Missionary Research Library. Thayer was a firm believer that the Missionary Research Library was important, and had used the resources for his own PhD thesis published in 1951. Thayer offered copies and details on the studied missionaries and their results to the Boards of Missionary Organizations and this series also contains that correspondence.
This series is open for research.
This series is arranged in original order.
This series contains annotated copies of Dr. Thayer's PhD Thesis from the University of Pittsburgh. There are more appendices than what was included in the bound thesis volume; approximately two full copies of the appendices are available in this series. Each appendix includes different changes, additions and annotations by Thayer which ultimately would be used in the published version from 1951. Thayer also provided a copy of his submission to the overview committee from 1949.
This series is open for research.
This series is arranged roughly chronologically.
This series contains records from various studies that became Thayer's life work. Inspired by the original testing done in the 1930s, Thayer held his own major study to be included with his PhD thesis in 1951. When this study proved inconclusive, Thayer continued the testing again. After his thesis, the three major studies conducted were held in 1966, 1969 and 1972. Thousands of missionaries from a variety of boards and backgrounds were studied over the course of these tests. The tests were completed using computers at the University of Florida (1966); the University of West Virginia (1969); and Cleveland State University (1972). The collection offers the results and data tables from these three studies, as well as the complete set of computer cards from the 1972 study.