Collections : [Yale University -Divinity School Library]

The records provide valuable documentation of an indigenous program of the church in China during the years 1939 to 1950. The correspondence and writings of Archie R. Crouch, English-language secretary of the Department, 1944-1946, provide interesting insight into the experiences of a Western missionary serving under Chinese leadership. The Border Service Department was the first missionary outreach effort of the Chinese Church. The peoples among whom the Border Service Department worked were known as the Kiang or Ch'iang, Chiarong or Gia-rung, Lolos or Nosus, and Miaos. Fields of work were western Sichuan (Szechuan) (Lifan), Sikong and Yunnan.

Correspondence, a diary, and collected materials document medical and educational work in China. Mason Pressly Young M.D., his wife Louise, and his sister Lois were Southern Presbyterian missionaries in China from 1916 to 1949. Mason and Louise were stationed in Soochow where Mason worked at Elizabeth Blake Hospital. Lois was in charge of the Mary Thompson Stevens School for Girls in Suchowfu, North China.

Documentation in this collection provides insight into the changing character of YMCA concerns. Extensive files of correspondence, minutes, and reports document the daily administrative routines of the executive secretary office, policy questions and the development of the Student Division. Topical files contain material on disarmament, work with Black students, preparatory school work, recruiting and training efforts, the Universal Day of Prayer and voluntary study. Documentation on regional and local association activities, pamphlet and periodical publications and photographs are also included. The Student Department of the YMCA, established in 1877, was involved in religious work among college and university students. Its headquarters were located in New York, with member associations on campuses throughout the United States.

Letters and collected material document the work of the Presbyterian Church in Shandong (Shantung) Province, China from 1869 to the 1940s. Carroll and Helen Yerkes were American Presbyterian missionaries in Shandong (Shantung) Province from 1904 to 1925. The parents of Helen Nevius Eckard Yerkes were Presbyterian missionaries stationed in Chefoo from 1869 to 1874.

This collection represents primarily non-official documentation of life at Yale Divinity School. The official archives of the Yale University Divinity School are housed at Sterling Memorial Library. The Yale University Divinity School was formed as a separate department of the University in 1822. Since 1972 Berkeley Divinity School has been affiliated with Yale University Divinity School. The Institute of Sacred Music, founded at Yale in 1973, is also affiliated with the Divinity School.

Sermons, scrapbooks, notes, and writings document the work of Otis Olney Wright, an Episcopal clergyman in New England during the last part of the 19th century and the first two decades of the 20th century. Wright served St. John's Church in Sandy Hook, CT from 1891 to circa 1917.

The papers detail Wright's personal life and professional work. They are particularly useful for their documentation of his involvement in religious activity at Yale from 1894-1923 and in YMCA work during the first World War. Henry Burt Wright was born in New Haven, Connecticut on January 29, 1877. He received the B.A. (1898) and Ph.D. (1903) degrees from Yale University. He was a professor at Yale from 1903-1923. He was active in Christian work among university students and in the work of the YMCA during World War I. He died in Oakham, Massachusetts on December 27, 1923.

The archives of the World Student Christian Federation Europe Region include administrative records, minutes, financial records, and documentation of conferences, workshops, and projects such as the Theological Project, Women's Project, Refugee Project, and East European Language and Leadership Training Project (Lingua Franca).

The archives of the World Student Christian Federation Africa Regional Office include legal documents, minutes, financial records, and documentation of workshops and consultations dealing with issues such as human rights, women's leadership, conflict transformation, HIV and AIDS, and economic justice.

This record group documents the operations of the North America Regional Office of the WSCF and the issues that were of concern to the Office. The North America Regional Office of the World Student Christian Federation existed from 1973 to 1988, then was reinstated in the early 2000s. National and local movements, especially in Canada, continued throughout the hiatus of the regional body. Its purpose is to coordinate ecumenical Christian student work in the United States and Canada.