Annie Sanford Collection 1873-1961 Manuscripts Collection Meriah Swope May 2017 Seminary Archives A.R. Wentz Library United Lutheran Seminary Gettysburg + Philadelphia 66 Seminary Ridge Gettysburg, PA 17325 717-339-1317
CONTENTS SUMMARY INFORMATION 3 BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION 3 SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE 4 RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS 4 RESTRICTIONS ON USE 4 PROCESSING NOTE 5 SERIES DESCRIPTION AND CONTAINER LIST 5 SERIES 1: Documents 5 SERIES 2: Photographs 7 2
SUMMARY INFORMATION Repository: Creator: Seminary Archives, A.R. Wentz Library, United Lutheran Seminary, Gettysburg, PA Meriah Swope Date: 1894-1959 Language: Extent: Accruals: Custodial History: English, Telegu (Dialect of Hindu Language) The total extent of the collection is 0.42 linear feet (1 box). No further accruals are expected. This collection was received by the Seminary Archives as a donation from Annie Sanford in 1959. Preferred Citation: Annie Sanford Collection, Seminary Archives, United Lutheran Seminary, Gettysburg, PA. BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION Annie Evaline Sanford was born on February 4, 1873 in Springfield, Illinois. Initially she did not finish high school, but later attended Carthage College to finish her studies and earn a degree in 1894. She attributed her drive to finish her education and missionary work to the influence of her grandfather, Frances Springer. Dr. Springer was a strong leader in the Lutheran Church and throughout his life he served as a Chaplain in the Civil War, established Lutheran schools in the United States, and received a Doctor of Divinity for his contributions to the church from the Gettysburg Seminary in 1873. Annie Sanford completed five missionary terms in India from 1895-1902, 1904-1911, 1913-1920, 1922-1929, and 1931-1938. Primarily stationed at the Guntur Girls School in Guntur, India, Miss Sanford assisted in hospital duties, taught Sunday school, and completed local missionary work during her service. After her time as a missionary in India was completed, Miss Sanford stayed for an extra six years traveling the country and visiting missions across India and Burma. Miss Sandford was very fond of her life in India and although she moved back to the United States to live in the National Lutheran Home in Washington D.C in 1946, she continued to travel across to the U.S. sharing her experience with parishioners. She also completed the reading program at the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle in New York in 1957. Annie E. Sanford died on December 22, 1961. 3
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE This collection includes the papers and photographs of Annie Sanford, a Lutheran Missionary who served in India from 1895-1940. Miss Sanford completed a rotating schedule of seven years in India, followed by a two-year furlough in the United States. The records are arranged into two series: 1) Documents and 2) Photographs. The contents of each series are arranged by subject in chronological order. During travel and work, Miss Sanford kept a journal that she would write for several months, then would send back to her family as a letter. She refers to these documents interchangeably as journals and letters. For consistency purposes, this finding aid refers to the documents as letter journals to express their dual function in Miss Sanford s life. In her letters, she chronicles her experiences spreading education and Christianity among the native people. She also highlights local customs, the rigid Indian caste system, the weather, traveling throughout India, and current events in India and in the U.S. Each time Miss Sanford would travel between the U.S. and India, she would take a different route to tour parts of North Africa, Asia, and Europe. The collection also includes various correspondence to and from Miss Sanford beginning in 1891 with letters about her becoming a missionary to 1959 when Abdel Ross Wentz asked her to choose the Gettysburg Seminary Archives to store her papers. Papers regarding her activities in the U.S. after her time in India include: a talk given to the students at her alma mater, Carthage College, about her life, family, and experiences; a diploma for finishing the program at Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle; and various clippings from publications of her writings. A large part of the collection includes scrapbook pages that depict Miss Sanford s adventures in India with other missionaries and natives. Additional materials included in the collection range from poems written for her retirement, personal memoirs, a small book of psalms, a pamphlet written in Telegu and portraits of Miss Sandford. This collection is open for research. RESTRICTIONS REPRODUCTION Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured by the Seminary Archives. Contact the archivist for more information. 4
