Woman's Board of Missions records, 1862 -- 1927

Summary Information

Abstract

The Woman's Board of Missions was a Congregationalist organization from Boston associated with American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM), focusing on the benefit of women and children throughout the world, disseminating missionary intelligence, and supporting single women missionaries. The 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.

At a Glance

Arrangement

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in four series: Series 1: Correspondence; Series 2: Minutes; Series 3: Programs and Events; and Series 4: Auxiliary Foreign Missionary Society.

• Series 1: Correspondence, 1871 -- 1893
• Series 2: Minutes, 1872 -- 1927
• Series 3: Programs and Events, 1883 -- 1926
• Series 4: Auxiliary Foreign Missionary Society, 1862 -- 1879

Description

Scope and Contents

This 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.

• Series 1: Correspondence, 1871 -- 1893

  This series contains one individual letter and three books of correspondence from members of the New Haven Branch of the Woman's Board of Missions. The third volume notes the inclusion of "copies of important missionary and business letters, from the corresponding secretary of the New Haven Brach of the Woman's Board of Missions." The recording secretary for the three volumes was Hannah D. Hume. The records detail information on missionaries in the field as well as events in the branch in the United States. Hume refers to the organization in a variety of ways including the Women's Missionary Society of New Haven and the Ladies' Missionary Society.

• Series 2: Minutes, 1872 -- 1927

  This series contains detailed minutes in book form from the New Haven Branch and the New York State Branch of the Woman's Board of Missions. The handwritten records detail the proceedings of the Executive, Public, and Annual meetings. The records show who was in attendance at the meetings; which issues were voted on; what papers were read and presentations made and other descriptive items showing the daily workings of the Branch.

• Series 3: Programs and Events, 1883 -- 1926

  This series contains records of the branch officers' conference papers, programs and reports from individual branch meetings, and historical sketches of some branches. The programs are detailed and include lists of missionaries and their location throughout the world. The papers also touch on issues the Board dealt with such as having a separate foreign missionary society, union organizations, and missionary qualifications in regards to education and special training by way of preparation. Interspersed through the programs are presentations from the Children's Societies of the various branches. These meetings involved prayer and song as well as information from various missionary locations. The list of branch meetings is extensive and is limited to the east coast. The branches are a mix of states, counties, cities and towns. The branches are: Andover and Woburn Branch, New York State Branch, Barnstable Branch, Norfolk and Pilgrim Branch, Brooklyn District of New York State Branch, North Middlesex Branch, Eastern Connecticut Branch, Old Colony Branch, Eastern Maine Branch, Philadelphia Branch, Essex South Branch, Rhode Island Branch, Hampshire County Branch, Springfield Branch, Hartford Branch Suffolk Branch, Middlesex Branch, Vermont Branch, New Hampshire Branch, Western Maine Branch, New Haven Branch, Worcester County Branch.

• Series 4: Auxiliary Foreign Missionary Society, 1862 -- 1879

  This series contains programs from the Norwich and New London Society and the Brookfield Association of the Auxiliary Foreign Missionary Society. Each program contains notes for both the men's and women's organization.

Burke Library record group:

Missionary Research Library Archives: MRL12, Ecumenical/World Mission

Using the Collection

Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Onsite storage.

Conditions Governing Use

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: 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 Materials

MRL 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 Acquisition

Formerly 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 Information

Columbia University Libraries, Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary

Processing Information

Material 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 Description

2021-09-23 PDF converted to EAD and description updated by Leah Edelman.

Subject Headings

The 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.

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Subject

History / Biographical Note

Biographical / Historical

In 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.