United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Commission of Ecumenical Mission and Relations. Secretaries' files: India Mission, 1891-1972. Finding Aid to Record Group 83 35.00 cu.ft.	Presbyterian Historical Society 425 Lombard St. Philadelphia, PA 19147-1516

ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY

The beginnings of American Presbyterian mission work in India antedate the organization of the Board of Foreign Missions. In 1834, William Reed and J.C. Lowrie arrived in India under the auspices of the Western Foreign Missionary Society, the Board's predecessor, and established a station at Ludhiana. Two years later, stations were opened in Saharanpur, Sabathu and Allahabad. In 1840, the India Mission was subdivided into the Punjab Mission, which encompassed the original four stations, and the North India Mission, also known as the Farukhabad Mission.

The expansion of the North India Mission began and continued throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. Mainpuri was opened in 1843, followed by Fatehgarh in 1844, Jullundur in 1846 and Mussorie in 1847. Work at Dehra Dun and Fatehpur commenced in 1853, followed by Etawah a decade later. Hoshyarpur was occupied in 1867 and Etah in 1873, though the latter was not formally constituted as a station until 1900. Ferozepur was opened in 1882, followed by Cawnpore in 1901, Gwalior and Kasgani in 1911 and Shikohabad in 1924.

Work in the Punjab throughout the l9th century revolved around the stations at Ludhiana, Saharanpur, Sabathu and Allahabad. In 1908, Khanna was opened, followed by Rupar in 1910, Moga in 1911 and Kosur in 1913.

In 1870, the work of the American Board of Foreign Commissioners in western India was transferred to the Board of Foreign Missions. Thereafter, that field was known as the West India Mission. In addition to the inherited station at Kolhapur, succeeding stations were opened at Ratnagiri in 1873, in Sangli in 1884, in Miraj in 1892, in Vengurla in 1900, in Kodoli in 1893, in Islampur in 1906 and in Nipani in 1910.

The work of the Presbyterian Church in India reflected the Church's concern for the educational, medical and spiritual needs of the Indian people. Coordination of the three missions' activities in these area was directed by the India Council after 1913, while considerable interdenominational cooperation existed as well. A variety of educational institutions which had developed in the l9th century continued to grow in the 20th. Some of these included the Christian Boy's Boarding School, later known as Ewing Christian High School, the Allahabad College and Agricultural Institute, Forman Christian College, the North India School of Medicine for Christian Women and the Isabella Thoburn College.

Medical work was carried out through a variety of hospitals, dispensaries, clinics, sanitariums and leper asylums. Institutions like the Wanless Chest Hospital in Miraj, the Philadelphia Hospital in Ambala and the Fatehgarh Memorial Hospital serve as monuments to the medical work done by the Presbyterian Church in India. 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.

In 1904, the Presbyterian Church in India was formed.

In 1924, the United Church of Northern India was organized from the union of the Presbyterian Church in India and the Congregational Church in West India. This church merged in 1970 with six other churches to become the Church of Northern India.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

Record Group 83 documents the work of the Presbyterian Church in India from 1891-1972, though the bulk of the collection dates from 1910 through the late 1960s. The collection documents the Board of Foreign Missions' tripartite ministry 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, the emergence and activities of national figures like Gandhi and Nehru, the 1947 partition and the problems resulting from it are well documented here.

The collection consists primarily of minutes, reports and correspondence from the North India, West India and Punjab Missions. It is arranged as follows:

SERIES 1: NORTH INDIA MISSION, 1894-1949 Boxes 1-5

SERIES 2: PUNJAB MISSION, 1911-1949 Boxes 6-9

SERIES 3: WEST INDIA MISSION, 1911-1949 Boxes 10-12

SERIES 4: INDIA MISSION, 1949-1972 Boxes 13-21

SERIES 5: MISCELLANY, 1891-1966 Boxes 22-35
(alphabetically arranged subject file)

NOTES TO THE RESEARCHER

For materials prior to 1900, researchers should check the microfilm calendars to the Board of Foreign Missions correspondence in the reference room. For printed materials, researchers should consult the card catalog.

