GCAH Catalogs Home Page > Archival Finding Aids Home Page> Mission Photograph Albums

Overview

Biographical Note

Scope and Content

Arrangement

Preferred Citation

Restrictions on Access

Restrictions on Use

Related Material

Subject Terms

Container List [ + ]

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Mission Photograph Albums

Haenley Pierre, Muhibbah Abdul-Ahmed and Michelle Mensah, student assistants and Dale Patterson, Archivist

United Methodist Archives and History Center
General Commission on Archives and History of The United Methodist Church

2015-11-17


Overview of Collection

Record Creator: Methodist Episcopal Church. Board of Foreign Missions
Title: Mission Photograph Albums
Date Span: 1900-1955
Abstract: Photograph albums documenting the world-wide scope of the mission program in the early twentieth century. Many images were probably collected to be used by or in preparation of the 1919 Mission Fair held in Columbus, Ohio.
Extent: 45 cubic feet
Identification: gcah.rg.831



History Note

The photographs taken in this series were initially managed by what became the Mission Education and Cultivation Division. Its activity highlighted the work of the Board of Home Missions and the Board of Foreign Missions These two agencies came into existence in 1908 when the Missionary Society was replaced. Some of the images appear to date to the early 1900s or even 1890s so it would seem that this series started under the former Missionary Society. The Missionary Society managed both U.S. - based missions as well as mission activity outside the U.S. The two new agencies, Home and Foreign Missions, cooperated with the research and record section as well as a the education and church cultivation section. With the creation of the 1939 Board of Missions, there was a Mission Education and Cultivation section which would manage these images.

The images served a variety of purposes. The images appear in publications such as newspapers and also in annual reports of the Boards. There appears to be a large number of images taken during the 1910s and which may have been related to the Mission Centenary Event held at Columbus, Ohio in the summer of 1919 to celebrate one hundred years of Methodist missions in the United States.


Scope and Content Note

Throughout the entire series three broad themes can be discovered as well numerous sub-themes. There are images of church-life, images of need and images which document daily life

The images of church life are probably the largest number of images across the entire series. These images can be further classified in three significant sub-series: local churches, educational institutions and health service institutions. The late nineteenth century and the opening years of the twentieth century was one of the great church-building eras for the Methodists. There are many images of the exterior of church buildings and some interior ones as well. The spectrum of the images spans from large institutional city churches - complete with swimming pools and exercise areas to smaller country churches with auditorium style sanctuaries and Akron-style classroom space.

Educational institutions show colleges built around the world and around the U. S. In addition to colleges there are images of training centers for farming and other vocational occupations. There are also many images of hospitals, both interior and exterior as well as retirement homes, settlement houses and sanatoriums.

Images of need form the next major category. Images in a newspaper, magazine or lantern slide show were the only way to communicate need. There are a variety of images of illness, damage done by floods, and homeless people. Probably the largest single category are images from the First World War.

Images of daily life are found throughout the series. The images document the countryside or city as well as the people that live there. These were probably meant to be educational as many of the captions attempt to classify and describe the scene for the viewer. There was an attempt at being scientific and distant which seems at odds with the content of many of the images.


Arrangement

Materials have been arranged in the following manner.

There is no clear order or rationale for the arrangement of the individual photographs in any particular album. The nearest that can be said is that each album tends to have a general representation of images related to that albums topic.

Each album deals with one topic or region. Outside the U.S. the albums focus on general regions or countries. Within the U.S. the albums focus on topics or on actions of a particular board or agency: "cities" and "rural" for topics while "hospitals" focus on the work that will become the Board of Hospitals and Homes.

Material is arranged in the following series:

United States

World


Preferred Citation

When citing material from this collection please use the following format: The ID number associated with the image along with the page number and album name, Mission Photograph Album Series, United Methodist Church Archives - GCAH, Madison, New Jersey. The link to the image may not be permanent, but it may be useful to use as well.


Access Restrictions

Access to the series is through either the on-line version or through the copied version while conducting research at the Archives Center.


