Introduction to the Collection by the Rev. Dr. Maria E. Erling
Student writing on mission began in the mid-1820s at the Reverend Samuel Simon Schmucker’s parsonage in New Market, Virginia.
The Gettysburg Seminary Archives includes handwritten reports given by students beginning in 1824 and continuing through the 1890s. Some are written in German, while the large majority are in English.
The Society of Inquiry on Missions solicited funds and corresponded with other mission societies--Hartwick Seminary in Oneonta, New York; Andover Seminary in Massachusetts; Princeton Seminary in New Jersey; and Pittsburg Seminary in Pennsylvania--with the goal of expanding missionary interest among students of theology. Correspondence between Gettysburg’s society and other societies at Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Congregational Seminaries, indicates the Evangelical rather than sectarian ethos of missionary interest in the antebellum era.
The papers in this collection were written by students and presented by them to the society during a recitation day once every month over the course of several years and provide a record of the type of work done by students.
Throughout the 19th century the society remained central to the seminary experience. The focus of the student interest in mission changed during this time; the early reports on foreign mission work, for instance, gave way after 1865 to a more frequent focus on the needs of home mission. During the 1890s recitations at meetings no longer focused on foreign missionaries but instead were largely tributes to deceased graduates of the seminary, irrespective of whether they had undertaken mission work. By the end of the century mission enthusiasm seemed to have waned. Instead of lists of individual contributors, the treasurer had begun to assess individuals to pay off the society’s debts. The records continue until the 1919 audit.
Student Papers: Unknown Authors, 1820s-1840s
To view, click on the title of the paper.
Constitution, Minutes, Financial Reports, Student Memoirs (ongoing project)
Henry Clay Shindle (LTSG Seminarian, 1862-1864)
01 - Apologetics, Nov-Dec 1862
02 - Encyclopaedia & Methodology, Jan-Feb 1863
03 - Modern Atheism, March-April 1863
04 - Homiletics, May-June 1863
05 - Dogmatic History, Oct-Dec 1863
06 - Homiletics, Feb-March 1864
07 - Unidentified Class, Romish Errors, April-May 1864
Sermons
David Day, Letters
Rev. Silas Daugherty, Diaries
Rev. Morris Officer, Diaries
Wesley L. Sadler, Missionary Collection
Journals
Cuba, 1935
Anthropology Observations Vol. 1 c. 1950
Anthropology Observations Vol. 2 c. 1950
Anthropology Observations Vol. 3 c. 1950
Anthropology Observations Vol. 4 c.1950
Liberia Journal, 1957-1958
Papua New Guinea, 1974
Audio Recordings
01 - Address to Seniors at Lutheran Brotherhood Banquet
02 - Informal Discussion with Seniors
03 - Informal Discussion with Seminary Community
.jpg){kind=link}
