Guide to the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Syria Mission Records
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Materials marked "Digital" in the Collection Inventory may not be available on Pearl or in their entirety.
American Protestant work in Syria dates from 1819, when Pliny Fisk and Levi Parsons, representatives of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) arrived in Smyrna with the objective of initiating missionary work in the Jerusalem area. Following the reunion of Old School and New School Presbyterian Churches in the US in 1870, the ABCFM's Syria Mission was transferred to the Board of Foreign Missions.
The work of the Presbyterian Church in Syria was conducted through four main stations, sixty-three outstations, and several substations. Three of the main stations were taken over from the ABCFM. The first was Beirut, occupied in 1833; Suk-el-Garb and Zaleh were two of its substations. Tripoli was occupied in 1848 and Sidon in 1851. The last main station, Aleppo, was opened by the BFM in 1920; its substations included Hama and Deir-ez-Zore. The work of the Syria Mission transcended three distinct states. Lebanon encompassed Beirut, Tripoli, Sidon and Zaleh, and Syria included Hama, Aleppo and Deir-ez-Zore. Latakia was the location of limited mission work in certain villages.
The conflict between Christian and Muslim, a dominant and recurring theme throughout Syria's history, presented the mission with a diversity of problems unknown in other mission fields. The division of the population along religious lines resulted in internecine warfare throughout Syria/Lebanon that had an unsettling effect on the mission's educational, medical and evangelistic work. The mission made progress, especially in the areas of educational and medical assistance. Educational institutions included the American School for Girls, the Syrian Protestant College (later known as the American University of Beirut), the Tripoli Girls' School, and the Gerard Institute. Medical work was carried out in three locations: the Hamlin Memorial Sanitarium for tubercular patients, the Kennedy Memorial Hospital in Tripoli, and the Deir-ez-Zore Hospital in the remote northern desert.
The first evangelical church in Syria was organized in Beirut in 1848; by 1921 the existing three presbyteries united to form a synod. Though a Syrian Evangelical Church was organized, its communicants remained few and the Church continued to function with the Mission until 1959. In that year, the American Protestant Mission in Syria/Lebanon was dissolved and its work and program integrated into the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon.
Record Group 115 consists of the records of the Syria Mission Archives. The collection is unique in its extensive amount of 19th century material. Correspondence from missionaries, from representatives of the ABCFM, from the BFM, and from governmental representatives are here in abundance.
The collection is arranged alphabetically.
To browse this collection's digitized content visit Pearl.
Materials marked "Digital" in the Collection Inventory may not have been digitized in their entirety.
Related collections include RG 90, BFM Secretaries' Files--Syria Missions, 1894-1972.
The records of the Syria Mission Archives were originally arranged by subject. Each document was item indexed, with an abbreviated calendar system describing the contents of each. The original work on this collection was done by James Willoughby, who by his own admission was an amateur archivist. Despite his elaborate and detailed system, it was extremely difficult to use the collection, given its lack of chronological or alphabetical order. Therefore the records were reorganized into their current alphabetical arrangement. Remnants of Willoughby's system, however, can still be found throughout.
Between five and ten percent of this collection is written in foreign languages; some of this material was translated by Willoughby.
