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.
Onsite storage.
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 five series: Series 1: Latin American Churches and Social Movements; Series 2: North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA); Series 3: Series 3: Latin American Organizations: Iglesia y Sociedad en América Latina (ISAL) and Latin American Division of the National Council of Churches (LAD of NCC); Series 4: U.S. Critique of American Policy in Latin America; and Series 5: U.S. Educational Materials on Latin America.
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: MRL9, Latin America
Item description, MRL 9: Missionary Research Library collection on Latin American churches' response to social movements, 1962-1973, box #, folder #, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York.
When the Burke Library acquired these papers, an attempt was made to maintain the original order imposed by the Mission Research Library on the contents. Folded materials were flattened. Staples, rubber bands, and metal clips were removed and replaced with plastic clips. All materials were placed in acid-free folders and boxes. The finding aid was created by Miguel Escobar in 2006, reviewed and updated by Brigette Kamsler in 2014 with the support of the Henry Luce Foundation, and edited by Leah Edelman in 2024.
This collection contains materials compiled by the Missionary Research Library that describe the Latin American churches' response to the social movements that emerged during the years 1962-1973, including reports, pamphlets, essays, press statements, quarterly reports and a study by the North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA).
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 mixed materials describing various Latin American churches' response to the movements for social change taking place during the years 1962-1969. Papers like Emilio Castro's "Protestants in the Latin American Revolution" and Christian d'Epinay's "Protestant churches and the Latin American Revolution" are especially helpful in providing information on Latin American Protestant churches' role during this period.
Essay, 1962: Raushenbush, Stephen The Challenge to the Alliance for Progress, Public Affairs Institute, 1962, 89p.
Articles and clippings, [196?] – 1967: Center for Cuban Studies pamphlet, [196?]; Pai nosso que estás nos céus. Bíblia hoje, v.1; Hoffman, Ronan. Social Change in Latin America, report, 1967; Educación para una nueva sociedad en América Latina, pamphlet; "A parábola dos trabalhadores na vinha" Biblia hoje, v.10 ; Arias, Rev. Mortimer. An Easter Manifesto to the Bolivian Nation, Methodist Church, 1967
Essays and article, 1968: Castro, Emilio. Protestants in the Latin American Revolution; Christian Lalive d'Epinay Protestant churches and the Latin American revolution, 1968; Tirador, Martín, Violence against priests in Colombia, 1969.
Third World Reader Service, 1970-71: Advertisements from Third World Awareness/Advocacy team, [1971]; Denis Goulet, The United States, a case of anti-development; Third World Reader Service reprint from Motive, Jan 1970.
This series is open for research.
This series is arranged roughly chronologically.
The North American Congress on Latin America was founded in November 1966, and sought to "examine and debate the official and mainstream coverage of the Johnson Administration's April 1965 invasion of the Dominican Republic." The NACLA currently provides "policy makers, analysts, academics, organizers, journalists and religious and community groups with information on U.S.-Latin American relations on a range of political, social and economic issues in the Americas.
This series contains mixed materials relating to the work of NACLA. Various projects are recorded here though special attention should go to the development of NACLA's "Yanqui Dollar" study. Shown here in its proposed, developmental, and final state, the Yanqui Dollar Study sought to examine U.S. corporate investment in Latin America. Later newsletters and news packets would emphasize how U.S. private investments had led to Latin America's state of underdevelopment.
Draft Proposal for Research and Action, Steve Weissman, Mar 1967; Press Statement, 1969; Proposal for a study of U.S. private investment in Latin America.
Confidential report from NACLA staff, April 20, 1967; NACLA report, Sept 1968.
Yanqui Dollar: a study of U.S. investment in Latin America: Outline for study and questions about corporations; Project mailing #1. Recent Developments. April 1972; Project mailing #2. "Moving against the corporations," Sept. 1972.
The Tupamaros, Comic book,1971; Packet/newsletter: The elections in Uruguay, fall, 1971.
Quarterly report, financial statement, July 1-Dec 31, 1970; News service [4] articles, 1972
This series is open for research.
This series is arranged roughly chronologically.
Originating with the Latin American Protestant youth movement of the 1940's-50's, ISAL first appeared as a periodical bulletin in 1959 in the city of Montevideo, Uruguay. Within years, this publication would prove to be the basis for a burgeoning movement among Latin American Protestants. Organizing its first consultation in Lima, Peru in 1961, this meeting addressed "The Social Responsibility of the Protestant Church in the Face of Rapid Social Change." Two years later in Rio de Janeiro, ISAL held its first consultation on Service and Social Action. In a rough history of ISAL published in 1967 (in this collection), members describe themselves as seeking "to awaken Protestant conscience to social responsibility…through the promotion of interest in serious study of the message of the Bible, theological reflection, and an objective analysis of the social situation." This same document concludes by expressing a strong desire to become a social movement.
The National Council of Churches was founded in 1950 and describes itself as the leading force for ecumenical cooperation in the United States. During the 1960's and 70's, the NCC organized a Latin American Division (LAD) under the Division of Overseas Ministries. The few documents relating to this group indicate that its members intended to continue through the 1970's and that it supported groups like ISAL among others.
This series contains mixed materials representing U.S. and Latin American churches' response to the movements for social change taking place in 1965-1970 through the lens of various organizations' documents.
Cartoon: Muchas Gracias, Mr. Rocky. Excelsior 7-A, March 11, 1969; Castro, Emilio. Protestants in the Latin American Revolution. 10/26/66; On the Life of the Churches and the Ecumenical Movement in Latin America: An ISAL (HOPE) position, ISAL1969, Cristianismo y Sociedad 7(19), 1969, 2nd issue.
