Missionary Research Library collection of scrapbooks, 1892 -- 1956

Creator:
Missionary Research Library (New York, N.Y.)
Abstract:
This collection contains newspaper articles compiled in 32 scrapbooks by the Missionary Research Library on a variety of topics, including missionary work in China and India and mission ideology.
Extent:
6 linear feet 6 linear feet; 6 boxes
Language:
English .
Scope and content:

This collection contains newspaper articles compiled in 32 scrapbooks by the Missionary Research Library on a variety of topics, including missionary work in China and India and mission ideology. Other material include a bibliography comprised of clippings from The International Review of Missions and arranged by topic (1952-1956), Reverend Frank D. Gamewell's scrapbook compiled during his time as a missionary in China (1911), and a series of annotated drawings and illustrations of Africa.

Biographical / historical:

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 in order to be both a resource for missionaries, and a means to document the missionary movement. With funding from John D. Rockefeller, Mott stated, "We are now ready to…secure the most complete and serviceable missionary library and archives in the world. I desire it to be thoroughly interdenominational, ecumenical and international. It should be made preeminently rich in source material." It was located at the Madison Avenue headquarters of the Foreign Missionary Conference of North America. By the 1920s, funding was becoming scarce; 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 integrated with the Burke Library's collections in 1976. In 2004, the Burke Library was fully integrated with the Columbia University Library system.

Access and use

Restrictions:

This collection is open for research.

The following boxes are located offsite: Box 1-6. Please note that requests for use of boxes held in offsite storage must be made three business days in advance.

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, MRL12: Missionary Research Library collection of scrapbooks, 1892-1962, box #, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York.

Location of this collection:
Burke Home Page
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