Collection processed and preliminary finding aid prepared: 1972
Grace Mullen, Assistant Records Researcher
Final finding aid prepared: 1983
Frederick J. Heuser Jr, Archivist
| Box | Folder | Description | Alternative Formats |
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1 | 1 | Finding Aid to Record Group 115 | |
| 2 | Abeih Station [Hasbaya] correspondence, 1844 | Digital |
| 3 | Abeih Station reports, 1844-1860 | Digital |
| 4 | Abeih Station reports and correspondence, 1844; chiefly on dispossession of Protestants at Hasbaya | Digital |
| 5 | Abeih Station minutes and reports, 1844-74 | Digital |
| 6 | Abeih Station reports, 1875-95 | |
| 7 | Action Chretienne en Orient, 1939-46 | |
| 8 | Aleppo College, 1880-1963 | |
| 9 | High School for Girls, 1941-42 | |
| 10 | Station, 1924-55 | |
| 11 | 1836-1943 | |
| 12 | reports, 1853-1935 | |
| 13 | North Syria School for Boys, 1928-58 | |
| 14 | reports, 1931-37 | |
| 15 | Alter, Neale, 1934-1959 | |
| 16 | American Bible Society, 1875-1914 | |
| 17 | American Bible Society, 1922-65 | |
| 18-19 | American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, 1842-1960 | |
| 20 | American Mission in Egypt, 1870-1960 | |
| 21 | American Consul, 1831-1903 | |
| 22 | American Consul, 1904-1908 | |
| 23 | American Consul, 1911-1961 | |
| 24 | American Embassy, 1933-1955 | |
| 25 | American Press, reports, 1835-1855 | |
| 26 | correspondence/reports, 1860-1917 | |
| 27 | annual reports, 1872-1915 | |
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2 | 1 | American Press, annual reports, 1918-1930 | |
| 2 | American Press, Administrative Comm. minutes, 1922-1925 | |
| 3 | American Press, finances, 1926-1949 | |
| 4 | American Press, correspondence, 1927-1944 | |
| 5 | American Press, annual reports, 1930-1940 | |
| 6 | American Press, annual reports, 1941-1952 | |
| 7 | American Press, history of, n.d. | |
| 8 | American Press, property, 1931-1948 | |
| 9 | American Press, examples of work, n.d. | |
| 10-13 | American Red Cross, 1941-1944 | |
| 14 | American Tract Society, 1836-1949 | |
| 15 | Armenian Pilgrims, 1844: 1944 | |
| 16 | Arab Evangelical Episcopal Church, 1944?-1952 | |
| 17 | Arab Evangelical Union, n.d. | |
| 18 | Arabic hymnal, 1874-1930 | |
| 19 | Armenian Evangelicals, 1928-1958 | |
| 20-21 | Audio-Visual Aids, 1933-1961 | |
| 22 | Arabic Bible Translation, 1844+ | |
| 23 | Bailey, M. Claire, 1937-1955 | |
| 24 | Beirut, American Community School, correspondence, 1908-1924 | |
| 25 | Beirut, American Community School, accounts, etc., 1911-1946 | |
| 26 | Beirut, American Community School, correspondence, 1925-1926 | |
| 27 | Beirut, American Community School, correspondence, 1927-1933 | |
| 28 | Beirut, American Community School, minutes, 1934-1946 | |
| 29 | Beirut, American Community School, correspondence, 1934-1961 | |
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3 | 1 | American School for Girls, reports, 1838-1955 | |
| 2 | American School for Girls, reports, 1891-1960 | |
| 3 | Junior College, 1922-1933 | Digital |
| 4 | Junior College reports, 1926-1964 | |
| 5 | Junior College minutes, 1932-1954 | |
| 6 | Junior College minutes, 1934-1943 | |
| 7 | Junior College minutes, 1936-1958 | |
| 8 | Junior College minutes, 1944-1951 | |
| 9 | College for Women, 1952-1955 | |
| 10 | College for Women, 1956-1963 | |
| 11 | College for Women, 1948+ | |
| 12 | College for Women, 1963-1964 | |
