Guide to the A.L. Edmiston Papers

The collection, organized in six series, contains the personal papers of Alonzo Edmiston, primarily documenting his work as a PCUS missionary in the Belgian Congo from 1904 to 1940. Included are diaries, correspondence, sermon notes, financial and mission records, personal materials and miscellaneous memorabilia including biographical information about Alonzo Lmore Edmiston and Althea Brown Edmiston, photographs, and photograph albums. The papers are primarily created by Alonzo Lmore Edmiston, but some correspondence and other materials are created by and about Althea Brown Edmiston.

Series I, the diaries, comprise 14 volumes in 5 boxes and make up the bulk of the collection. They begin in January 1914 and continue through April 1941, with a gap from July 1920 to August 1921. The diaries provide an account of Edmiston's life in the mission field and commentary on world events as well as information about his extensive travels.

Series II, the correspondence, 1910-1948, is largely between Edmiston and various members of the Executive Committee of Foreign Missions, including Samuel Hall Chester, Edwin F. Willis and Egbert W. Smith. There is also some correspondence with other members of the American Presbyterian Congo Mission, including William H. Sheppard, Roy Fields Cleveland, Motte Martin and Joseph A. Savels. Some correspondence is to and from Althea Brown Edmiston. Within each folder, correspondence is arranged chronologically.

The sermon and lecture notes, in Series III, are undated but were created and used by Edmiston from the late 1920s through the early 1950s. While dates are written on several of the sermon notes, they reference when a sermon was delivered, not when the notes were created. The earliest date found in the sermon notes is 1928 and the latest date is 1952. Several sermon notes are in the Tshiluba language. There are notes for one lecture on the topic of native fetishes and spirit worship.

Series IV contains a mix of various personal materials and memorabilia. Among this material is information about speaking itineraries. The notebook containing identification of photographs appears to be the script he used when showing slides and artifacts during his speaking engagements. The collection does not contain any slides. There are souvenir postcards of the Congo in this section. A catalog from a 1975 exhibit at Fisk University honoring Althea Brown Edmiston is included in this series.

The mission records compiled by Alonzo Edmiston in Series V are in nine folders. In addition to mission station reports, there are copies of exams and lists of families and baptisms. Some of the materials are in Tshiluba. 

The photographs and albums in Series VI comprise another large portion of the collection. The majority of loose photographs are not identified and of poor quality. Many of the loose photographs also appear in the photograph albums with minimal captions. The bulk of the photographs and albums are undated. The photographs and albums show the Edmiston family, mission stations, fellow missionaries, and agricultural programs.