Assignments in the Archives
Exercise # 3,Using sets of documents as case histories to reconstruct events
Purpose of Exercise: To introduce students to using original materials and extracting facts that might throw light on a particular topic.
Description of Exercise:
0:00-0:05 Introduction
0:05-0:15 WHL (short version)
0:15-0:30 Talk about the kinds of materials the Archives has-organizations, individuals, etc.
0:30-0:40 Description of the part of a guide and how to use them
0:40-0:55 Description of the Archives web site - collection page, documents and exhibits, database page, Wheaton College library catalog
0:55-1:05 Describe in-class assignment. Either give each individual a set of documents or divide class into group and give each group a document case of records. Explain that the purpose of this is to give them a chance handling different types of documents, evaluating their reliability and deciding how they can be used. Pass out a worksheet that asks WHO, WHEN, WHERE, WHAT, WHY. Each individual or group should be prepared to answer: Do the materials tell a story? Who is involved? When did the events take place? Where did the events take place. What is missing? What else in the collection should be examined (see guides). Why were the documents created?
1:05-1:35 Students select and study documents
1:35-1:55 Reports from students
Possible collections to use for this exercise:
1. CN 21, Box 1
2. CN 46, Box 46 - Lausanne
3. CN 81, Box 20
4. CN 89, T1, T2, T3, V1
5. CN 179, Box 2
6. CN 182, Box 2, T1, T2, T3
7. CN 188, Box 2
8. CN 215, Photo albums OMF XIII, XIV, XV
9. CN 236, Box 1
10. CN 363, Box 1, T1, T2, T3 - Ruth Mellis
11. CN 379, Boxes 2 and 4 - WUMS
12. CN 449, Box 1, V1 - John and Betty Stam.
13. CN 471, Box 1, T1, T2, T3
14. CN 544 Box 55
Revised, 3/00
This exercise was used for
Dr. Stamoolis' classes in Historical Inquiry, 2/99
Dr. Gallagher class in mission history, 3/00
2/99
Jan
revised
3/00 Bob
Samples of the BGC Archives Holdings on Missions History
Collection 21 - Records of the Congress on the Church's World Wide Mission
Proceedings, correspondence, reports, 1964-1967
The Congress was a meeting of representatives of Evangelical missions who met in Wheaton to the then current problems and opportunities of mission work. The box consists of materials relating to the planning and purpose of the congress, papers delivered at the congress and reports and press coverage of it afterwards.
Collection 89 - Papers of Paul Pinney Stough
Oral history interview, transcripts of interviews, video, ca. 1940, 1979-1980
Stough was a missionary to the Belgian Congo and Kenya. The oral history interviews describe his ministry in those countries. The video is a home movie of scenes of mission work in Belgian Congo in the 1930s and 1940s
Collection 182 - Papers of J. Herbert and Winifred Kane
Oral history interview, transcripts of the interviews, papers; 1936-1964, 1982-1987
The Kanes were missionaries to China. The box contains dozens of letters they wrote home about their experiences at the time. The oral history interviews contains their reflections on their experiences as missionaries many years later.
Collection 188 - Papers of Jonathan and Rosalind Goforth.
Manuscripts, reports, sermons, notebooks, 1894-1942
The Goforths were missions to China, first in Honan province then in Manchuria. The box of their papers include manuscripts of articles Jonathan wrote about the Boxer uprising, sermons, reports on their work in Manchuria
Collection 215 - Records of Overseas Missionary Fellowship (China Inland Mission)
Photo albums, ca. 1965-1968
Photos, documents, drawings illustrating the missions work in Laos and Thailand
Collection 236 - Records of Latin America Mission
Council minutes, 1945-1970
Minutes (and some reports and correspondence) of the field councils and home councils that governed the activities of LAM.
Collection 363 - Papers of Ruth Mellis
Box of her files, tapes of oral history interview
Mellis was a missionary to Greece and Ethiopia and was in contact with many other Christian workers. Her oral history interviews describe her life And ministry. Her files contain letters and reports from various missionaries in Europe and Asia and material from her own work in Greece as well as documents from a lawsuit filed against her brought against her because of assistance she had given an American woman who had married a Greek man.
CN 379 - Records of the Woman's Union Missionary Society
Box of reports and correspondence
The WUMS was founded in 1860 to provide an avenue for single women who wanted to go into foreign missions. It did evangelistic work and ran hospitals and schools mainly in India, China and Japan. The files consist of correspondence and reports from the missions various fields in India and China.
Collection 449 - Papers of John and Betty Stam
Box of their papers, video
The Stam's were missionaries to China who were killed by Communist guerrillas in 1934. The box of their papers contains their correspondence and other miscellaneous items, as well as the reports and correspondence growing out of the U.S. consul's investigation into their death. The video is of their 1933 wedding in Jinan, China.
Collection 471 - Papers of William Arthur Saunders
Oral history interview, 1992, n.d.
Saunders was a New Zealander who went to China as a missionary in the 1930s. His oral history describes his experiences. The collection also has an English translation of a manuscript ca. 1930 by a Chinese church leader about the founding of a church in Gansu province.
Collection 544 - Papers of Grady Wilson
Applications to be missionaries with the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board, 1969-1970
Wilson was an evangelist who worked with Billy Graham. He was also for several years a member of the Foreign Missions board of the Southern Baptist Convention. This box contains the applications of people applying to become missionaries or to go out again as missionaries and the applications usually include the candidate's biography and statement of faith.
BGC ARCHIVES ASSIGNMENT WORKSHEET
1. Describe in a sentence the set of documents you worked with:
who created the documents?
when were they created?
where were they created?
why were they created?
4. What are the different types of documents that you have?
5. What different view points are represented?
Your time is very limited, so you must work as quickly as possible.