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. Scanning 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

First paragraph

Index Terms

Subject Terms
Church colleges
Methodist universities and colleges
Education
Missions
Missions-Africa
Missions-China
Missions-European
Missions-India
Missions-Japan
Missions-Korea
Missions-Latin America
Missions-Philippines
Missions-Russia
Geographic Terms
United States
Asia
China
Cuba
Europe
India
Japan
Korea
Latin America
South America
Africa
Genre Terms
Photographs
Occupation Terms
Missionary
Educator


Container List



Series: United States

Call Number Folder Title Date(s)
2001-3-1: 1 Alaska #1 1910-1920
2001-3-1: 2 Alaska #2 1950s
2001-3-2: 1 America #1 1910-1920
2001-3-3: 1 America #2 1910-1920
2001-3-4: 1 America #3 : Part One 1910-1920
2001-3-5: 1 America #3 : Part Two 1910-1920
2001-3-6: 1 Charts #2 1910-1920
2001-3-7: 1 Charts #3: Part One 1910-1920
2001-3-8: 1 Charts #3 : Part Two 1910-1920
2001-3-9: 1 Church Extension #1 1950s
2001-4-1: 1 Cities #1: Part One 1910-1920s
2001-4-2: 1 Cities #1: Part Two 1910-1920s
2001-4-3: 1 Cities #2 1910-1920s
2001-4-4: 1 Cities #3 1910-1920s
2001-4-5: 1 Cities #4: Part One 1910-1920s
2001-4-6: 1 Cities #4: Part Two 1910-1920s
2001-4-7: 1 Cities #5 1910-1920s
2001-4-8: 1 Cities #6 1910-1920s
2001-4-9: 1 Cities #7 1910-1920s
2001-5-1: 1 Cities #8 1910-1920s
2001-5-2: 1 Cities #9 1910-1920s
2001-5-3: 1 Cities #10: Part One 1910-1920s
2001-5-4: 1 Cities #10: Part Two 1910-1920s
2001-5-5: 1 Cities #11: Part One 1910-1920s
2001-5-6: 1 Cities #11: Part Two 1910-1920s
2001-5-7: 1 Cities #12: Part One 1910-1920s
2001-5-8: 1 Cities #12: Part Two 1910-1920s
2001-5-9: 1 Cities #13 1910-1920s
2001-6-1: 1 Cities #14 1910-1920s
2001-6-2: 1 Cities #15 1910-1920s
2001-6-3: 1 Cities #16 : Part One 1910-1920s
2001-6-4: 1 Cities #16 : Part Two 1910-1920s
2001-6-5: 1 Cities #17 1910-1930s
2001-6-6: 1 Cities #18 1920s-1940s
2001-6-6: 2 Cities #19 1940s-1950s
2001-6-7: 1 Education #1 : Part One 1920s
2001-6-8: 1 Education #1 : Part Two 1920s
2001-6-9: 1 Education #2 1910-1920s
2003-3-1: 1 Education #3 1930s-1950s
2003-3-1: 2 Education #4 1930s-1950s
2003-3-2: 1 Frontier #1 1910-1920s
2003-3-3: 1 Frontier #2: Part One 1910-1920s
2003-3-4: 1 Frontier #2: Part Two 1910-1920s
2003-3-5: 1 Frontier #3: Part One 1910-1920s
2003-3-6: 1 Frontier #3: Part Two 1910-1920s
2003-3-7: 1 Hawaii #1 1910-1920s
2003-3-8: 1 Hawaii #2 1920s-1930s
2003-3-8: 2 Hawaii #3 1950s
2003-3-9: 1 Hospitals and Homes #1 1910-1930s
2003-4-1: 1 Hospitals and Homes #2: Part One 1900-1920s
2003-4-2: 1 Hospitals and Homes #2 - Part Two 1900-1920s
2003-4-3: 1 Hospitals and Homes #3 1920s-1930s
2003-4-4: 1 Hymns #1 1920s
2003-4-5: 1 Indian #1 1900-1920s
2003-4-6: 1 Indian #2 1910s-1930s
2003-4-7: 1 Indian #3 1940s-1950s