Illusion and Reality in Inter-American Relations, tps. Abernathy, Ralph and Helder Camara. Declaration, 1970, tps.
Smith, Eugene. The Role of Churches in International Affairs. Apr. 21, 1967, tps; United Presbyterian interpretation of Latin American issues to the USA constituency: survey of a decade, Feb. 7, 1968; Escobar, Samuel. "The Social Responsibility of the Church" Latin American Evangelist, Mar-Apr, 1970.
Sanders, Thomas G. CIDOC—Church in Latin America, reprinted from Foreign Affairs, Jan 1970 pp.285-299.
"NCC General Board Resolution on the Dominican republic Crisis," Latin America Newsletter 63, July 1965; Smith, R.F. Resume, CWS Program in Latin America, 1968; Latin America: Priorities for the 1970's. LAD document; "An effort at incarnation," ISAL doc. Oct. 1967; Santa Ana, Julio, Christians and Revolution in Latin America, ISAL doc. 1969, tps, distributed by NCC; Latin American newsletter special edition, Latin American Division (LAD) of NCC, Sept 1968; Church and Society in Latin America (ISAL), tps; North American Churches and Christian Work in Latin American Universities: a summary based survey, DOM program board, 1967
U.S. military policy in Latin America. U.S. Conference on Church in Society (ISAL) Section I, Group 2; "Trade, aid, and the alliance for progress" U.S. Conference on Church & Society (ISAL) Section I, Group 3; Hoffman, Ronan. Social change in Latin America: the mission of the church, Conference on intercultural communications, Jan 3-6 1967.
Catholic bishops in Latin America hold third assembly. The Christian Century, Nov. 28, 1968 The Latin American episcopate and the Latin American reality. Reprinted from Fichas de ISAL Vol 1 No 1, July 1968; 2 nd General Conference of the Latin American Roman Catholic Episcopate. Medellin, Colombia: Aug 24-Sept. 6, 1968, Final document of commission three: education, unofficial translation; Andrews, James F. "Consciousness of Oppression," National Catholic Reporter, Fall Oct 1, 1969, Book review of A Theology of Human Hope by Ruben A. Alves; Cartoons: "Rocky's Gatherings"
This series is open for research.
This series is arranged roughly chronologically.
This series contains articles and papers representing U.S. criticism of American foreign policy as regards Latin America. Articles entitled "Can Pax Americana Succeed?" and "Training, Equipping the Latin American Military," reveal the concerns which U.S. church organizations sought to address.
Fleming, D.F. "Can Pax Americana Succeed?" Annals of the AmericanAcademy of Political and Social Science, July 1965; Edme, Henri. "Damping the fires of Revolution." Translated from Les Temps Modernes, Paris/ATLAS, Sept 1966; Roberts, W. Dayton. "What's ahead in Sao Paulo?" Latin American Evangelist, Nov-Dec 1967 Vol. 47, No. 6; Lens, Sidney. "Uncommon Common Market" Commonweal, June 1967
Page, Joseph A. "Revolution in Liberty" The New Republic, Dec. 1967; Hazelton, John S. "Changing Latin America-Church Labor Letter" No. 109, May 1967; "Justice and International Development." Concern, March 1, 1967; "A few recommendations for reading in the area of international economic development." University Christian Movement, [1967]; Structures of Christian presence: a proposal for study. tps, 1966; Loyo, Gilberto. "Latinoamérica y la explosión demográfica," Revista de Economía, Abril de 1967, 40 (4) ; Rodriguez, Alfonso. Our Christian Missions among the Spanish Americans in the U.S.A. tps., 1965.
Abbot, John W. "U.S. Frame of Mind and World Mission Service" Typescript report for the Promotion Staff Council of the Division of Overseas Ministries, 1967; Tyson, Brady. "The vanguard that failed," tps
Fletcher, Verne H. "Collective dimensions in interracial behavior," reprint from The City Church; Black, Donald. Implications for structure and program of contemporary discussion on the nature of evangelism. April 29-30, 1966; Sinclair, John H. "Understanding the Protestant Church in the U.S.A." Address, Jan 11, 1967.
Black, Donald. "Focus on the White Liberal," Pamphlet for the General Dept. of Mission Strategy and Evangelism, 1967; Goulet, Denis A. "Can there be social change with no violence?" Interview, World Campus Newspaper, Notre Dame University: Nov. 1967; Grant, Zalin B. "Training, equipping the Latin American military," The New Republic, Dec. 1967; Loffler, Paul. Observations on the Latin American consultation: "The Mission of the Church in an Urban Industrial Society," Typescript reflections, 1966; Hero, Alfred O. American protestants and world affairs, [1966]; Sullivan, Leon H. "An experiment in serving people in difficult urban areas," Address: Jan. 11, 1967.
Segundo, R. "The future of Christianity in Latin America," Crosscurrents, Summer, 1963; Vallier, Ivan. "Challenge to Catholicism in Latin America," Transaction magazine, Washington University, St. Louis, Miss. 1967; Bishop, Jordan. "Regis Debray," Commonweal, 10 Nov 1967; Diamond, Norman. "Why they shoot Americans," The Nation, Feb 5, 1968; Krushmic, Richard. "United States military bases in Puerto Rico and their strategic function," Internal doc. report, Feb. 1968.
This series is open for research.
This series is arranged roughly chronologically.
This series contains four educational packets produced by various church organizations during the years 1967-1972. These packets were especially intended for use by children and young adults in Sunday school. They represent popular efforts to educate the U.S. public on the poor-living conditions of people in Latin America and to raise awareness of how U.S. foreign policy had caused extreme poverty in "developing" nations.