| 13 | American University of, 1941+ | |
| 14 | American University of, 1886-1964 | |
| 15 | Anglo-American Cemetery, 1903-1928 | |
| 16 | Anglo-American Cemetery, 1929-1950 | |
| 17 | Anglo-American Cemetery, 1931+ | |
| 18 | Anglo-American Church, 1855-1951 | |
| 19 | Anglo-American Community Church, 1935?-1953? | |
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4 | 1 | Anglo-American Church, 1946-1953 | |
| 2 | Community Church of Beirut, 1952-1957 | |
| 3 | Evangelical Church, 1838-1913 | |
| 4 | Evangelical Church, 1907-1960 | |
| 5 | Evangelical Church, 1903-1960 | |
| 6 | Evangelical School for Girls, 1900-1964 | |
| 7 | Jessie Taylor Evangelistic Center, 1930-1956 | |
| 8 | Jessie Taylor Evangelistic Center property, 1808 | Digital |
| 9 | Jessie Taylor Evangelistic Center 1875-1914 | |
| 10 | Jessie Taylor Evangelistic Center 1890-1936 | |
| 11 | Jessie Taylor Evangelistic compound property, 1906-1916 | Digital |
| 12 | Jessie Taylor Evangelistic reading room, 1900-1922 | |
| 13 | Ras Beirut School, reports, 1892?-1925 | |
| 14 | Ras Beirut School correspondence, 1906-1951 | |
| 15 | Ras Beirut Synod Church, 1960-1964 | |
| 16 | Station, reports, 1840-1866 | |
| 17 | 1902-1916 | |
| 18 | minutes, 1922-1939 | |
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5 | 1-3 | Benton, William A., 1855-1869 | |
| 4 | Bertsch, A. Monroe, 1946-1959 | |
| 5 | Bible Lands Missions' Aid Society, 1875-1950 | |
| 6-9 | Union for Christian Education, 1869-1961 | |
| 10 | Bour; Mission, House of Hope, 1928-1937 | |
| 11 | Boyes, Harry R., 1922-1954 | |
| 12 | British and Foreign Bible Society, 1832-1865 | |
| 13 | British Syrian Mission, 1876-1952 | |
| 14 | Byerly, Robert C., 1924-1959 | |
| 15 | Cassile, Helen H., 1946-1953 | |
| 16 | Central Coordinating Committee for Refugee Relief, 1950-53 | |
| 17 | Christian Medical Association, 1926-1955 | |
| 18 | Church development--stewardship, 1885-1930 | |
| 19 | Church cooperative parishes, 1905?-1941 | |
| 20 | Church cooperative parishes, 1938-1944 | |
| 21 | Church cooperative parishes, 1938-1965 | |
| 22 | Church synod progress, 1940-1942 | |
| 23 | Church Growth, 1930; 1963 | |
| 24 | Church integration/Five Year Program, 1951-1958 | |
| 25 | Church of Scotland, 1850?-1959 | Digital |
| 26 | Church of Scotland, 1850?-1959 | ||
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6 | 1 | Church stewardship, n.d. | |
| 2 | COEMAR, minutes/correspondence, 1959-1960 | |
| 3 | Committee on work among non-Christians, 1919-1940 | |
| 4 | Conference on Missions, 1874; 1876 | |
| 5 | Conference for work among non-Christians, 1934-1939 | |
| 6 | Conferences, miscellaneous, 1890?-1950 | |
| 7 | Congregational Christian Service, 1949-1955 | |
| 8 | Correspondence re protection of missionaries in Syria, 1822-63 | |
| 9 | Correspondence to Syria Mission from Sandwich Islands, 1838; 1841 | |
| 10 | Council of Missionary Societies in Great Britain/Ireland, 1939; 1949 | |
| 11 | Court cases, 1881-1956 | |
| 12 | Magdousha Case, 1905-1909 | |
| 13 | 1940+ | |
| 14 | Customs House correspondence, 1890-1935 | |
| 15 | Daily Vacation Bible School, 1926-1943 | |
| 16 | Danish Mission, 1926-1952 | |
| 17 | Birds Nest Orphanage, 1940-1946 | |
| 18 | Birds Nest Orphanage, 1940-1946 | |
| 19 | Deir-el-Komr, station reports, 1859 | |
| 20 | Deir-el-Zor, correspondence, 1941-1959 | |
| 21 | Deir-el-Zor, correspondence, 1925-1937 | |
