The Burke Library Archives, Columbia University Libraries, Union Theological Seminary, New York

Missionary Research Library Archives: Section 12

Finding Aid for

World Missionary Conference Records, 1883 – 2010

Dr. John R. Mott Chairman of the World Missionary Conference, 1910

Finding Aid prepared by: John L. Grillo and Ruth Tonkiss Cameron, January 2006 Review and updated with additions by Brigette C. Kamsler, 2013 with funding from the Henry Luce Foundation.

Summary Information Creator: World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh Title: World Missionary Conference Records, 1883-2010 Inclusive dates: 1883-2010 Bulk dates: 1908-1918 Abstract: Records from a worldwide ecumenical conference of Protestant missionaries taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland, 14 - 23 June, 1910, including those from the Continuation Committees established to continue work beyond the 1910 meeting: Questionnaires, missionary responses from the field, originals, transcripts; administrative correspondence, area reports and reports to Commissions, minutes; published findings and administrative records of the Area Conferences of the Continuation Committees. Also includes anniversary records. Size: 47 boxes, 21 linear feet Storage: Onsite storage Repository: The Burke Library Union Theological Seminary 3041 Broadway New York, NY 10027 Email: [email protected] MRL 12: World Missionary Conference Records, 1883-2010 2

Administrative Information Provenance: Originally part of the independent Missionary Research Library, under the direction of Charles H. Fahs, who was research assistant to John R. Mott and curator of the Missionary Research Library from its foundation in 1914 until 1948, these records were moved with the MRL to the Brown Memorial Tower of Union Theological Seminary in 1929. In 1976 the records were accessioned to the Burke Library archives with the closure of the MRL. A number of papers were transferred from unprocessed records in 2013, which added additional papers as well as source files. Access: Archival papers are available to registered readers for consultation by appointment only. Please contact archives staff by email to [email protected], or by postal mail to The Burke Library address on page 1, as far in advance as possible Burke Library staff is available for inquiries or to request a consultation on archival or special collections research. Access restrictions: The collection is unrestricted to readers. Certain materials however are in a fragile condition, and this may necessitate restriction in handling and copying. Preferred Citation: Item description, MRL 12: World Missionary Conference Records, 1883- 2010, series #, box #, and folder #, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York.

History The World Missionary Conference, held at Edinburgh in 1910, was preceded by five interdenominational conferences convened by societies for foreign missions in both Great Britain and the United States. The first conference held in 1888 in , England was the first attempt to study and distribute information regarding missionary work throughout the world. This was followed in 1900 by a larger, “ecumenical,” meeting of delegates sent from societies for foreign missions based in the United States, Canada, Great Britain and Europe, intending to represent the work of Protestant missionaries in the whole of the inhabited world. This gathering took place in at Carnegie Hall, with over 50,000 attending.

Many of those involved in the successful 1900 conference resolved that there should be another conference held in ten years on the other side of the Atlantic. On 29 January, 1907, thirty-seven delegates from twenty Scottish foreign missions committees or boards, unanimously agreed at a meeting held in Glasgow that a Missionary Conference should be held in Edinburgh in June of 1910.

This Conference