Collections : [Yale University -Divinity School Library]

The papers provide excellent documentation of Methodist Episcopal Church mission work in Fujian (Fukien) Province during the first half of the 1920s. The internal workings of the Methodist mission, relationships with Chinese church workers, and the impact of political unrest are described in detail. Correspondence provides nearly weekly, detailed descriptions of the Scheuflers' life in China, including daily life and missionary work, evangelistic itineration, military and bandit activity, and Chinese festivals and customs. Karl William Scheufler (1898-1989) and Ada Mills Scheufler (1891-1958) served as missionaries of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Yanping, Fujian (Yenping, Fukien Province), China from 1921-1926. After returning to the U.S. in 1926 due to lack of mission funds and political unrest in China, Karl served as pastor of various churches in Ohio. During World War II, he served as a chaplain in North Africa, Italy and the Philippine Islands. Ada was a certified Director of Christian Education and was a Week Day Church School teacher in Cincinnati from 1942-1944.

Letters, writings, photographs, and collected material document the fascinating life of Katherine Shapleigh, including her missionary work in China. Raised as a traditional Episcopalian, Katherine Chase Pratt Shapleigh married Alfred Shapleigh, a graduate of Harvard Medical School, and they served in Tianjin (Tientsin), China under the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) from 1896 to 1897. Apparently experiencing a transformation in their religious beliefs, the Shapleighs divested themselves of many of the wedding gifts and possessions given to them by their affluent families and returned to the U.S. where Alfred attended Bible schools and they engaged in home mission work until able to return to China under the more conservative China Inland Mission (CIM) board. They returned to China in 1904 but Alfred and their two children tragically died of smallpox shortly after arrival. Katherine Shapleigh remained in China under the CIM for several years (1904-1908, 1915-1920, 1926-1927). She served at the training school for future mission workers run by the China Inland Mission in Yangzhou (Yangchow) and in later years worked with Russian refugees at the Foreign Women's Home in Shanghai. Shapleigh later served as Dean of Women at Wheaton College in Illinois.

Correspondence, writings, collected material and photographs document the work of Katherine Vaughn with the YWCA in Guangzhou (Canton) and Shanghai, China from 1920-1930.

This collection documents the life and work of Kenneth E. Bailey, a renowned Presbyterian missionary in the Middle East, innovator in New Testament contextual studies, seminary professor, author, and international lecturer.

The papers contain extensive documentation of Latourette's personal life, scholarly activities, and involvement in various organizations. Latourette was a professor of missions and Oriental history at Yale University. He held leadership positions in the American Baptist Convention and Foreign Mission Society, American Historical Association, Far Eastern Association, International Committee of Y.M.C.A.'s, Japan International Christian University Foundation, United Board for Christian Colleges in China, World Council of Churches, and Yale-China Association.

These are the official archives of Kirkridge Retreat and Study Center in Bangor, PA. Kirkridge is an ecumenical Christian center founded by John Oliver Nelson, who was influenced by George MacLeod's work with the Iona Community. Nelson was a professor of Christian vocation and director of field work at Yale Divinity School from 1950 to 1964.

Correspondence, writings, and collected material document the life and work of three generations of the Lacy family. William H. Lacy directed the Foochow Mission Press and, after 1903, the Methodist Publishing House in Shanghai, while his wife Emma Nind Lacy taught at the Anglo-Chinese School in Fuzhou (Foochow) and elsewhere. Their four sons and one daughter all served as Methodist missionaries in China. Son George Carleton Lacy spent twenty years as general secretary of the American Bible Society in China and became Bishop of the Methodist China Central Conference in 1941. His son, Creighton Lacy, was a missionary to China from 1946 to 1951 and later taught at Duke University Divinity School.

This collection consists primarily of correspondence with family members, missionary colleagues, and supporting churches, which provides documentation of the life and work of Laurence and Virginia Judd. The Judds were Presbyterian missionaries and fraternal workers in Thailand from 1948 to 1970. Laurence was associate director of the Rural Life Department of the Church of Christ in Thailand from 1961 to 1970. Virginia was involved in educational work and the Church of Christ in Thailand Music Committee.

This collection documents the lives and work of Lawrence and Eleanor Mead. Lawrence Mead served in China under the YMCA from 1913-16, and 1919-1926. He taught English at Yenching University in Beijing from 1928-1939, and was unofficial "official" photographer for the University. Extensive correspondence and memorabilia shed light on the early lives and family interactions of the Meads. The photograph collection documenting Yenching University, and scenes and events in China is noteworthy.

Writings, lectures, course-related materials, and correpondence document the life and work of Leander E. Keck, who served as Dean of the Yale Divinity School from 1979 to 1989 and Winkley Professor of Biblical Theology from 1979, Emeritus as of January 1998.