2003-4-8: 1 Maps #1 1920s
2003-4-9: 1 Maps #2 1920s
2003-5-1: 1 Maps and Charts #1 : Part One 1910-1920s
2003-5-2: 1 Maps and Charts #1 : Part Two 1910-1920s
2003-5-3: 1 Maps and Charts #2 1920s
2003-5-4: 1 Methodism 1930s-1940s
2003-5-5: 1 Miscellaneous #1 1910-1920s
2003-5-6: 1 Miscellaneous #2 : Part One 1910-1920s
2003-5-7: 1 Miscellaneous #2 : Part Two 1910-1920s
2003-5-8: 1 Miscellaneous #3 1910-1920s
2003-5-9: 1 Miscellaneous #4 1910-1920s
2003-6-1: 1 Miscellaneous OP #1 1910-1920s
2003-6-2: 1 Negro #1 1910-1920s
2003-6-3: 1 Negro #2 : Part One 1910-1920s
2003-6-4: 1 Negro #2 : Part Two 1910-1920s
2003-6-5: 1 Negro #3 : Part One 1910-1920s
2003-6-6: 1 Negro #3 : Part Two 1910-1920s
2003-6-7: 1 Negro #4 1910-1920s
2003-6-8: 1 Negro #5 : Part One 1910-1920s
2003-6-9: 1 Negro #5 : Part Two 1910-1920s
2005-3-1: 1 Negro #6 1930s-1940
2005-3-2: 1 Negro #7 1940s-1951
2005-3-3: 1 Oriental 1920s-1930s
2005-3-4: 1 Portraits #1 1910s-1920
2005-3-5: 1 Portraits #2 1910s-1920s
2005-3-6: 1 Portraits #3 : Part One 1910s-1920s
2005-3-7: 1 Portraits #3 : Part Two 1910s-1920s
2005-3-8: 1 Portraits #4 : Part One- [transcription complete] 1920s-1950s
2005-3-9: 1 Portraits #4 : Part Two - [transcription complete] 1920s-1950s
2005-4-1: 1 Portraits #5 - [transcription complete] 1930s-1940s
2005-4-2: 1 Portraits #6 - [transcription complete] 1940s-1950s
2005-4-3: 1 Portraits #7 - [transcription complete] 1950s
2005-4-4: 1 Portraits #8 1950s
2005-4-5: 1 Portraits #9 - [transcription complete] 1950s
2005-4-6: 1 Portraits #10 - [transcription complete] 1950s
2005-4-7: 1 Portraits #11 - [transcription complete] 1950s
2005-4-8: 1 Portraits #12 - [transcription complete] 1950s
2005-4-8: 2 Portraits #13 - [transcription complete] 1950s
2005-4-9: 1 Puerto Rico #1 1910-1929
2005-5-1: 1 Puerto Rico #2 1915-1920s
2005-5-2: 1 Puerto Rico #3 : Part One 1920s-1940s
2005-5-3: 1 Puerto Rico #3 : Part Two 1920s-1940s
2005-5-4: 1 Puerto Rico #4 1950s
2005-5-5: 1 Religious Education #1 1920s-1940
2005-5-6: 1 Religious Education #2 1940s-1950s
2005-5-7: 1 Rural #1 : Part One 1900-1920s
2005-5-8: 1 Rural #1 : Part Two 1900-1920s
2005-5-9: 1 Rural #2 : Part One 1920s
2005-6-1: 1 Rural #2 : Part Two 1920s
2005-6-2: 1 Rural #3 1910-1920s
2005-6-3: 1 Rural #4 : Part One 1910-1920s
2005-6-4: 1 Rural #4 : Part Two 1910-1920s
2005-6-5: 1 Rural #5 1910-1920s
2005-6-6: 1 Rural #6 : Part One 1910-1920s
2005-6-7: 1 Rural #6 : Part Two 1910-1920s
2005-6-8: 1 Rural #7 1920s-1930s
2005-6-9: 1 Rural #8 1940s-1950s
2007-3-1: 1 Southern Mountains #1 1910-1920s
2007-3-2: 1 Southern Mountains #2 1910-1920s
2007-3-3: 1 Southern Mountains #3 1940s-1950s
2013-6-5: 1 Latin America #1 :Part One 1910-1930s
2013-6-6: 1 Latin America #1 :Part Two 1910-1930s
2013-6-7: 1 Latin America #2 1910-1930s
2013-6-8: 1 Latin America #3 1910-1930s


