West China Missions Digital Repository

Lone Carrier on Anlan Bridge

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Beginning in the late 1880s, a small stream of Canadian and American missionaries made their permanent home in Sichuan Province in West China. Inspired by Social Gospel theologians, their numbers had swelled to hundreds by the 1920s, then began dwindling during the 1930s and lessened further during  WWII. The missionary presence in China finally ceased in 1951 when they were forced to leave under the Communist regime.

Although these missionary men and women left their homes and families to “evangelize the world in one generation,” from the start their mission embraced not only evangelism, but also education and medicine. Their teaching fine arts, humanities and sciences in middle schools and universities was motivated by the premises that Christianity formed the foundation of a universal democratic society, and that liberal arts and science education was the route to effective Christian leadership. Their social engineering experiment provides a unique opportunity to analyze processes of rapid social and cultural change in both East and West. 

This site is dedicated to presenting resources by and about the West China missionaries, especially photographs and ephemera held in the families of their descendants, compiled and researched mainly by Cory Willmott, a "Mish Kid II" herself, and also an emerita professor of anthropology.

I welcome feedback about the site and its contents. Please email me at cwillmo@siue.edu if you have questions or comments about anything on the site, including but not limited to corrections of fact and identification of subjects in photos.

 

Sneak Peek

  • American Methodist Episcopal West China Missionary Attrition

  • American Baptist West China Missionary Attrition

  • Canadian West China Missions’ Personnel Trends

    Two bar charts showing the total numbers of Canadian Methodist and United Church of Canada missionaries in China between 1917 and 1940, and the same numbers broken down by gender.

  • West China Mission Personnel Trends, 1916/17 - 1940/41

    Bar charts comparing the total numbers of Canadian and American missionaries in Sichuan through the decades, one tracking the total numbers and the other comparing by gender.

  • Percentage of Canadian versus American Missionaries in West China, 1916/17 - 1940/41

    Bar chart comparing the percentage of American Baptist and Methodist versus Canadian missionaries in West China through the decades.

  • Analysis of West China Missions Personnel Trends, 1916-1941

    Dataset of bar charts tracking West China missions’ personnel trends with comparisons between American (Baptist and Methodist) and Canadian (Methodist and United Church), as well as by gender within each mission, over the decades.

  • Displaying Wild Furs - 2

    A rare animal trapper has spread out his catch on the lawn of a missionary household on the WCUU campus (probably the Grahams'). Dryden Phelps (left) holds one side of a giant panda skin, while the trapper holds the other. Constance Walmsley and a young girl (possibly Enid Walmsley) hold up a leopard skin. There is a row of skins behind Dryden and a pile of skeletons in front of him.

  • Displaying Wild Furs - 1

    A rare animal trapper has spread out his catch on the lawn of a missionary household on the WCUU campus (probably the Grahams'). Dryden Phelps (left) holds one side of a giant panda skin, while the trapper holds the other. Constance Walmsley holds a Tibetan antelope skin. A young girl (possibly Enid Walmsley) holds what looks like the skeleton of a young gharial. On the ground there are several rare takin skins with skulls. There are two bicycles at the porch in the background. Probably one of them is Dryden's since he has his pants strapped for bike riding.

  • New Years Dragon Lamp with Villagers

    A man holds up a dragon head on a pole with a long streamer trailing behind to the right. In the center, a man with an elaborate cloth wrapped headdress holds a ceremonial umbrella. Villagers observe the scene, some looking straight at the camera. A stone building with a clay tile roof forms the backdrop.

  • Chinese New Years Dragon Parade

    Three men performing the dragon parade on Chinese New Year. The Man with the mask teases and chases the dragon, which is animated by two men - one in the front and another at the back. The man crouching to the right has his face painted like a monkey, suggesting that this brings in the Year of the Monkey - in this case, 1932.

  • Sellerys on Fourth of July - 2

    Morley and Gladys Sellery stand in front of a large American flag. Morley holds a small British flag, while Gladys holds a small American flag.

  • Sellerys on Fourth of July - 1

    Morley and Gladys Sellery stand in front of a large American flag. Morley holds a small British flag, while Gladys holds a small American flag.
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