Missionaries

Scope and Contents This is a sizable collection. The Bridgman Family Papers document the family’s work as missionaries to South Africa over nearly a century (1860-1949). Included in these family papers are a good many biographical and genealogical histories of each member of the extended family. Unevenness exists in the collection, however, in part because the bulk of the materials primarily document the work and accomplishments of Frederick Brainerd Bridgman (1869-1925) and his wife, Clara Davis Bridgman...

Scope and Contents The Helen A. Sargent Papers document her career as a teacher and missionary in South Africa. The Papers are arranged into Series 1. Biographical; Series 2. Correspondence; Series 3. Miscellaneous Items; and Series 4. Photographs. The correspondence series contains letters to and from her aunt Sabra Sargent, James Sumner Sargent (father), and letters written by Helen A. Sargent to various other people. Most of these letters, many having traveled between New York and South Africa, reveal...

Scope and Contents The papers of Susan Rowena Bird (1865-1900) and the Bird family provide a good source for study of the missionary settlement in Shanxi Province, China, and its programs prior to the Boxer Rebellion of 1900. The collection consists primarily of correspondence from Susan Rowena Bird during her time in China as a missionary, as well as letters from other residents of the Taigu community and other Bird family members. Susan Rowena Bird was a member of the “Oberlin Band,” the group of...