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| Record Creator: | Smith, Anna |
| Title: | Anna Smith Papers |
| Date Span: | 1900-1917 |
| Abstract: | Anna Smith (1876-1963) was an Evangelical United Brethren Church missionary to Sierra Leone. She attended school in Houghton, New York. Smith taught in public schools and then married William Boardman (?-1902). They went to Africa in 1902 and were stationed at the Kunzu mission in Sierra Leone. Soon after their arrival in Africa Boardman died, but Smith carried on her work until she was furloughed in 1904. After returning to Africa in 1906 she married Reverend J. Hal Smith (1862-1915), and they became the first missionaries into Kono Land in the interior of Sierra Leone. Anna Smith worked diligently at language study of the Kono dialect, and she successfully translated the four Gospels, as well as creating a dictionary and basic grammar book. The papers contains several documents prepared by Anna Smith relating to the Mende language. |
| Extent: | 0.18 cubic feet |
| Identification: | gcah.ms.gcah2072 |
Anna Smith (1876-1963) was an Evangelical United Brethren Church missionary to Sierra Leone. She attended school in Houghton, New York. Smith taught in public schools and then married William Boardman (?-1902). They went to Africa in 1902 and were Stationed at the Kunzu mission in Sierra Leone. Soon after their arrival in Africa Boardman died, but Smith carried on her work until she was furloughed in 1904. From 1904 to 1906 she was a field worker in the United States.
After returning to Africa in 1906 she married Reverend J. Hal Smith (1862-1915), and they became the first missionaries into Kono Land in the interior of Sierra Leone. Anna smith worked diligently at language study of the Kono dialect, and she successfully translated the four Gospels, as well as creating a dictionary and basic grammar book. Due to ill health she was forced to return to the United States in 1908. She remained on furlough until 1909. Smith returned to Sierra Leone later in 1909. A second furlough was taken from 1911 to 1912. From 1912 to 1914 she was again in Africa, but was forced to return to the United States due to failing health.
Unable to return to Africa, Smith began work with the Board of Foreign Missions as a fund raiser. She was elected Special Secretary in 1916 of the United Brethren Mission Board. In 1942 she retired. Soon after Smith became pastor of the Wayne Valley Evangelical United Brethren Church near Cory Pennsylvania (Erie Conference).
The Mende are one of the major ethnic groups in Sierra Leone occupying mainly the eastern and southern regions. Together with the Kono, Susu, and Yalunka ethnic groups, the Mende comprised one half of the population. The Mende language is a language of the Mende branch of the Niger-Congo family.
The Anna Smith Papers contain several documents prepared by Anna Smith relating to the Mende language. One item is a Mendi-English dictionary. It is a typed copy and is 189 pages in length. Typed copies of the Gospels of Mark (twenty-six pages) and John (thirty-seven pages) are included. There are several copies of the Gospel of Luke. One is hand written and one is typed (fifty pages).
In addition, there is an eighty-six page typed copy of a grammar guide by M. Eaton entitled "Studies of the Mende Language."
Materials have been arranged in the following manner.
Basic arrangement.
When citing material from this collection please use the following format: Direct reference to the item or its file folder, Anna Smith Papers, United Methodist Church Archives - GCAH, Madison, New Jersey. Do not make use of the item's call number as that is not a stable descriptor.
There are no restrictions on this collection.
Detailed use restrictions relating to our collections can be requested from the office of the archivist at the General Commission on Archives and History. Photocopying is handled by the staff and may be limited in certain instances. Before using any material for publication from this collection a formal request for permission to publish is expected and required.
Records of the Original Evangelical United Brethren Archives.
William Lutz Reference Collection.
| Call Number | Folder Title | Date(s) |
| 1306-3-6: 1 | Dictionary | 1910 |
| 1306-3-6: 2 | Gospel of Mark | 1917 |
| 1306-3-6: 3 | Gospel of John | Undated |
| 1306-3-6: 4 | Gospel of Luke - Handwritten, Part I | Undated |
| 1306-3-6: 5 | Gospel of Luke - Handwritten, Part II | Undated |
| 1306-3-6: 6 | Gospel of Luke - Typed | Undated |
| 1306-3-6: 7 | Studies in the Mende Language by M. Eaton | 1900 |