Series: World

Call Number Folder Title Date(s)
2007-4-1: 1 Africa #1 1910-1920
2007-4-2: 1 Africa #2 1910-1920
2007-4-3: 1 Africa #3 1910-1920
2007-4-4: 1 Africa #4 : Part One 1910-1920
2007-4-5: 1 Africa #4 : Part Two 1910-1920
2007-4-6: 1 Africa #5 1910-1920
2007-4-7: 1 Africa #6 : Part One 1910-1920
2007-4-8: 1 Africa #6 : Part Two 1910-1920
2007-4-9: 1 Africa #7 1910-1920
2007-5-1: 1 Africa #8 1910-1920
2007-5-2: 1 Africa #9 1910-1920
2007-5-3: 1 Africa #10 1910-1920
2007-5-4: 1 Africa #11 1910-1920
2007-5-5: 1 Africa #12 1910-1929
2007-5-6: 1 Africa #13 1910-1929
2007-5-7: 1 Africa #14 1920-1939
2007-5-8: 1 Africa #15 1931-1939
2007-5-9: 1 Africa #16 1930-1959
2007-6-1: 1 Africa #17 1951-1959
2007-6-2: 1 Africa OP #4 1910-1929
2007-6-3: 1 Africa, Madeira OP #1 : Part One 1910-1929
2007-6-4: 1 Africa, Madeira OP #1 : Part Two 1910-1929
2007-6-5: 1 Africa, Madeira OP #2 1910-1929
2007-6-6: 1 Africa, Madeira OP #3 1910-1929
2007-6-7: 1 Africa, North #1 1910-1929
2007-6-8: 1 Africa, North #2 : Part One 1910-1929
2007-6-9: 1 Africa, North #2 : Part Two 1910-1929
2009-3-1: 1 Africa, North #3 1910-1929
2009-3-1: 2 Africa, North #4 1950-1959
2009-3-2: 1 Africa, North OP #1 1910-1929
2009-3-3: 1 Burma #1 1900-1929
2009-3-4: 1 Burma #2 1900-1929
2009-3-5: 1 Burma #3 1950-1959
2009-3-6: 1 China #1 1910-1920
2009-3-7: 1 China #2 : Part One 1910-1929
2009-3-8: 1 China #2 : Part Two 1910-1929
2009-3-9: 1 China #3 1910-1929
2009-4-1: 1 China #4 1910-1929
2009-4-2: 1 China #5 1910-1929
2009-4-3: 1 China #6 1910-1929
2009-4-4: 1 China #7 1910-1929
2009-4-5: 1 China #8 1910-1929
2009-4-6: 1 China #9 : Part One 1910-1929
2009-4-7: 1 China #9 : Part Two 1910-1929
2009-4-8: 1 China #10 : Part One 1910-1929
2009-4-9: 1 China #10 : Part Two 1910-1929
2009-5-1: 1 China #11: Part One 1910-1929
2009-5-2: 1 China #11 : Part Two 1910-1929
2009-5-3: 1 China #12 : Part One 1910-1929
2009-5-4: 1 China #12 : Part Two 1910-1929
2009-5-5: 1 China #13 : Part One 1910-1929
2009-5-6: 1 China #13 : Part Two 1910-1929
2009-5-7: 1 China #14 : Part One 1910-1929
2009-5-8: 1 China #14 : Part Two 1910-1929
2009-5-9: 1 China #15 1910-1929
2009-6-1: 1 China #16 1910-1929
2009-6-2: 1 China #17 1910-1929
2009-6-3: 1 China #18 1920-1939
2009-6-4: 1 China #19 : Part One 1920-1939
2009-6-5: 1 China #19 : Part Two 1920-1939
2009-6-6: 1 China #20 1950s
2009-6-7: 1 China OP #1 : Part One 1910-1920
2009-6-8: 1 China OP #1 : Part Two 1910-1920
2009-6-9: 1 China OP #2 1910-1920
2011-3-1: 1 China OP #3 1910-1920
2011-3-2: 1 Cuba #1 1950s