Record Group 83 has been extensively weeded especially with regards to the correspondence files and to a lesser extent, the subject files in Series 4.

Box Folder Description

1 1 Finding Aid to Record Group 83 SERIES 1: NORTH INDIA MISSION, 1894-1949 1 2-5 Minutes, 1912-47 6-39 Personal Reports, 1910-49 2 1-33 General Reports, 1911-48 3 1-8 Statistical Reports, 1911-34 9-29 Board Letters To India Mission, 1911-46 4 1-16 Calendared Correspondence, 1910-25 5 1-22 Missionary Correspondence, 1894-48 23-25 Mission SecretarY Correspondence, 1926-49 26-28 Station/General/Non-Missionary Correspondence, 1926-34 29-32 Estimates and Appropriations, 1938-47 33 Miscellany, 1935-38 SERIES 2: PUNJAB MISSION, 1911-1949 6 1 Minutes, 1911-47 2-30 Personal Reports, 1911-49 31-34 General Reports, 1911-14 7 1-18 1915-49 19-21 Statistical Reports, 1911-45 (incomplete) 22-23 General Correspondence, 1931-49 24-25 Calendared Correspondence, 1911-12 8 1-13 1913-25 14-15 Board Letters To India Mission, 1911-40 16-17 Mission Secretary Correspondence, 1926-1949 18-22 Missionary Correspondence, 1926-30 9 1-15 1931-48 16-18 Estimates and Appropriations, 1938-47 SERIES 3: WEST INDIA MISSION, 1911-1949 10 1 Minutes, 1911-27; 1944-49 2-14 Personal Reports, 1911-48 14-35 General Reports, 1911-36 11 1-5 1937-48 6-18 Statistical Reports, 1911-34 19-31 Calendared Correspondence, 1911-23 12 1-2 1924-25 3 Board Letters To India Mission, 1920-21; 1934-47 4-7 Mission Secretary Correspondence, 1917-49 8-25 Missionary Correspondence, 1917-48 26-28 Estimates and Appropriations, 1938-49 (incomplete) 29 Miscellany, 1926-40 SERIES 4: INDIA MISSION, 1949-1972 13 1-12 Minutes, 1949-61 14 1-15 1961-68 15 1-3 1969-72 16 4-27 Personal Reports, 1949-71 17 1-16 General Reports, 1955-58 18 1-27 1961-72 19 1-4 General Correspondence, 1949-70 5 Board Letters To India Mission, 1949-54 6-10 Missionary Correspondence, 1949-56; 1964 11-14 Mission Secretary Correspondence, 1950-62 15-19 Church Correspondence, 1951-69 20 1-15 Institutions and Institutional Correspondence, 1948-63 21 1-5 1964-72 6-9 Estimates and Appropriations, 1949-70 (incomplete) SERIES 5: MISCELLANY, 1891-1966 22 1-7 Allahabad Agricultural Institute, 1916-55 8 Allahabad Blind School, 1922-46 9 Ambala School, 1910-45 10-12 Allahabad Christian College, 1934-52 13 Audio Visual, 1956 23 1 Benares, 1924-29 2-3 Church and Mission Cooperation in India, 1923-64 4 Church Union and Integration, 1956-57 5-6 Clippings, miscellaneous, 1926-54 7-8 Conscience Clause, 1902-35 9 Constitutions and miscellaneous items, 1897, 1903, 1915, 1924, 1931, 1937 10 Dehra Dun High School, 1929-45 11-12 Educational Commission to India--Minutes, 1930-38 13-17 Correspondence, 1930-38 18 Esther Patton School, 1938-46 19 Etah Boys' School, 1929-45 20 Etah Dispensary, 1916-45 23 21 Etah Poultry and Goat Farm, 1920-46 23 Ewing Christian College, 1901-15 24 1-7 1916-46 8 Famine, 1918-19 9 Farrukhabad Christian High School, 1928-54 10 Farrukhabad Station, 1891; 1894 11 Fatehgarh Hospital, 1914-45 12 Fatehgarh Rakha Girls' School, 1936-44 13 Five Year Plan, 1956-57 14-22 Forman Christian