Guide to the Burgess Family Papers

Descriptive Summary

Title

Burgess Family Papers

Inclusive Dates

1904-1963

Call Number

RG 201

Creator(s)

Burgess (Family : 1904-1962 : Guatemala)

Quantity

7.50 cubic feet

Restrictions on Access

Collection open for research

Repository

Presbyterian Historical Society, 425 Lombard Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147-1516 USA

Biographical Note / Administrative History

Biographical Note

Paul Burgess (1886-1958) and Dora McLaughlin Burgess (1887-1962) were appointed as missionaries to Guatemala by the PCUSA in 1912 and served there until their retirement in 1956. Paul Burgess was a graduate of Colorado College (1908) and McCormick Theological Seminary (1911) and also studied at the Universities of Marburg and Berlin. Dora McLaughlin Burgess graduated from Washburn College in 1909.

The Burgesses arrived in Quezaltenango, Guatemala, in 1913 and performed general evangelistic work until 1932. They were responsible for opening up missionary work among the Spanish-speaking population in the isolated northwest highlands. Dora Burgess engaged in visitation and itineration work in the mountain villages.

In 1932, Paul and Dora Burgess resigned their positions and amidst considerable controversy, decided to commence work with the Quiche Indians, a large but generally neglected segment of the Guatemalan population. They reduced the Quiche language to a modern written form, learned it and began producing Christian literature in it. In 1940, against the advice of the Presbyterian Mission, they founded one of the pioneer ecumenical projects in Latin America, the Quiche Bible Institute. This institution was established to provide spiritual training for the more than 300,000 Quiche Indians living in Guatemala.

In addition to their teaching and evangelistic work, Paul and Dora Burgess spent a prodigious amount of time engaged in literary work. Their writings transcended a variety of subjects, reflecting their interests in Christian socialism, political and church history, missionary work, folklore, hymnology and theology. Paul Burgess also founded in 1915 El Noticiero Evangelico, a monthly magazine featuring local and world church news, and edited from 1922-23 El Mensajero Evangelico. The Burgesses also translated a number of materials into the Spanish and Quiche languages, including the New Testament, hymnals and miscellaneous Sunday School literature.

Collection Overview

Record group 201 consists of the Burgess Family Papers, 1904-1963. The bulk of this collection is comprised of Paul Burgesses' outgoing/incoming correspondence, though some correspondence exists for Dora M. Burgess as well as other Burgess family members, notably, Jean Burgess Dow, Pauline Burgess Sywulka, Vera McLaughlin Buchanan, et. al.

Paul and Dora Burgesses' correspondence is particularly rich in documenting the development of Presbyterian mission work in Guatemala. Relatively little in the way of official correspondence exists. Their correspondence is personal and reflects the difficulties missionaries encountered in a country noted for its turbulent political history.

Organization and Arrangement

SERIES I: CORRESPONDENCE, 1905-1963

Includes chronologically arranged incoming/outgoing correspondence of Paul Burgess, 1905-1946 and Dora Burgess, 1910-1962; general correspondence of Paul and Dora Burgess, 1905-1963, arranged alphabetically.

SERIES II: DIARIES/NOTEBOOKS, 1904-1960

Includes 25 diaries and 7 notebooks from Paul Burgess covering the years 1904-54, except for the years 1912, 1918, 1921-22, 1927-28, 1938, 1947-50, 1952, 1955-56; and 4 diaries from Dora Burgess for the years, 1956, 1959 and 1960.

SERIES III: SCRAPBOOKS, 1904-1950S

Includes 10 volumes which consist of miscellaneous personal items.

Administrative Information

Processing Information

For a complete listing of the Burgesses' literary work, see Anna Marie Dahlquist's To Keep His Calling True: The Story Of Paul Burgess (1984).

Approximately 50% of Paul Burgesses' Miscellaneous Correspondence is in Spanish. Some of his early correspondence, circa 1912-1913, is in German.

Collection processed and finding aid prepared: 1985
Frederick J. Heuser, Jr., Archivist

Catalog Headings

The following headings have been used to index the description of this collection in the society’s electronic catalog.

Personal Name Subject

Burgess, Paul, 1886-1958.

Burgess, Dora McLaughlin, 1887-1962

Corporate Subject

Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A. Guatemala Mission

Topical Subject

Evangelistic work.