RELATED MATERIALS Please see the Annie Sanford file in the Photography Collection for more photographs of Miss Sanford. The Photography Collection also includes photographs of Jessie Brewer, Mary Baer, and Amy Sadtler Albrecht, all whom served with Miss Sanford in India. The other missionaries can be found among the scrapbook photographs in the Annie Sanford Collection as well. Writings of Miss Sanford can also be found in: Lutheran Women s Work, ed. Lutheran Women s Home and Foreign Missionary Society of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, vol. VII, no. 1-12 (Lutheran Publication Society, 1914). Lutheran Boys and Girls, (United Lutheran Publication House). PROCESSING NOTE The Annie Sanford collection was donated in 1959 by Miss Sanford herself. Records indicate that Seminary President Abdel Ross Wentz actively sought Miss Sanford s journals to be placed in the Seminary Archives. The collection was previously partially sorted, so the original condition of the materials is not known. Within the past fifty-eight years, the scrapbooks were disassembled and the pages were placed into archival folders to better preserve their integrity. Additionally, records show that Miss Sanford s letters were sent to her family, retyped, and the copies were sent back to the Seminary Archives. The Seminary Archives intern, Meriah Swope, made topographical and chronological changes to create an ease of access for the patron. Folder titles created by the intern are denoted with square brackets. Series 1. Documents SERIES DESCRIPTION AND CONTAINER LIST This series contains letter journals, correspondence, publication clippings, and family research. Box Folder 1 1 Letter Journals, October, 1895-December, 1896 Journal of Annie E. Sanford, October-December, 1895 Notes from the Other Side of the World, February 1896 Notes from the Other Side of the World, Third Edition. March- June, 1896 Fourth Edition of the Journal, October-December, 1896 1 2 Letter Journals, January, 1897- October, 1901 5
Sixth Edition of the Journal, January- February, 1897 The Journal 7 th Edition, April- July, 1897 [Journal] VII, July October, 1897 [Journal] VIII, October December, 1897 India Journal, January March, 1898 [Journal] X, September December, 1898 [Journal] XI, January -March, 1899 [Journal] XII, July September, 1899 [Journal], October 1899 Journal Volume II No 5, XIII, December, 1899- April, 1900 Annie Sanford Journal, Vol. 2, No. 7. XIV, October, 1900-January, 1901 Annie Sanford s Journal XV, February-March, 1901 [Journal] June September, 1901 Annie Sanford s Journal XVII, October-December, 1901 1 3 Letter Journals, March 1902-December 1909 Annie Sanford s Journal XVIII, January-April, 1902 Notes By the Way, September-October, 1902 Annie Sanford s Journal, March- May, 1904 Second Journal, Second Term of Service, June-October, 1904 Annie Sanford s 3 rd Journal of the 2 nd Term in India, November, 1904- February, 1905 [Journal] June-August, 1905 [Journal] June-October, 1905 [Journal] December, 1905-January, 1906 Journal February-April, 1906 [Journal] November-December, 1909 1 4 Letter Journals, 1911, June 1913, August 1913, May 1933, 1939, 1942 By Way of the Pacific, 1911 [Journal] June-July, 1913 [Journal] August, 1913 [Journal] May, 1933 [Journal] September, 1933 Boat Illinois, undated My Last Year in India, undated A Visit to Burma, undated The Burma Road, undated Back from Burma, undated Home from Burma, undated Furlough Notes, undated Gypsies of India, undated [Journal] June, 1942 From The Hindu at Home, undated 6
1 5 Correspondence, 1894-1968 Letter from Grandmother, 1895 Letter s from Mrs. Prince, May 1894-May 1895 Letter from Miss Sanford s Mother, 1895 Letter from M.F. Truxell, 1895 Letter from M.F. Truxell October 2, 1903 Letter from Miss Sanford s Mother, 1906 Letter from Miss Sanford s Aunt Mary, undated Report from Mrs. J.A. Breckenridge at the Synodical Meeting at Hillsboro, Illinois, October 1906, In memoriam Letter from AEL Mission, Allen O. Becker, February 1, 1912 Letter from Victor and Elizabeth McCauley, January 27, 1943 Letter from Herbert H. Schmidt, June 11, 1959 Letter from Abel Ross Wentz, June 23, 1959 Letter from John G. Leonard, June 6, 1968 1 6 Family Research/Carthage College Talk [Notes on family heritage] My Heritage [speech] Carthage College Newspaper: April 16, 1953 1 7 Publication Clippings, 1922-1960 Various excerpts from Lutheran Boys and Girls Various excerpts from Lutheran Women s Work 1 8 Miscellaneous History of my Trips to India and Back Historical Biography of Annie Sanford Story of a Retired Missionary The End of the Centenary of India From Budd[h]a to Christ 5 poems celebrating Annie Sanford & Mary Baer on their service in India United Lutheran Church Women, Illinois Synod. Twenty-First Biennial Convention, September 1957 program cover Diploma of Recognition-CLSC [Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle] Guild of the Seven Seals Program, 1957 Centennial, United Lutheran Church, India Mission, 1842-1942 Book of Psalms Series 2. Photographs This series photographs of Annie E. Sanford as well as the pages of her scrapbook covering her time in India as a missionary and her travels during her retirement. Many of the photos are 7
undated. The pages and photos were kept in the order in which they were found in order to preserve the integrity of the collection. Box Folder 1 9 Individual Photographs Note about photographs penned by Annie Sanford Portrait, 1895 Portrait, 1918 Biography photo clipping, 1926 Portrait, 1926 Portrait, 1943 1 10 Scrapbook Photographs Christmas breakfast, 1929 Local Indian families Missionary families Missionaries and their classes Guntur congregation Local goat swinging ceremony Hospital patients 1 11 Scrapbook Photographs Congregations and churches Group of Boarding school girls Students in class 1 12 Scrapbook Photograph Lutheran Conference Students and teachers Indian landscape and structures Bible Women Guntur Hospital 75 th Anniversary of the Guntur Mission 1 13 Scrapbook Photographs Scenery from travels around India Traveling and camping photos Photos of various missions and churches Pressed leaves 1 14 Scrapbook Photographs Guntur Hospital Boys Boarding School First Lutheran Missionary in India Monument Nurses Home ground breaking 1 15 Scrapbook Photographs Groups of school children Missionary groups 8
Bible Women. Examinations Indian families 9