| 22 | Deir-el-Zor, evangelistic work, 1929-1953 | |
| 23 | Deir-ez-Zore, reports, 1930-1955 | |
| 24 | Deir-ez-Zore, correspondence, 1938-1941 | |
| 25 | Deir-ez-Zore, correspondence, 1945-1963 | |
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7 | 1 | Direct Evangelism Committee, 1930-1951 | |
| 2 | Dorman, H.G. Jr., 1932-1954 | |
| 3 | Decherd, Douglas H., 1931-1967 | |
| 4 | Ecumencial Institute, 1962 | |
| 5 | Education Committee, 1911-1963 | |
| 6 | Educational Committee, reports, 1922-24; 1947-48 | |
| 7 | Educational Committee, minutes, 1926-1959 | |
| 8 | Educational Survey, 1957-1958 | |
| 9 | Erdman, Paul, 1921-1957 | |
| 10 | Evangelistic Committee, correspondence, 1890: 1920-1937 | |
| 11 | Evangelistic Committee, reports, 1913-1955 | |
| 12 | Evangelistic Committee, correspondence, 1921-1951 | |
| 13 | Evangelistic Committee, minutes, 1927-1957 | |
| 14 | Evangelistic Committee, correspondence, 1937-1939 | |
| 15 | Evangelistic Committee, correspondence, 1939-1943 | |
| 16 | Evangelistic Committee, correspondence, 1943-1956 | |
| 17 | Evangelism, industrial, 1931-1955 | |
| 18 | Evangelical Alliance, 1875-1961 | |
| 19 | Evangelistic Literature, 1935-1940 | |
| 20 | Evangelistic Work, 1824-1939 | |
| 21 | Executive Committee, correspondence, 1868; 1957-1959 | |
| 22 | Executive Committee, minutes, 1925-1956 | |
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8 | 1 | Field Publicity, 1881-1959 | |
| 2 | Finance Committee, minutes, 1855-1959 | |
| 3 | Finance, samples of shipping papers, 1912? | |
| 4 | Finance, ledgers, 1910-1923 | |
| 5 | Ford, George A., 1913?-1931 | |
| 6 | Fraternal Workers' Committee, minutes, 1959-1964 | |
| 7 | Freidinger, W.A., 1933?-1954 | |
| 8 | Glockler, H.W., 1934-1955 | |
| 9-11 | Government relations on school matters, 1885-1965 | |
| 12 | Government regulations, 1929-1958 | |
| 13 | Greek Catholic Church, 1848-1849; 1899; 1950 | |
| 14 | Greenslade, 1921-1958 | |
| 15-16 | Hamlin Memorial Sanatorium, property, 1908?-1957? | |
| 17 | Hamlin Memorial Sanatorium correspondence, 1916-1927 | Digital |
| 18 | Hamlin Memorial Sanatorium reports, 1904-1964 | |
| 19 | Hamlin Memorial Sanatorium correspondence, 1928-1934 | Digital |
| 20 | Hamlin Memorial Sanatorium correspondence, 1935-1945 | |
| 21 | Hamlin Memorial Sanatorium correspondence, 1945+ | |
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9 | 1 | Hasbaya Station, 1845-1853 | |
| 2 | Hasbaya Church, 1844-1963, including roster of Palestinian refugees housed in Hasbaya, 1953 | |
| 3 | Hasbaya Station reports, 1851-1855 | |
| 4 | Hermil Evangelistic Project, 1940-1946 | |
| 5 | Hill, Douglas, 1946-1953 | |
| 6 | Home and Family Life Committee, 1947-1960 | |
| 7 | Homs Station, reports, 1855-1960 | |
| 8 | Horne, Ottora M., 1931-1956 | |
| 10 | Hunter, George C., 1856 | |
| 11 | Hunting, Bernice, ~.d~ | |
| 12 | Indigenization/Philosophy of Missions, 1844-1960? | |
| 13 | International Red Cross, 1949-1951 | |
| 14 | International Missionary Council, 1927-1949 | |
| 15 | International Missionary Council, 1950+ | |
| 16 | Interstation business/early surveys, 1837?-1922 | |
| 17 | Iran Mission, 1924-1959 | |
| 18 | Iraq Mission, 1927?-1949 | |
| 19 | Jerusalem cemetery, 1835-1959 | |
| 20 | Jerusalem cemetery, 1897-1907 | ||
| 21 | Jerusalem cemetery, 1897-1912, including photographs | ||
| 22 | Jerusalem cemetery, 1905-1912 | ||
| 23 | Jerusalem cemetery, 1905-1927, including photograph | ||
