Series 1: Audio Tapes

Series: Audio tapes

Arrangement: Tapes T1-T8 are in chronological order as recorded

Date range: Topics discussed cover the time period 1908-1981

Volume: 8 audio tapes ( .03 cubic feet)

Geographic coverage: China, the Philippines, Japan, India and the United States

Type of documents: Oral history interviews

Subjects: Missionary work in China and Philippines, Chinese life and culture in the first half of 20th century, the China Inland Mission, Overseas Missionary Fellowship, teaching in missionary schools, and in American schools

Notes: Interviews particularly cover the history, culture and missionary work in China; the preparation and education for missionary work and education of nationals and children of missionaries; and other mission-related subjects.  Persons featured in correspondence and the interviews include family members and co-workers. Of particular interest are Miss Elliott's experiences during the Sino-Japanese War (T1, T3-T7) and her life under Chinese communism, 1948 to 1951 (T7). Also of notable interest are descriptions of Chinese customs: binding of women's feet (T1), Buddhist worship (T1), silk worm culture (T2), urban and rural life (T3), marriage and engagement customs (T3), family life and attitudes toward women (T4). Time elapsed in minutes and seconds is listed to the left of the topics discussed.

Eleanor Elliott was interviewed by Robert Shuster on October 5, 11, 20, 26 and November 3, 9, 17, 30, 1981

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Series 2: Negatives

12 color, undated photographs of Eleanor Ruth Elliott and unidentified people.

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Series 3: Photographs

56 photographs arranged into ten topical photograph files. Circa 1930s-1984.

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Series 4: Slides

SLIDE BOX 20 S1-S43 - Scenes related to the activities of Overseas Missionary Fellowship in the Philippines, including pictures of missionaries, co-worker Hazel Page, missionary school, primitive missionary huts, rice drying; scenes of the social life of the Filipino and scenery in the Philippines; of particular note are shots of CIM posters taken in 1955, a Christmas tree and a Christmas star.

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Series 5: Paper Records (Box List)

Series: Paper Records

Arrangement: Alphabetical by document type, then chronological

Date range: 1910-1988, undated

Volume: 1.6 cubic feet

Boxes: 1-4

Geographic coverage: China, the Philippines, Japan, India and the United States

Type of documents: Correspondence, postcards, missionary information & brochures, journals & diary, school newsletters & bulletin, newspaper clippings, greeting cards, prayer cards & prayer letters

Correspondents: Margaret Elliott Crossett (sister), Vincent Crossett (brother-in-law), Virginia Crossett Morris (niece), Curtis Elliott (brother), Eleanor Edwards Elliott (mother), Walter Scott Elliott (father), Frances Elliott Wright (sister), friends, relatives and prayer partners

Subjects: Missionary work in China and Chinese life and culture in the first half of 20th century, and limited information on missions the Philippines, China Inland Mission, Overseas Missionary Fellowship. The collection is of particular value for its insights into education -- of those planning to go to the mission field as well as of nationals and children of missionaries.

[NOTE: In the Scope & Content section, the notation "folder 2-5" means box 2,  folder 5.]

Notes: The majority of this collection consists of personal correspondence (folders 1-2 through 1-24, 2-2 through 2-16 ), handwritten or transcribed and duplicated. Not all of the letters are complete. Also included are letters from family members, as indicated above. Of particular note are the files from Ruth's father Walter Scott Elliott (folders 1-2, 1-3, and 1-6), which contain candid observations about the political and economic situation in China between 1911 and 1934, including an evaluation of Chiang Kai-Shek (folder 1-6).

Exceptional items: Topics in Elliott's correspondence include her early experiences in evangelistic work; dealing with Chinese Christians of varying commitment; travel; interaction with Chinese cultural life including weddings, funerals, attitudes toward property, banditry, Christmas celebrations in the compounds, and schools; and contacts with other CIM missionaries (folders 1-4 through 1-18). Mention of the execution of John and Betty Stam by communists (folder 1-31) is included in a letter, dated March 1935, also describing the wedding of Margaret Elliott to Vincent Crossett.

There is no correspondence for the period during which she was teaching in India after having fled the country during the Sino-Japanese War. However, those years are discussed briefly in tape T7, including descriptions of an emergency situation on the flight from China to India. Some correspondence (folders 2-6 through 2-7) is on her life as a teacher in Pennsylvania and South Carolina, and on her retirement in Lisle, Illinois, and Grace Village, Indiana.

The rest of the correspondence (folders 2-2 through 2-5, folders 2-8 through 2-16) was written by Elliot's relatives and friends. Contents of prayer letters in folders 1-32 through 1-34 include reports from a number of former CIM workers (renamed Overseas Missionary Fellowship or OMF) operating in the Philippine Islands. These letters include reports from Miss Elliott's work. Personal correspondence from these years is contained in folders 1-19 through 1-23.

Prayer cards and prayer letters in folders 4-5 through 4-8 include reports from various local and overseas missionaries, mostly working with OMF.

In folder 3-1 are some school newsletters, Elliott's teacher certificate and teaching plan. Information on Chefoo Schools, a directory of Chefoo Preparatory School staff at Kiating, Kalimpong and Shanghai and the December 1987 issue of Chefoo magazine are kept in folder 3-2. In folder 3-3 are Elliott's genealogical records, including the family tree and a manuscript about Elliott's brother entitled "Life with Walter Nathan," written by her sister Margaret Elliott Crossett.

In her journals and diaries (folder 3-4), Elliott wrote about her daily activities and birds she had seen. Many of the diaries have only a few entries and one special diary is from a trip to Citadel Square Baptist Church in Germany on June 5-20, 1973. Also included in this folder is a log book of the letters she received and sent out; although the range appears to cover the 1980s, the exact years of most of the entries are not identified.

Missionary information and brochures in folders 4-3 through 4-5 include newsletters and reports of OMF and mailing lists of CIM alumni. Of particular note are a report written by fellow-missionary David Adeney on his visit to China and a biographical sketch of Kenneth W. Wilson and Eleanor Blackstone Wilson.

Two copies of a manuscript, "The Emergency Preparatory School," one edited, describe the establishment of a Chefoo School for children of missionaries in Kiating which was more safely located during the dangerous period of the Sino-Japanese War years until 1944, when it too had to be evacuated. Also of particular interest is the manuscript in folder 1-27 which discusses the educational needs and problems of educating children of missionaries away from their own countries. Folder 1-35 contains a brief history of Faith Academy, Philippines, and other data about MK (or missionary kid) education.

Representative of the breadth of Miss Elliott's career activities and interests are a piece of music written by the Elliott sisters in folder 1-25 and lists of birds seen in China, the Philippines, and India in folder 1-36, and in the United States in folder 2-1.