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Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary |
Summary InformationAbstract
At a Glance
ArrangementArrangementThis collection is arranged in four series: Series 1: Correspondence; Series 2: Minutes; Series 3: Programs and Events; and Series 4: Auxiliary Foreign Missionary Society.
DescriptionScope and ContentsThis collection contains correspondence from members of the New Haven Branch of the Woman's Board of Missions; detailed minutes from the New Haven Branch and the New York State Branch of the Woman's Board of Missions Executive, Public, and Annual meetings; programs from the Norwich and New London Society and the Brookfield Association of the Auxiliary Foreign Missionary Society; as well as records of the branch officers' conference papers, programs and reports from individual branch meetings, and historical sketches of some branches.
Burke Library record group:Missionary Research Library Archives: MRL12, Ecumenical/World Mission Using the CollectionBurke Library at Union Theological Seminary Conditions Governing AccessThis collection is open for research. Onsite storage. Conditions Governing UseSome 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 CitationItem description, MRL12: Woman's Board of Missions Records, 1862-1927, series #, box #, folder #, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York. Related MaterialsMRL 12: American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions records, 1878-1958, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York. Immediate Source of AcquisitionFormerly part of the independent Missionary Research Library (MRL), these records were accessioned by the Burke Library at the time of the MRL's closure in 1976. About the Finding Aid / Processing InformationColumbia University Libraries, Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary Processing InformationMaterial was cataloged by Lynn A. Grove on 1988-08-04. Metal clips and staples were removed from materials and folded items were flattened. 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 Kamsler in 2012 with the support of the Henry Luce Foundation, and edited by Leah Edelman in 2021. Revision Description2021-09-23 PDF converted to EAD and description updated by Leah Edelman. Subject HeadingsThe subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches at Columbia University through the Archival Collections Portal and through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, as well as ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives. All links open new windows. Subject
History / Biographical NoteBiographical / HistoricalIn January 1868, Congregationalist women in Boston organized the interdenominational New England Women's Foreign Missionary Society. By the following September, the constitution was altered to limit their relationship to collaboration with the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM). The name of the organization then changed to the Woman's Board of Missions and was incorporated March 1869. The focus of the WBM was "to co-operate with the American Board in its… labor for the benefit of women and children in heathen lands, to disseminate missionary intelligence and increase a missionary spirit among Christian women at home and to train children to interest and participation in the work." The Woman's Board of Missions was also committed to supporting single women missionaries. Members believed that the United States was too vast for one organization to cover the nation; therefore the Woman's Board of Missions of the Interior was formed in the Chicago area in 1868 and the west coast formed the Woman's Board of Missions of the Pacific in 1873. By 1887, the Woman's Board of Missions supported ninety-eight female missionaries, forty-eight bible women, twenty-seven boarding schools and 239 village day schools. Women from various missionary societies created the World's Missionary Committee of Christian Women in 1888 with Abbie B. Child of the WBM elected Chair. The Woman's Board of Missions continued independently until 1936 when it merged as one with the ABCFM. |