Archives Unbound:
Religious Studies
 
Archives Unbound: Religious Studies

The activities and effects of Christian evangelism around the world, the development of witchcraft as a religion, the growth of social activism in the US, and more may be explored extensively in this broad collection of records, reports, and texts from religious organizations. To learn more about the archives within this collection, select the menu topics below. Interested in a trial? Request one today, or contact your rep for more information.

Missions and Missionaries

American Indian Correspondence: Presbyterian Historical Society Collection of Missionaries' Letters, 1833-1893 - The men and women of the Foreign Board of Missions served a variety of tribes. Their letters, intended to be reports from the field, are far more than dry discussions of mission business. Ranging in length from single fragments to reports of over twenty pages, they describe the Indian peoples and cultures, tribal factionalism, relations with the U.S. government, and the many problems and achievements of the work. The letters often become personal and even anguished, as the writers disclose their fears, worries, and hopes.

Evangelism and the Syria-Lebanon Mission: Correspondence of the Board of Foreign Missions, 1869-1910 - The collection documents the evangelistic, educational and medical mission of the BFM in Syria-Lebanon. It provides a unique view into the turbulent political forces that dominated Syria and Lebanon's history during the 19th century, and illustrates the difficulty of conducting mission work under the conditions of internecine religious warfare.

Evangelism in Africa: Correspondence of the Board of Foreign Missions, 1835-1910 - The records of the Board of Foreign Missions (BFM) of the Presbyterian church provide valuable information on social conditions in developing Third World nations and on efforts to spread the gospel during the nineteenth century. Among the missions' responsibilities was the establishment of indigenous churches, educational facilities, hospitals, orphanages, and seminaries. The majority of materials is incoming correspondence from the mission field and outgoing correspondence from the Board headquarters. Other primary sources include diary accounts, sermon manuscripts, receipts of sale, and field accounts.

Evangelism in China: Correspondence of the Board of Foreign Missions, 1837-1911 - The American Presbyterian Church was committed at its inception to the belief that it is a missionary church and that every member is a missionary. The establishment in 1837 of the Presbyterian Church’s Board of Foreign Missions signaled the beginning of a worldwide missionary operation destined to embrace some fifteen countries in four different continents The records offered here provide invaluable information on social conditions in China and on efforts to spread the gospel during the nineteenth century. Documenting the church’s educational, evangelical, and medical work, these are records mainly of incoming correspondence from the mission field and outgoing correspondence from the Board headquarters.

Evangelism in India: Correspondence of the Board of Foreign Mission, 1833-1910 - Evangelism in India took the form primarily of village itineration where male and female missionaries ministered to the spiritual needs of the populace while simultaneously attending to their medical and educational needs. The collection documents the Board of Foreign Missions' tripartite ministry (Farukhabad, Punjab, and the West Indian missions) in India but also reflects the development of the modern Indian state in a broader sense. Reaction to foreigners generally and Protestant missionaries specifically, discontent with British rule and the development of the Independence movement, and racial and internecine religious warfare between Hindu and Muslim populations are well documented.

Evangelism in Iran: Correspondence of the Board of Foreign Missions, 1847-1911 - The American Presbyterian Church was committed at its inception to the belief that it is a missionary church and that every member is a missionary. The establishment in 1837 of the Presbyterian Church’s Board of Foreign Missions signaled the beginning of a worldwide missionary operation destined to embrace some fifteen countries in four different continents The records offered here provide invaluable information on social conditions in Persia (renamed Iran in 1935) and on efforts to spread the gospel during the nineteenth century. Documenting the church’s educational, evangelical, and medical work, these are records mainly of incoming correspondence from the mission field and outgoing correspondence from the Board headquarters.

Evangelism in Japan: Correspondence of the Board of Foreign Missions, 1859-1911 - The American Presbyterian Church was committed at its inception to the belief that it is a missionary church and that every member is a missionary. The establishment in 1837 of the Presbyterian Church’s Board of Foreign Missions signaled the beginning of a worldwide missionary operation destined to embrace some fifteen countries in four different continents The records offered here provide invaluable information on social conditions in Japan and on efforts to spread the gospel during the nineteenth century. Documenting the church’s educational, evangelical, and medical work, these are records mainly of incoming correspondence from the mission field and outgoing correspondence from the Board headquarters.