| 24 | Jerusalem and the East Mission, 1915-1958 | |
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10 | 1 | Jessup, Stuart D., 1925-1938 | |
| 2 | Jibrail Rural Pellowship Center, 1939-1960 | |
| 3 | Jibrail Rural Pellowship Center reports, 1947-1958 | |
| 4 | Joint Christian Committee for Refugee Work, 1948-1956 | |
| 5 | Joint Christian Committee for Refugee Work, 1950-1960 | Digital |
| 6-7 | Joint Christian Committee for Refugee Work, minutes/reports, 1950-1957 | |
| 8 | Junior Year Abroad, 1953-1964 | |
| 9 | Language School - Missionary Study Center, 1929-1930 | |
| 10 | Lebanon Stations, reports, 1911-1929 | |
| 11 | statistics, 1911-1912 | |
| 12 | Law, Louisa, 1929-1932 | |
| 13 | Leadership Training, 1844-1958 | |
| 14 | Literature Distribution, 1915-1944 | |
| 15 | Literature - Publication, 1932-1936 | |
| 16-22 | 1936-1960 | |
| 23 | manuscripts, nd | |
| 24 | Literature, Torch Library, 1960-1966 | |
| 25 | Literature Committee, reports, 1923-1961 | |
| 26 | minutes, 1952-1963 | |
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11 | 1 | Mabbs, Robert B., 1923-1958 | |
| 2 | Mardin Station, reports, 1920-1925 | |
| 3 | Medical, government relations, 1929?-1959 | |
| 4 | Medical Bulletins to the Field, 1921-1951 | |
| 5-9 | Medical Department, 1923-1960 | |
| 10 | Miscellaneous correspondence of Mission Secretary, 1928-1958 | |
| 11-13 | Miscellaneous correspondence, 1872-1955 | |
| 14 | Miscellaneous correspondence of Mission Secretary, 1930-1952 | |
| 15-18 | Mission-Church Relations, 1844-1959 | |
| 19 | Mission Circular Votes, 1900-1920 | |
| 20 | Missionary correspondence, 1834-1949 | |
| 21 | Mission History file, nd | |
| 22 | Mission Library, reports, 1835-1931 | |
| 23-26 | Mission meeting minutes, 1900-1945 | |
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12 | 1-3 | Mission meeting minutes, 1946-1959 | |
| 4 | Mission Narrative Reports, 1835-1971 (incomplete) | |
| 5-10 | Mission Statistics, 1870-1925 | |
| 11 | Missionary outfit lists, n.d~ | |
| 12 | Mission Statistics, 1928-1941 | |
| 13 | Missionary Student Center, 1920-1953 | |
| 14 | Muslim Evangelism, 1885-1965 | |
| 15 | Muslim Apologetics, 1889-1956 | |
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13 | 1 | Nabatiyeh Project, 1924-1956 | |
| 2 | Nabatiyeh Girls' School, reports, 1943-1945 | |
| 3 | Nabatiyeh School, 1947-1959 | |
| 4 | National Council of Churches of Christ, 1949-1951 | |
| 5 | NECC (Near East Christian Council), committee on evangelism, 1923-1960 | |
| 6 | NECC literature committee, 1924-1937 | |
| 7 | NECC work among Muslims, 1927-1956 | |
| 8 | NECC 1929-1964 | |
| 9 | NECC evangelism, 1937-1961 | |
| 10 | NECC literature committee, 1938-1965 | |
| 11 | NECC audio-visual committee, 1939-1965 | |
| 12 | NECC relief for refugees, 1952-1959 | |
| 13-15 | Near East Mission, 1937-1955 | |
| 16-19 | Near East School of Theology, 1909-1963 | |
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14 | 1-6 | 1935-1964 | |
| 7 | Nelson, W.S., 1917-1930 | |
| 8 | Newman School of Missions, 1930-1949 | |
| 9 | Nile Mission Press, 1927-1957 | |
| 10 | Nicol, James, 1930-1958 | |
| 11 | Orme, Dr. Rhoda, 1947-1964 | |
| 12-14 | Orphaned Missions, 1940-1947 | |
| 15-16 | Other Churches and agencies, 1911-1964 | |
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15 | 1 | Peet, W.W., 1903-1912 | |
| 2 | Personnel lists, 1881-1939 | |
