Hamm Family Papers

Historical Note

The Reverend David Hamm and his wife Margaret (nee Howe) spent about 13 years in the Philippines as missionaries. They lived on the southern island of Mindanao where they helped to establish and run a school to serve the needs of the predominantly Muslim Maranao people who lived in the Lake Lanao region. The name of the school was Dansalan Junior College, and the documents in this collection chronicle its beginnings as a high school and junior college, and its transformation into a foundation that provides a broad range of educational, medical and social services.

While they both worked as teachers, the Hamms befriended many in the area while keeping in touch with family and friends back home. For a couple of years, Margaret’s mother Mae Howe came to visit and stayed to teach. She too, wrote many letters back to the United States. When they returned to America, the family wrote many letters to their friends and colleagues in the Philippines. Occasionally over the years they would return to Mindanao for visits.

Scope and Content Note

Series I: The bulk of the collection is made up of letters. Of these, most of them were written between the years 1950 through 1969. The great majority of these letters were addressed to family members or close friends, many of which were associated with the school or the United Church of Christ. Letters concerning work are listed in Series II.

Series II: The Hamms spent much of their time addressing academic matters, writing papers, speeches and teaching classes. Sub-series A contains documents directly concerning Dansalan Junior College, both during and after the Hamms time by Lake Lanao. Sub-series B features papers, notes, speeches and mementos of academic and theological works by the family before, during and after their time in the Philippines that are unrelated to the school.

Series III: This portion of the collection contains personal items for the family which do not include letters. Some are about day to day affairs, like diaries or date books, while others are in honor of special occasions and events, such as newspaper clippings or travel receipts.

Series IV: Rounding out the collection are pictures and negatives, most of which are dated to the 1957 and 1985-86, but range from 1930 to 2000. The most common ones were taken while on trips such as to Indonesia or the Philippines, and/or contain images of family and friends.

Folder List