American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Southern Rhodesia Mission. Records, 1924-1958
Organizational History
The Southern Rhodesian mission was established in 1893, only three years into the region was claimed by the British Empire, through the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions as part of its East Africa outpost. It centered around Mt. Silinda and had a sub-station at Chikore. It was referred to as Southern Rhodesia from 1901-1965,when they declared independence from the United Kingdom as Rhodesia, then went through several transitions before renaming to Zimbabwe in 1980. There is still a legacy of the original ABCFM mission through schools, hospitals and the United Church of Christ, Zimbabwe.
Scope of Collection
This collection provides some records from the East Africa Mission for the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, specifically the (Southern) Rhodesian missions of Mount Silinda and its substation, Chikore. The collection includes reports from the mission, correspondence, church services, histories, photographs, photographic negatives, and maps. There are many undated items.
The majority of the collection are reports from 1955-1958. There are a few from the 1930s and 1920s. The Correspondence is from 1924, 1932-1933. Correspondent names that could be identified are listed in Access Terms. The collection arrived with newsletters and booklets that have been separated and included in the "18.6.6" section, which houses similar material from the region. The Histories are varied, one is written in chiShona and chiNdau. There are two maps, one is a mass produced sketch of Southern Rhodesia, the other is a hand drawn of Mt. Silinda Station.
Arrangement
There are only nine folders; they are in alphabetical order. The reports are in chronological order.
Related Material
ABCFM Africa pamphlets (Call no. 18.6.6 Africa Box 1)
Precious Mt. Silinda United Church of Christ Mission : a century of African transformations
Victor Fanstone Masters papers, 1950-1951
Records of the Mount Silinda Mission. Microfilm in the Special Collections of the Yale Divinity School Library.
Access Terms
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions - Africa.
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. East Central Africa Mission.
Mount Silinda Mission (Zimbabwe)
Detailed Description and Container List
| Folder 1 | Church Services | 1953, 1963, no dates |
| Folder 2 | Correspondence and clippings | 1924, 1932-1933, no dates |
| Folder 3 | Histories | no dates |
| Folder 4 | Maps | no dates |
| Folder 5 | Photographs and photographic negatives | 1921-1922, no dates |
| Folder 6 | Reports | 1920s-1930s |
| Folder 7 | Reports, Mission Council | 1955-1956 |
| Folder 8 | Reports, Mission Council | 1957 |
| Folder 9 | Reports, Mission Council | 1958 |