Evangelism in Korea: Correspondence of the Board of Foreign Missions, 1884-1911 - The American Presbyterian Church was committed at its inception to the belief that it is a missionary church and that every member is a missionary. The establishment in 1837 of the Presbyterian Church’s Board of Foreign Missions signaled the beginning of a worldwide missionary operation destined to embrace some fifteen countries in four different continents The records offered here provide invaluable information on social conditions in Korea and on efforts to spread the gospel during the nineteenth century. Documenting the church’s educational, evangelical, and medical work, these are records mainly of incoming correspondence from the mission field and outgoing correspondence from the Board headquarters.

Evangelism in Latin America: Correspondence of the Board of Foreign Missions, 1854-1911 - The American Presbyterian Church was committed at its inception to the belief that it is a missionary church and that every member is a missionary. The establishment in 1837 of the Presbyterian Church’s Board of Foreign Missions signaled the beginning of a worldwide missionary operation destined to embrace some fifteen countries in four different continents The records offered here provide invaluable information on social conditions in Latin America and on efforts to spread the gospel during the nineteenth century. Documenting the church’s educational, evangelical, and medical work, these are records mainly of incoming correspondence from the mission field and outgoing correspondence from the Board headquarters.

Evangelism in Philippines: Correspondence of the Board of Foreign Missions, 1898-1910 - The American Presbyterian Church was committed at its inception to the belief that it is a missionary church and that every member is a missionary. The establishment in 1837 of the Presbyterian Church’s Board of Foreign Missions signaled the beginning of a worldwide missionary operation destined to embrace some fifteen countries in four different continents The records offered here provide invaluable information on social conditions in the Philippines and on efforts to spread the gospel during the nineteenth century. Documenting the church’s educational, evangelical, and medical work, these are records mainly of incoming correspondence from the mission field and outgoing correspondence from the Board headquarters.

Evangelism in Thailand: Correspondence of the Board of Foreign Missions, 1840-1910 - The American Presbyterian Church was committed at its inception to the belief that it is a missionary church and that every member is a missionary. The establishment in 1837 of the Presbyterian Church’s Board of Foreign Missions signaled the beginning of a worldwide missionary operation destined to embrace some fifteen countries in four different continents The records offered here provide invaluable information on social conditions in Siam (renamed Thailand in 1948) and on efforts to spread the gospel during the nineteenth century. Documenting the church’s educational, evangelical, and medical work, these are records mainly of incoming correspondence from the mission field and outgoing correspondence from the Board headquarters.

Global Missions and Theology - This collection documents the broad range of Nineteenth Century religious missionary activities, practices and thought in the United States by reproducing pivotal personal narratives, organizational records, and biographies of the essential leaders, simple missionaries, and churches. This collection includes materials on missionary activities among Native Americans and African Americans, both slaves and freedmen. In addition, it highlights activities in far-flung regions and countries, such as Africa, Fiji and Sandwich Islands, India, China, Southeast Asia, Japan, and Hawaii.

Methodist Episcopal Church Archives: Missionary Activities - This collection comprises materials relating to Methodist Episcopal Missionary activities in Italy. This product comprises selections from the following microfilm collections: The Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church Annual Reports, 1819 - 1906 (all 11 reels); The Board of Foreign Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church Annual Reports, 1906 - 1916 (all 10 reels); Methodist Episcopal Church Missionary Correspondence, 1846 - 1912 (reels 9 and 11 only); and Methodist Episcopal Church Missionary Correspondence, 1915 - 1940 (reels 213 -222 only).

The Chinese Recorder and the Protestant Missionary Community in China, 1867-1941 - Knowledge was valuable to the Christian missionaries who went to China in the nineteenth century. They wanted to spread the knowledge of Western Christianity and technology to the Chinese, but also they wished to exchange information among themselves about the work they were doing. The need to keep informed about the activities of their counterparts in other locations in the country was evident very soon after they arrived in China. Although the first Protestant missionary reached China in 1807, missionaries were not legally permitted to live in the interior of the country until after the signing of the 1860 treaties between China and Britain and France.