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| Record Creator: | Feely, Gertrude Marie |
| Title: | Gertrude Feely Papers |
| Dates: | 1935- 1991 |
| Abstract: | Gertrude M. Feely was a Methodist Episcopal Church, South, missionary in Japan. In 1941 she went to the Philippines and during the Second World War was interned by the Japanese. Liberated in 1945, she continued working for the church until her retirement 1972. |
| Extent: | 0.23 cubic feet |
| Resource ID: | gcah.ms.750 |
Gertrude M. Feely was a Methodist Episcopal Church, South, missionary in Japan. Feely received her B.S. from the University of Missouri in 1927. She earned an M.A. from Scarritt College in Tennessee in 1930 and a Ph.d. in education from Columbia University in 1950.
Feely was a missionary for more than forty years, and worked in several Japanese cities. From 1931 to 1933, she taught English and language study at the Kure Naval Station and at Kobe. While in Oita from 1933 to 1941, Feely was involved with youth work and taught English.
In 1941, she went to the Philippines and during the Second World War was interned by the Japanese. She spent time on the Santo Tomas and Los Banos Camps and stayed with a group of Methodist missionaries at Harris Memorial Training School for some time before she was finally interned in Los Banos. She served as an interpreter for two and a half years of the war.
Upon her liberation on February 23, 1945, Feely was furloughed to the United States, where she remained until 1949. Feely returned to Japan later in 1949 and became the director of the Kobe Christian Youth Center, which opened in 1953. She continued to teach, working at the Night School, at the Palmore Institute and at Seiwa Junior College, where she was an instructor in the Old Testament. In 1954, Feely was ordained by the Church of Japan. She retired in 1972.
The personal papers of Gertrude Feely include three internment notebooks. There are articles, letters and general writings concerning her internment and also a copy of her book, Five Years in the Philippines, written in 1946. Included in her internment papers is a map of the Los Banos Camp. There are several black and white photos, mostly of Mission Meetings and two color photos, one of Gertrude Feely herself and one of James W. Lambuths' grave. There are two pamphlets published by the internees of Santo Tomas during their imprisonment, a leaflet advertising The Christian Youth Center in Kobe, Japan and a booklet titled The Church in the War Years
The Oral History Collection of Gertrude Feely contains three audio cassette tapes from an oral history interview conducted by June Fothergill on January 16-17, 1985. A tape index, release forms, several magazine articles about Feely, and two black and white photographs are included. The tapes are located at 6029-1-1:23-26.
Materials have been arranged in the following manner.
The collection is arranged by record type with a subsequent arrangement by chrononlogical date.
When citing material from this collection please use the following format: Direct reference to the item or its file folder, Gertrude Feely 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.
There are no restrictions regarding 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.
For additional information on Feely see the Records of the United Methodist Church, Board of Missions Missionary Files Series; the Records of the Methodist Church, General Board of Global Ministries ( Accession 1982-059); the Records of the United Methodist Church, General Board of Global Ministries, World Division ( Accession 1984- 022); and the Records of the United Methodist Church, World Division, Program Department ( Accession 1987-032).
| Call Number | Folder Title | Date(s) |
| 1554-5-3: 1 | Map of Los Banos Camp | Undated |
| 1554-5-3: 2 | Writings | 1939-1946 |
| 1554-5-3: 3 | Correspondences | 1942-1973 |
| 1554-5-3: 4 | Articles | 1945-1989 |
| 1554-5-3: 5 | Photographs | 1935-1991 |
| 1554-5-3: 6 | Santo Tomas Internment Camp Publications | 1942-1945 |
| 1554-5-3: 7 | Internment Diary | 1942-1943 |
| 1554-5-3: 8 | Internment Notebook, Los Banos | 1944 |
| 1554-5-3: 9 | Internment Diary Excerpts | 1944-1945 |
| 1554-5-3: 10 | Philippine Story; The Church in the War Years | 1946 |
| 1554-5-3: 11 | Christian Youth Center; Kobe, Japan | 1953-1959 |