2011-3-3: 1 Europe #1 1910-1920s
2011-3-4: 1 Europe #2 1910-1920s
2011-3-5: 1 Europe #3 1910-1920s
2011-3-6: 1 Europe #4 1910-1920s
2011-3-7: 1 Europe #5 : Part One 1910-1920s
2011-3-8: 1 Europe #5 : Part Two 1910-1920s
2011-3-9: 1 Europe #6 : Part One 1910-1920s
2011-4-1: 1 Europe #6 : Part Two 1910-1920s
2011-4-2: 1 Europe #7 1910-1920s
2011-4-3: 1 Europe #8 1910-1920s
2011-4-4: 1 Europe #9 1940s
2011-4-5: 1 Europe #10 1950s
2011-4-6: 1 Europe OP #1 : Part One 1910-1920s
2011-4-7: 1 Europe OP #1 : Part Two 1910-1920s
2011-4-8: 1 Europe OP #2 1910-1920s
2011-4-9: 1 Europe: Spain, Russia, Madeira : Part One 1910-1920s
2011-5-1: 1 Europe: Spain, Russia, Madeira : Part Two 1910-1920s
2011-5-2: 1 India #1 1910-1920s
2011-5-3: 1 India #2 : Part One 1910-1920s
2011-5-4: 1 India #2 : Part Two 1910-1920s
2011-5-5: 1 India #3 1910-1920s
2011-5-6: 1 India #4 1910-1920s
2011-5-7: 1 India #5 : Part One 1910-1920s
2011-5-8: 1 India #5 : Part Two 1910-1920s
2011-5-9: 1 India #6 1910-1920s
2011-6-1: 1 India #7 1910-1930s
2011-6-2: 1 India #8 : Part One 1910-1930s
2011-6-3: 1 India #8 : Part Two 1910-1930s
2011-6-4: 1 India #9 : Part One 1910-1930s
2011-6-5: 1 India #9 : Part Two 1910-1930s
2011-6-6: 1 India #10 : Part One 1910-1930s
2011-6-7: 1 India #10 : Part Two 1910-1930s
2011-6-8: 1 India #11 1910-1930s
2011-6-9: 1 India #12 1910-1930s
2013-3-1: 1 India #13 1930s
2013-3-2: 1 India #14 1930-1950s
2013-3-3: 1 India #15 1950s
2013-3-4: 1 India OP #1 1910-1920s
2013-3-5: 1 India OP #2 : Part One 1910-1920s
2013-3-6: 1 India OP #2 : Part Two 1910-1920s
2013-3-7: 1 India OP #3 1910-1920s
2013-3-8: 1 Japan #1 1910-1920s
2013-3-9: 1 Japan #2 : Part One 1910-1920s
2013-4-1: 1 Japan #2 : Part Two 1910-1920s
2013-4-2: 1 Japan #3 1910-1920s
2013-4-3: 1 Japan #4 1910-1920s
2013-4-4: 1 Japan #5 : Part One 1910-1920s
2013-4-5: 1 Japan #5 : Part Two 1910-1920s
2013-4-6: 1 Japan #6 1930s - 1940s
2013-4-7: 1 Japan #7 1940s - 1950s
2013-4-8: 1 Japan OP #1 : Part One 1910-1920s
2013-4-9: 1 Japan OP #1 : Part Two 1910-1920s
2013-5-1: 1 Japan and Korea : Part One 1910-1920s
2013-5-2: 1 Japan and Korea : Part Two 1910-1920s
2013-5-3: 1 Korea #1 1910-1920s
2013-5-4: 1 Korea #2 : Part One 1910-1920s
2013-5-5: 1 Korea #2 : Part Two 1910-1920s
2013-5-6: 1 Korea #3 : Part One 1910-1920s
2013-5-7: 1 Korea #3 : Part Two 1910-1920s
2013-5-8: 1 Korea #4 : Part One 1910-1920s
2013-5-9: 1 Korea #4 : Part Two 1910-1920s
2013-6-1: 1 Korea #5 : Part One 1910-1920s
2013-6-2: 1 Korea #5 : Part Two 1910-1920s
2013-6-3: 1 Korea #6 1910-1920s