Genre-form

Correspondence

Scrapbooks

Diaries

Notebooks

Collection Inventory

Box	Folder	Description

1	1	Finding Aid to Record Group 201

		SERIES I: CORRESPONDENCE, 1905-1963

		PAUL BURGESS

		Outgoing

1	2	1905; 1908-1909
	3	1910
	4	1910
	5	1911
	6	1912
	7	1913-1915
	8	1916
	9	1918-1922
	10	1924
	11	1925; 1929
	12	1932-1935; 1937-1938
	13	1945-1946

		Miscellaneous

1	14	1905-1921
	15	1908-1919
	16	1909-1913
	17	1917
	18	1919-1922
	19	1920
	20-21	1921
	22	1922, January-April
	23	1922, May-September
	24	1926, January-February
	25	1926, March-May
	26	1926, June-December
	27	1927
	28	1928
	29-30	1932-1934
	31-32	1934
	33-34	1934
	35	Undated

		DORA BURGESS -- Outgoing

2	1	1910-1922
	2	1924
	3	1932
	4	1933-1938
	5	1943-1946
	6	1949
	7	1950
	8	1953
	9	1954
	10	1955-1959
	11	1960-1962

		PAUL AND DORA BURGESS

3	1	Ainslie, Charles, 1932-1934
	2	Ajxub, Feliz, 1951
	3	Allen Family, 1908-1933
	4	American Sunday School Union, 1907
	5	Arqueta, Flavio, 1911; 1917
	6	Atwater, S.H., 1919; 1932
	7	Bestwick, Lucy, 1943
	8	Blinn, Mrs. Charles A., 1934
	9	Board of Foreign Missions, 1908-1911
	10	Brightman, E.S./Beiler, I.R., 1915-1933
	11	Brooks, Adin, P., 1942
	12	Buchanan, Howard, Vera, 1922-33; 1941
	13	Buchanan, Vera, 1950-1959
	14	Burgess, Anna, 1905-16
	15	Burgess, Anna, 1917-18
	16	Burgess, Anna, 1919-20
	17	Burgess, Anna, 1921-22
	18	Burgess, Anna, 1923-28
	19	Burgess, Anna, 1929-35
	20	Burgess, Anna, 1935-37
	21	Burgess, Anna, 1938-41
	22	Burgess, Anna, 1942-43
	23	Burgess, Anna, 1944
	24	Burgess Family (General), 1917-1918
	25	Burgess Family (General), 1931-1933
	26	Burgess Family (General), 1934-1937
	27	Burgess Family (General), 1938-1940
	28	Burgess Family (General), 1941-1945; 1948
	29	Burgess Family (General), 1953-1958
	30	Burgess Family (General), 1962
	31	Burgess Family (General), 1963
	32	Burgess, Jean (Dow, Mrs. John), 1924-1937
	33	Burgess, Jean (Dow, Mrs. John), 1933-1934
	34	Burgess, John, 1909-1957
	35	Burgess, Pauline R., 1931-33
	36	Burns, John, 1932-1933
	37	Castillo, Prisciliano, 1922
	38	Cifuentes, Tomas, 1917-1956
	39	Clippings, undated
	40	Colorado College; Colorado Springs H.S., 1908-40
	41	Committee on Cooperation in Latin America, 1929-1934
	42	Culajay, Brigido, 1922

4	1	Delgado, Tomas, 1917-22
	2	Drake, Bessie Burgess, 1919-25
	3	Drake, Bessie Burgess, 1932-49
	4	Duncan, Anna Burgess S., 1905-1929
	5	Duncan, Anna Burgess S., 1932-1950
	6	German correspondence, 1932-38
	7	Grady, Loida Burgess, 1933; 1937-1943
	8	Gregg, Mary, 1921-33
	9	Hernandez, Jose Francisco, 1954-57
	10	Jacobo, Felipe, 1922
	11	Koppel, Kate, 1918-23
	12	Liga Anti-Alcoholica, 1921
	13	Lopez, Max, 1917
	14	Lopez, Lazaro, 1917; 1921
	15	McBath, Walker, 1917-33
	16	McCormick classmates, 1909-56
	17	McDougall, W.M., 1918-24
	18	McLaughlin, Ralph, 1920-33
	19	McLaughlin, Ralph, 1924-39
	20	McLaughlin, S.R., 1905-20
	21	McLaughlin, S.R., 1921-22
	22	McLaughlin, S.R., 1923-29
	23	McLaughlin, S.R., 1930-40
	24	Meinecke, F., 1925-31
	25	Montufar, Rafael, 1921
	26	Nurminer, Bessie, 1925-31
	27	Ortiz, Hermino, 1922
	28	Photographs, miscellaneous, [n.d.]
	29	Pinir, Dolores, 1945-46
	30	Piper, D.R., 1911-31
	31	Ramirez, Teodoro, 1922
	32	Samayoa, Anastasio, 1917-22
	33	San Juan, Luis, 1917
	34	Spiritualist debate, 1917
	35-36	Sullenberger, Linn, 1913-42; 1927-36
	37	Toms, Herbert/Frank, 1917-33
	38	Towner, Grace, 1909-16
	39	Triboullier, Jose, 1916-22
	40	Ubico, Jorge, 1933
	41	Whiteside, Carrie Burgess, 1931-33
	42	Whiteside, Carrie Burgess, 1936-38
	43	Williams, Ella, 1936-38

		SERIES II: DIARIES/NOTEBOOKS, 1904-1960

5		23 Diaries and Notebooks, 1904-1929

6		36 Diaries and Notebooks, 1930-1960, undated

		SERIES III: SCRAPBOOK, 1904-1950s

7-8		10 Volumes, plus loose pages