Paul Stephen Mayer Collection
Daisy Wiggin King, Student Assistant, Morris L. Davis, Manuscript Processor and Mark C. Shenise, Associate Archivist
United Methodist Archives and History Center
General Commission on Archives and History of The United Methodist Church
2017-10-17
Overview of Collection
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| Record Creator: |
Mayer, Paul Stephen |
| Title: |
Paul Stephen Mayer Collection |
| Title: |
Mayer Collection |
| Date Span: |
1905-1973 |
| Abstract: |
Paul Stephen Mayer (1884-1962) was a missionary to Japan with the Evangelical United Brethren Church (EUB) from 1909 until 1947. This collection contains four drafts of Mayer's incomplete history of Evangelical United Brethren mission activity in Japan. There is also significant correspondence from former missionaries responding to Mayer's solicitation for information about them that was to be used in the history. The collection also contains administrative mission correspondence and reports, mainly from the 1940's to the late 1950's. About a third of the collection is printed matter, ranging from Japanese language newspapers to mission pamphlets to English translations of Japanese church newspapers. |
| Extent: |
1.55 cubic feet |
| Identification: |
gcah.ms.gcah662 |
| dbtext |
662 |
Biographical Note
Paul Stephen Mayer (1884-1962) was a missionary to Japan with the Evangelical United Brethren Church (EUB) from 1909 until 1947. Mayer spent his childhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and attended college at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois, graduating in 1907. He then attended Evangelical Theological Seminary at Naperville, graduating in 1909. That year he married Frances Frank, who had just completed her nurses training, and they left together for Japan that November. They lived and worked in Tsukiji until 1914 and then in Shimo-Ochiai, Shinjuku-ku. Mayer taught English for most of his years in Japan at several different schools in addition to his church work. He served as the EUB Japan Mission superintendent from 1926 until 1941. He also served as the chairman of the Japan Forward Movement. of Christ in Japan (UCC Japan) in 1941. When the Japanese government ordered all missionaries home in 1942 the Mayers refused to go, and they were eventually held in separate internment camps for a year. They were released and returned to the United States in 1944. Mayer was part of the reorganization of the Church and in the preparations for new missionaries responding to MacArthur's call for "10,000" new missionaries to Japan. Mayer worked with the Foreign Missionary Conference of North America and the Kyodan, the indigenous church of Japan, as well as his own denomination, in this role. He also helped to begin the work of rebuilding damaged or destroyed church buildings and schools. He served as the associate secretary of the National Christian Council, which replaced the United Christian Church Japan, for five years. Mayer attempted to put together a history of the Japan Mission while in retirement, but it was never finished. Mayer died in Washington, D.C., but his body was returned to Japan for burial.
Scope and Content Note
This collection contains four drafts of Mayer's incomplete history of Evangelical United Brethren mission activity in Japan. There is also significant correspondence from former missionaries responding to Mayer's solicitation for information about them that was to be used in the history. The collection also contains administrative mission correspondence and reports, mainly from the 1940's to the late 1950's. About a third of the collection is printed matter, ranging from Japanese language newspapers to mission pamphlets to English translations of Japanese church newspapers.
Arrangement
Materials have been arranged in the following manner.
Manusripts and Supporting Materials
Administrative Records - Correspondence, Minutes, Reports
Printed Matter
Preferred Citation
When citing material from this collection please use the following format: Direct reference to the item or its file folder, Paul Stephen Mayer Collection, 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.
Access Restrictions
There are no restrictions for this collection.
Use Access
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.