| 3 | Philosophy of Missions, 1950-1951 | |
| 4 | Presbytery documents, miscellaneous, 1885-1916? | |
| 5 | Press and censorship, 1890?-1942 | |
| 6-8 | Project Board, 1934-1947 | |
| 9-17 | Property, 1855-1963 | |
| 18 | Protestant communities in Syria, 1852-1904 | |
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16 | 1-6 | Publication Committee, minutes/correspondence, 1902-1951 | |
| 7-8 | Reformed Church of America, Arabia Mission, 1936-1959 | |
| 9 | Relations with non-Evangelical Churches, 1891-1958 | |
| 10-13 | Relief Work, 1915-1951 | |
| 14 | Religious Education, 1923+ | |
| 15 | Resignation Letters, 1843-1912 | |
| 16 | Rost, Glenn S., 1936-1949 | |
| 17 | Rules and regulations of the Syria Mission, 1844-1934? | |
| 18-20 | Rural Mission Work, 1932-1956 | |
| 21 | Rural Churches, 1936-1946 | |
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17 | 1 | Sample BFM application forms, 1837+? | |
| 2 | Seto, Paul, 1952-1959 | |
| 3 | Scherer, George H., 1921-1958 | |
| 4 | Scripture Gift Mission, 1919-1955 | |
| 5 | Shannon, Winifred, 1936-1945 | |
| 6 | Scholarships, 1937-1957 | |
| 7 | School correspondence, 1885-1889 | |
| 8 | School curricula, n.d. | |
| 9 | School of Theology, alumni letters (copied), 1912 | |
| 10 | Shweir School, 1870-19ln | |
| 11 | Shweyer property, 1900?-1911? | |
| 12 | Shweyer School, 1921-1957 | |
| 13-16 | Sidon, Gerard Institute, 1875-1964 | |
| 17-18 | Sidon Girls' School, 1906-1957 | |
| 19-20 | Sidon Station, 1907-1943 | |
| 21 | Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1927-1959 | |
| 22-23 | Special Projects (Hama and Munsiff), 1924-194 | |
| 24 | Student Conferences, 1921-1955 | |
| 25-26 | Student Work, 1931-1964 | |
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18 | 1 | Summer Residences, 1953-1959 | |
| 2-3 | Suk-el-Gharb, Lebanon School for Boys, 1909-1947 | |
| 4-12 | Syria-Lebanon Synod, correspondence/minutes,/annual reports, 1896-1966 | |
| 13 | Syria Mission Schools, 1886-1959 | |
| 14 | Syrian Native Church, 1827-1860 | |
| 15 | Synod correspondence, 1953+ | |
| 16 | Synod Meeting minutes, 1930-1954 | |
| 17 | Synod committee reports, 1951-1963 | |
| 18-22 | Synod reports (in Arabic), 1961-1963 (others undated) | |
| 23 | Synod, salary and pension materials, 1936-1955 | |
| 24 | Synod statistics, 1905-1950 | |
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19 | 1 | Teacher Training School, 1859?-1956 | |
| 2 | Teagarden, Irene, 1935-1959 | |
| 3 | Technical Assistance Program, 1949-1952 | |
| 4 | Theological Education, 1844-1912 | |
| 5-6 | Tripoli Boys' School, 1902-1964 | |
| 7-9 | Tripoli Girls' School, 1883-1964 | |
| 10-15 | Tripoli, Kennedy Memorial Hospital, 1914-1963 | |
| 16 | Tripoli, medical reports, 1895-1914 | |
| 17-21 | Tripoli Station, correspondence, reports, statistics, 1845-1943 | |
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20 | 1-3 | United Missionary Council, minutes, reports, correspondence, 1911-1961 | |
| 4 | United Nations Relief and Works Agency, 1948-1955 | |
| 5 | Votaw, Paul D., 1946-1955 | |
| 6 | White, F.L., 1927-1958 | |
| 7 | Williams, Dr. & Mrs. Neil, 1953-1962 | |
| 8 | Wilson, Lois C., 1940-1958 | |
| 9 | Women's Work, 1860?-1955 | |
| 10 | World Council of Churches, 1948-1953 | |
| 11 | World Day of Prayer, 1875-1965 | |
| 12 | Work among non-Christians, 1871?-1950 | |
| 13 | Young, Agnes (Nancy), 1931-1943 | |
| 14 | YMCA/YWCA, 1929-1952 |