0307, 2017

Miniature Portraits in the London Missionary Society Archive

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|3rd July 2017|Behind the scenes, Collections & Research|0 comments

This week’s blog looks more closely at a fascinating collection of miniature portraits found in the archive of the London Missionary Society, which are currently undergoing conservation treatment to ensure their long-term preservation. The archive of the London Missionary Society is rich in visual materials, including photographs, drawings, paintings and engravings. Amongst this material is a unique collection of 165 miniatures dating from around 1798 to 1844, primarily watercolour on

0704, 2017

Chinese evangelical posters

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|7th April 2017|Collections & Research|0 comments

This week’s blog looks at two new collections of Chinese evangelical posters acquired by SOAS Library, originally published by the Religious Tract Society for China from their offices in Hankow and Shanghai in the 1930s and early 1940s. Catalogues for the posters are now available on the Archive Catalogue under MS 380713 and MS 381279. The Religious Tract Society (R.T.S.) was founded in 1799 for the distribution of Christian evangelical

0603, 2017

Archives of the Council for World Mission

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|6th March 2017|Collections & Research|0 comments

Since the early 1970s, SOAS Library has been custodian of the archive collections of the Council for World Mission. Comprising the records of the Council’s predecessor bodies – the London Missionary Society (1795-1966), the Commonwealth (formerly Colonial) Missionary Society (1836-1966) and the English Presbyterian Mission (1843-1972) – these archives are a unique historical resource for the study of Christian mission over the last 200 years, and are used by academic

1510, 2015

Black History Month 2015: Malagasy art in the archives

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|15th October 2015|Collections & Research|4 comments

To mark Black History Month 2015, this week’s blog highlights the presence of art works by two renowned Malagasy artists, Emile Ralambo and James Rainimaharosoa, in the collections at SOAS Archives, and reflects more broadly on the strength of the Madagascar collections at SOAS, which have attracted the interest of academic researchers from around the world and also the Malagasy community within Britain, through our contact with the Anglo-Malagasy Society.

2007, 2015

New missionary collection at SOAS: Churches of Christ Missionary Committee

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|20th July 2015|Collections & Research|4 comments

SOAS Archives is pleased to announce that the archive of the Churches of Christ Missionary Committee is now available to researchers (Ref: CoC). The collection was deposited at SOAS Library by the United Reformed Church History Society in May 2015, and adds to the significant range of missionary collections held by the Archives & Special Collections department. Our thanks go to Margaret Thompson, former Archivist at Westminster College, Cambridge, who has

3006, 2015

‘Colonial Christian Missions and their Legacies’: reflections on a conference

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|30th June 2015|Behind the scenes, Collections & Research|1 comments

This week’s blog reflects on a conference held at the University of Copenhagen, 27th-29th April this year, entitled ‘Colonial Christian Missions and their Legacies’. One of our archivists, Jo Ichimura, looks back at the themes and highlights of the conference, which has particular relevance for the many researchers who come in to use the extensive missionary collections held by SOAS Archives. “How are colonial Christian missions remembered or memorialized in

2303, 2015

Women’s History Month 2015: “The Largest Mass Movement of Women in Britain in the 19th Century”

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|23rd March 2015|Collections & Research|0 comments

To celebrate Women’s History Month 2015, the campaign to raise the profile of women’s history and to champion women of the past, we are highlighting a number of collections held by SOAS Archives which reveal the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society. This week, Rosemary Seton, Research Associate in the Department of History at SOAS, looks at the role of women in the global missionary movement, and what has

2302, 2015

African Missionaries workshop

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|23rd February 2015|Teaching & Learning|0 comments

Visiting the SOAS archives is an important part of the course African Missionaries, convened by Dr Jörg Haustein of the Department of the Study of Religions, SOAS. The course is concerned with the historical analysis of published and unpublished missionary materials pertaining to Africa. It explores how these sources can be read critically in order to gain a better understanding of the complex dynamics between African societies and European missionaries

2609, 2014

The Papers of Eva Dykes Spicer, Missionary Educator in China and Nigeria 1923 – 1958

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|26th September 2014|Collections & Research|0 comments

This weeks guest blog has been written by Rosemary Seton, formerly head of archives at SOAS and now a Research Associate in the Department of History, and uncovers a new collection of personal papers held at SOAS Archives, which have been recently catalogued and made available to researchers. The papers of Eva Spicer (reference: PP MS 92), who taught at Ginling College in Nanjing, China for twenty-eight years and then went on to

2908, 2014

Why Archives Matter? The English Presbyterian Mission collection at SOAS

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|29th August 2014|Collections & Research|0 comments

This week’s guest blog has been written by Niki Alsford, Senior Teaching Fellow in the Department of History, and Research Fellow at the SOAS Centre for Taiwan Studies. Niki discusses the significance of the archives of the English Presbyterian Mission, held here at SOAS, for the study of the history of Taiwan and its’ indigenous peoples. Ensuring that the records of today are preserved for the future generations of tomorrow