Related Material
Records of the Evangelical Church
Records of the Evangelical Association of North America
Records of the Evangelical United Brethren Church. Board of Missions
Records of the Evangelical United Brethren Church. Women's Society of World Service
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Index Terms
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Subject Terms
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Missionaries |
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World War, 1939-1945 |
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Geographic Terms
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Japan |
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Subject Names - Corporate Bodies
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Evangelical United Brethren Church |
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Evangelical United Brethren Church. Board of Missions. Department of World Missions |
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Kyodan |
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United Church of Christ in Japan |
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Occupation Terms
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Missionary |
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Added Names - Persons
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Anderson, Irene |
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Ariga, Tetsutaro |
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Bauerfeind, Susan |
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Deckinger, William Jacob |
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Epp, George Edward |
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Gaehr, Cora Haller |
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Hammel, Esther K. |
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Hertzler, Verna S. |
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Iglehart, Charles W. |
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Kesselring, F. |
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Kramer, Lois F. |
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Kuecklich, Gertrude E. |
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Kumagai, I. |
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Lang, Ernst |
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Mauk, Laura |
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Messerschmidt, Lucinda |
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Meyer, Lester |
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Schwab, Florence E. |
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Schweitzer, Edna |
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Strock, Ada |
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Thede, Harvey |
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Thede, Viola |
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Toyoda, Minoru |
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Yasuda, C. |
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Ziegler, Samuel George |
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Genre Terms
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Clippings |
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Manuscripts |
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Pamphlets |
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Photographs |
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Reports |
Series: Manusripts and Supporting Materials
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Call Number
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Folder Title
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Date(s)
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| 1989-5-1:
1 |
Records of the Beginnings of the EUB Church in Japan |
Undated |
| 1589-5-1:
2 |
Beginnings of the Work of the Evangelical Church in Japan |
Undated |
| 1589-5-1:
3 |
History of the Evangelical Church in Japan |
Undated |
| 1589-5-1:
4 |
History of the Evangelical Church in Japan |
Undated |
| 1589-5-1:
5 |
History of Tokyo Union Church |
1960 |
| 1589-5-1:
6 |
The Church of Christ in Japan - Charles W. Inglehart |
1946 |
| 1589-5-1:
7 |
The Missionary Situation in Japan - Theodore Jaeckel |
1957 |
| 1589-5-1:
8 |
The Deaconess Society of Japan - Lester Myer |
1958 |
| 1589-5-1:
10 |
