Diaries (1938-1950) of an anonymous Englishwoman written during part of her time as an Anglican missionary in Kenya and Rhodesia. The content of the journals consists primarily of the author's reflections and ideas regarding Christianity. She briefly reflects upon the events of World War II. Also included are to-do lists, logs of her time spent in prayer, and notations regarding travels, and the anniversaries, birthdays, and deaths of friends and family.
The identity of the author is unknown, but she does include some biographical details in her journals. She was born on 23 November 1888. Her father's birthday is January 7th and he died 16 December 1907. Her mother's birthday is May 23rd and she died 22 January 1908. The author was married 2 February 1910. The author has children but it is not clear from the journals what her relationship is to the individuals she mentions by name.
This collection contains the diaries (1938-1950) of an anonymous Englishwoman written during part of her time as an Anglican missionary in Kenya and Rhodesia. The content of the journals consists primarily of the author's reflections, prayers, and ideas regarding Christianity. Additionally, the author includes frequent quotations from the Bible. Her contemplation regarding religion largely revolves around themes including humility, meekness, obedience, discipline, self-Indulgence, egoism, and vanity. She briefly reflects upon the events of World War II. Also included are to-do lists, logs of her time spent in prayer, goals for Lent, notation of her travels, and notations regarding the anniversaries, birthdays, and deaths of friends and family. She sometimes records her observations regarding an individual's receptiveness to Christian values. She also records observations regarding fellow missionary's views regarding Christianity.
Accompanying the earliest diary are two photographs. One is of a woman named M. Catlin(?) and is dated 6/4/1919. The other photograph is of a woman named Keenie (who is mentioned in the diaries) and she appears to be in a Red Cross outfit of the WWI era. Written on the front of this second photograph is F. M. S. Jesse.
Purchase (Special Manuscript Fund), Charles Apfelbaum, Watchung, NJ
Encoded by Lindsay Flood, April 4, 2008
Processed by Devin Urban, June 30, 2016
Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.