Guide to the Arthur L. and Edith S. Carson Papers

Edith and Arthur Carson were Presbyterian missionaries to China and the Philippines. Edith Henrietta Scott was born on August 6, 1892 in Rockland Lake, New York and graduated from Cornell University in 1919. Arthur Leroy Carson was born on May 29, 1895 in Tionesta, Pennsylvania and graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 1919. The couple were married on July 10, 1920 and appointed by the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Board of Foreign Missions to the South China Mission (Canton) in 1921. Arthur served as an agricultural missionary. The couple was transferred to Weihsien, Shantung in 1923. Arthur served in agricultural education, and Edith taught in the Girls' High School. The couple left for the United States in 1926. They returned to teach at Cheeloo University, Shandong from 1931 to 1938. Arthur was appointed Director of the Rual Institute at Cheeloo. In 1939, Arthur was appointed president of Silliman University (Dumaguete, Philippines), a position he held until 1953. Upon the Japanese invasion of the Philippines in 1941, the Carsons evacuated to "barrios" in the highlands, where they remained until returning to Dumaguete in 1945. The couple retired in 1956. Edith died on June 16, 1973. Arthur died on April 11, 1985.