History of the Japanese Translations of the Bible - Minoru Toyoda, trans. James F. Gressitt |
1953 |
| 1589-5-1:
11 |
Doorways to the World |
Undated |
| 1589-5-1:
12 |
Correspondence: Irene Anderson |
1958 |
| 1589-5-1:
13 |
Correspondence: Tetsutaro Ariga |
1951 |
| 1589-5-1:
14 |
Correspondence: Susan Bauernfeind |
1905-1934 |
| 1589-5-1:
15 |
Correspondence: W.J. Deckinger |
1958 |
| 1589-5-1:
16 |
Correspondence: Cora Haller Gaehr |
1958 |
| 1589-5-1:
17 |
Correspondence: Esther K. Hammel |
1958-1960 |
| 1589-5-1:
18 |
Correspondence: Verna S. Hertzler |
Undated |
| 1589-5-1:
19 |
Correspondence: F. Kesselring |
1959 |
| 1589-5-1:
20 |
Correspondence: Lois F. Kramer |
1960 |
| 1589-5-1:
21 |
Correspondence: I. Kumagai |
1959 |
| 1589-5-1:
22 |
Correspondence: Ernst Lang |
1956 |
| 1589-5-1:
23 |
Correspondence:Laura Mauk |
1953 |
| 1589-5-1:
24 |
Correspondence: Lucinda Messerschmidt |
1951 |
| 1589-5-1:
25 |
Correspondence: Florence E. Schwab |
1958 |
| 1589-5-1:
26 |
Correspondence: Edna Schweitzer |
1960 |
| 1589-5-1:
27 |
Correspondence: Ada Strock |
1960 |
| 1589-5-1:
28 |
Correspondence: Harvey and Viola Thede |
1958 |
| 1589-5-1:
29 |
Correspondence: C. Yasuda |
Undated |
| 1589-5-1:
30 |
Correspondence: S. G. Ziegler |
1958 |
| 1589-5-1:
31 |
Correspondence: Unidentified authors |
1960 |
| 1589-5-1:
32 |
Correspondence: Bishop George Epp |
1957 |
| 1589-5-1:
32 |
Correspondence: Mayer to Bishop Epp |
1958 |
| 1589-5-1:
38 |
Correspondence: Gertrude E. Kuecklich |
1956-1958 |
Series: Administrative Records - Correspondence, Minutes, Reports
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Call Number
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Folder Title
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Date(s)
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| 1589-5-1:
33 |
Correspondence: Paul Mayer to Foreign Missionary Conference of North America (FMCNA) May-July |
1946-1947 |
| 1589-5-1:
34 |
Correspondence: Paul Mayer to FMCNA (July-December) |
1947-1948 |
| 1589-5-1:
35 |
Correspondence: FMCNA January-April |
1946-1947 |
| 1589-5-1:
36 |
Correspondence: FMCNA April-July |
1947 |
| 1589-5-1:
37 |
Correspondence: FMCNA July-February |
1947-1948 |
| 1589-5-1:
38 |
Correspondence: FMCNA February-January |
1948-1949 |
| 1589-5-1:
1 |
Correspondence: General Administrative August-February |
1946-1959 |
| 1589-5-1:
2 |
Minutes: Interboard Committee, United Church of Christ of Japan |
1947-1967 |
| 1589-5-1:
3 |
General Administrative Records: Kyodan, UCC Japan |
1956-1971 |
| 1589-5-1:
4 |
Minutes, Reports: Kyodan, UCC Japan |
1946-1969 |
| 1589-5-1:
5 |
Minutes, Reports: FMCNA Japan Committee |
1946-1956 |
| 1589-5-1:
6 |
Correspondence, Reports: EUB Mission |
1946-1964 |
| 1589-5-1:
7 |
Correspondence, Reports, Statement on Japanese War Criminals |
1956 |
| 1589-5-1:
8 |
Correspondence, Reports: American Joint Committee for Assisting Japanese-American Orphans |
1952-1956 |
| 1589-5-1:
9 |
Church of Christ of Japan Publicity Office |
1966-1971 |
| 1589-5-1:
10 |
Miscellaneous: Japan Biblical Seminary |
1946-1957 |
Series: Printed Matter
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Call Number
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Folder Title
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Date(s)
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| 1589-5-1:
11 |
Handbook of Church of Christ Japan |
1913 |
| 1589-5-1:
12 |
Publications in Chinese |
1914 |
| 1589-5-1:
13 |
Bulletin of Dendo Jo Gakko |
1917-1921 |
| 1589-5-1:
14 |
Tokyo Bible Women's School |
1919 |
| 1589-5-1:
15 |
Miscellaneous |
1922-1963 |
| 1589-5-1:
16 |
Bulletin of Tokyo Bible School |
1924-1937 |
| 1589-5-1:
17 |
Various Titles |
1945-1972 |
| 1589-5-1:
18 |
Interboard Bulletin |
1957-1972 |
| 1589-5-1:
19 |
IBC Monthly Digest of Japan Christian Press |
1958 |
| 1589-5-1:
20 |
Booklet in Japanese |
1950-1959 |
| 1589-5-1:
21 |
EUB News |
1958-1959 |
| 1589-5-1:
22 |
Missionary Directories: IBC and Kyodan related |
1962-1963 |
| 1589-5-1:
23 |
Kyodan Newsletter |
1966-1972 |
| 1589-5-1:
1 |
Christian Weekly - Japanese language |
1960-1962 |
| 1589-5-1:
2 |
Various titles - Japanese language |
1952-1962 |
| 1589-5-1:
3 |
Christ Weekly - Japanese language |
1962 |
| 1589-5-1:
4 |
Japan Christian Activity News |
1961-1965 |
| 1589-5-1:
5 |
Japan Christian Activity News |
1965-1972 |
| 1589-5-1:
6 |
Newspapers - Japanese language |
Undated |
| 1589-5-1:
7 |
EUB Missions Poster |
Undated |