2013-6-4: 1 Korea OP #1 1910-1920s
2013-6-9: 1 Malaysia #1 : Part One 1910-1920s
2015-3-1: 1 Malaysia #1 : Part Two 1910-1920s
2015-3-2: 1 Malaysia #2 : Part One 1910-1920s
2015-3-3: 1 Malaysia #2 : Part Two 1910-1920s
2015-3-4: 1 Malaysia #3 : Part One 1910-1920s
2015-3-5: 1 Malaysia #3 : Part Two 1910-1920s
2015-3-6: 1 Malaysia #4 1910-1920s
2015-3-7: 1 Malaysia #5 1910-1920s
2015-3-8: 1 Malaysia #6 1910-1920s
2015-3-9: 1 Malaysia #7 1920s-1940s
2015-4-1: 1 Malaysia #8 1950s
2015-4-2: 1 Malaysia OP #1 1910-1920s
2015-4-3: 1 Mexico #1 1910-1920s
2015-4-4: 1 Mexico #2 1910-1920s
2015-4-5: 1 Mexico #3 : Part One 1900-1930s
2015-4-6: 1 Mexico #3 : Part Two 1900-1930s
2015-4-7: 1 Mexico #4 : Part One 1900-1920s
2015-4-8: 1 Mexico #4 : Part Two 1900-1920s
2015-4-9: 1 Mexico #5 : Part One 1900-1920s
2015-5-1: 1 Mexico #5 : Part Two 1900-1920s
2015-5-2: 1 Mexico #6 : Part One 1900-1920s
2015-5-4: 1 Mexico #7 1910-1930s
2015-5-5: 1 Mexico #8 1930s-1940s
2015-5-6: 1 Mexico #9 1950s
2015-5-7: 1 Mexico OP #1 1900-1920s
2015-5-3: 1 Mexico #6 : Part Two 1900-1920s
2015-5-8: 1 Panama #1 1910-1920s
2015-5-9: 1 Panama #2 : Part One 1910-1930s
2015-6-1: 1 Panama #2 : Part Two 1910-1930s
2015-6-2: 1 Panama #3 1910-1920s
2015-6-3: 1 Panama #4 : Part One 1910-1920s
2015-6-4: 1 Panama #4 : Part One 1930-1950s
2015-6-5: 1 Panama #5 1950s
2015-6-6: 1 Panama OP #1 1910-1920s
2015-6-7: 1 Philippines #1 1910-1930s
2015-6-8: 1 Philippines #2 : Part One 1910-1930s
2015-6-9: 1 Philippines #2 : Part Two 1910-1930s
2017-3-1: 1 Philippines #3 : Part One 1920s - 1930s
2017-3-2: 1 Philippines #3 : Part Two 1920s - 1930s
2017-3-3: 1 Philippines #4 1930s -1940s
2017-3-4: 1 Philippines #5 1950s
2017-3-5: 1 Philippines OP #1 1900s - 1920s
2017-3-6: 1 South America #1 1910-1920s
2017-3-7: 1 South America #2 1910-1920s
2017-3-8: 1 South America #3 1910-1920s
2017-3-9: 1 South America #4 1910-1920s
2017-4-1: 1 South America #5 1910-1920s
2017-4-2: 1 South America #6 : Part One 1910-1920s
2017-4-3: 1 South America #6 : Part Two 1910-1920s
2017-4-4: 1 South America #7 : Part One 1910-1920s
2017-4-5: 1 South America #7 : Part Two 1910-1920s
2017-4-6: 1 South America #8 1910-1920s
2017-4-7: 1 South America #9 1920s - 1951
2017-4-8: 1 South America #10 1950s
2017-4-9: 1 South America OP #1 1910-1920s
2017-5-1: 1 South America OP #2 : Part One 1910-1920s
2017-5-2: 1 South America OP #2 : Part Two 1910-1920s
2017-5-3: 1 South America OP #3 1910-1920s
2017-5-4: 1 Western Asia #1 1910-1920s
2017-5-5: 1 Western Asia OP #1 1910-1920s