College--Correspondence, 1894-51 25 1 1951-55 2-4 Reports, 1899-46 5-10 Minutes, 1915-55 11 Forman School, 1940-47 12 Francis Newton Hospital, 1940-53 13-14 General Board--North India, 1934-44 15 Gujranwala Theological Seminary, 1952 SERIES 5: MISCELLANY, 1891-1966 (cont'd) 25 16 Henry Martyn School of Islamics, 1927-45 17 Higginbottom, Samuel, 1927-36 18 Hislop College, 1955 19 India Centennial Materials, 1936-37 20 India Resource File, 1909-1950s 25 21-27 India Council, 1913-22 26 1-16 1918-34 27 1-19 1935-47 28 1-12 1947-55; 1965 13 Constitutions and amendments, 1913, 1917, 1925-26, 1928-41, 1952-53 14 India-Pakistan Priorities, 1954-57 15 India Sunday School Union, 1913-16 16-23 India Village Service, 1943-51 29 1-24 1949-55 30 1-13 1955-61 14 India Government and Missionaries, 1917-46 15-20 Isabella Thoburn College, 1916-47 31 1-3 1932-55 4 Jagraon Sarah M. Wherry School, 1933-46 5 Kasganj Hospital, 1923-47 6-18 Kinnaird College, 1917-55 32 1-14 Kodaikanal School, 1911-55 15 Kolhapur, Alice Home, 1913-45; 1954 16 Kolhapur Boys' High School, 1913-45 17-19 Kolhapur Church Council, 1939-55 20 Lady Irwin Tuberculosis Sanitarium, 1931-36 21 Lahore Christian College, 1894 22 Leeder, George,"Comparison of Replacements of Missionaries by National Personnel, 1926-1955" 23 Leonard Theological College, 1951-52 24 Lucknow Language School, 1914-15 25 Ludhiana Christian Medical College, 1922; 1952-53 33 1 1954-55 2 Ludhiana Christian Village, 1935-37 3 Mary Wanamaker School, 1928-46 4 Mary Wanless Hospital, 1916-47 5-6 Mass Movement, 1912-40 7-13 Miraj Hospital, 1904-66 14-18 Miraj Medical Center, 1949-55 19-20 Moga Training School, 1921-47 34 1 Naini Leper Asylum, 1926-43 2-4 National Christian Council, 1948-63 5 Nipani, 1913-44 6 North India Christian Tract and Book Society, 1914-37 7 North India Mission, 1914-56 8 Ongole Industrial Experimental School, 1910 9 Philadelphia Hospital, 1928-47; 1951-54 10 Prentice, John Wilbur, 1928-58 11 Presbyterian Church in India, 1892-14; 1920 12 Punjab Mission, 1925; 1929-30 13 Punjab Central Board, 1928-40 14-16 Relations of Missionaries to Indian Church, 1914-34 SERIES 5: MISCELLANY, 1891-1966 (cont'd) 34 17 Saharanpur School, 1914; 1929-44 18 Saharanpur Theological College, 1904-47 19 Sangli Girls' School, 1924-36 20 Sangli Industrial and Agricultural School, 1921-47 21 Sangli Station, 1913-20; 1949 22 Shahdara Farm School, 1935-36 23 Sialkot Memorial Hospital, circa 1934 24 Synodical Board Plan and Constitution, circa 1939; 1957 25 Technical Services Association, 1951-52 26 United Christian Hospital, 1949-55 27-28 United Christian Schools, 1939-55 29 United Church of Northern India, 1924-43 30 United Provinces Christian Council, 1949; 1950-54 31 United Theological College of Western India, Poona, 1932-1943 34 32 United Theological College, Bangalore, 1912-45 33 Vellore Christian Medical School, 1911-47 35 1-7 Vellore Christian Medical College, 1912-55 8 Vengurla Hospital, 1911-47 9 West India Mission, 1950-55 10-14 Woodstock School, 1891-55 15 Women's Christian College, 1914-39 16 Zenana Bible and Medical Mission, 1911-29