Collection 055 Papers of Otto F. Schoerner
Scope and Contents
Papers of Otto Frederick Schoerner a Wheaton College alumnus and missionary with China Inland Mission in Sinkiang, Honan, and Kangsu Provinces of China from 1931-1951. Collection includes an oral history interview, correspondence, autobiography, and photographs.
Dates
- Created: 1949-2006
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on the use of this collection.
Biographical or Historical Information
Full Name: Otto Frederick Schoerner
Birth: August 20, 1906, Uniontown, Pennsylvania
Death: May 17, 2008, Carol Stream, Illinois
Family:
Parents: Herman and Magdelena Meidinger Schoerner
Siblings: Anne, Elsie, William
Marital Status: Married Katharine Hastings Dodd, November 25, 1938, Shanghai, China
Children: James Albert (1941), Anna Marjorie (1943), Stephen William Bill (1945), Charles Benjamin (1949) , David Paul (1954)
Conversion: While a teenager
Education:
1927-1931 Moody Bible Institute, Chicago, Illinois
1947-1948 Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois
Career:
1931-1938 Missionary with China Inland Mission in the northern part of Sinkiang Province
1932 Schoerner and five other young male missionaries, William Drew, Dr.Emil Fischbacher, George Fox-Holmes, Raymond Joyce, and Aubrey Parsons, set off with Rev. George Hunter to assist Hunter with his work in Sinkiang Province. After a trip of two months and almost 1800 miles in Ford trucks, the group reached Urumchi in Sinkiang.
1938 Left Sinkiang to go to Shanghai via India to marry Katharine Hastings Dodd
1939-1940 Furlough in the United States
1940-1947 Missionary in Hwang-Chaun, Honan Province and later in Lanchow, Kangsu Province where Schoerner became business manager of Borden Memorial Hospital in Lanzhou, China
1947-1948 Furlough in the United States
1948-1951 Business manger of Borden Memorial Hospital and for a time superintendent
1951-1972 Worked at Moody Bible Institute as Director of the Alumni Placement Office (1951-1961) and later in the Stewardship Department (1961-1972)
1972 Trip to Asia and Europe to encourage church missionaries and family members serving the Lord
Other significant information: 1993 - Moved to Windsor Park Manor Retirement Center in Carol Stream, Illinois
Extent
0.24 Cubic Feet
1 Box (DC), Photographs, Sound Recordings
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement of Materials
Series: I. Paper Records (Box List)
Arrangement: Alphabetical by folder title
Date Range: 1950-2006
Volume: 0.2 Cubic Feet
Geographic coverage: China
Type of documents: Correspondence, programs, financial and statistical reports
Correspondents: Arthur Glasser, J. Morris Rockness, John R. Sinton
Subjects: Missions in China
Notes: In folder 1-1 are photocopies of correspondence sent to Schoerner from CIM, two reports from Borden Memorial Hospital (statement of accounts and statistics on patients, 1950), and two pages from the 1952 CIM Retired Workers and Former Members Reserve List on which the Schoerners are listed. Also is a program for Schoerner's 100th birthday celebration and a memorial service bulletin for Melvin David Suttie, 2006. Schoerner's autobiography Serving Christ containing 51 pages with an index and map is in folder 1-2. The autobiography covers Schoerner's entire life including his trip across the Gobi Desert, work in Chinese Turkestan, administrator of Borden Memorial Hospital, living under the Communists, departure from China, and new career in the United States.
Correspondence in folder 1-1 include three letters from CIM, all dated December 12, 1950, concern Schoerners request for a leave of departure and their children in school. The December 13, 1950 letter gives detail steps to be taken in preparing for leaving China and the correspondence dated January 20, 1951 To Whom It May Concern” states that the Schoerners are in good standing” with CIM. A letter dated September 15, 1966 from Arthur Glasser in which he invites Schoerner to become a member of the Midwest Council of OMF.
Series: II. Photographs
Arrangement: Topically by photo file title
Date Range: 1949-1952
Volume: 2 black and white photographs
Series: III. Sound Recordings
Arrangement: Chronological by created of oral history interview.
Date Range: Interviews were taped 1979-1980.
Volume: 0.04 Cubic Feet
Geographic coverage: China, United States
Type of documents: Archives has reel-to-reel audio tapes and transcripts.
Subjects: Missions in China
Notes: Otto Schoerner was interviewed by Robert Shuster on December 13, 1978 and January 31, 1979 at his home in Evergreen Park, IL. The dates covered by the interview were ca. 1910-1972. See audio tape location records for additional information.
Accruals and Additions
The materials for this collection were given to the Billy Graham Center Archives in December 1978, January 1979, and December 1997 from Otto Schoerner and December 2006 from James Schoerner.
Accession number [no accession # for the first interview] 79-14
February 7, 1979
Robert Shuster
M. Schimmels
Accession 97-93, 06-49
October 6, 2008
Wayne D. Weber
- Borden Memorial Hospital (Lanchow, China)
- Buddhists -- China.
- Buddhists.
- China -- Description and travel.
- China -- History -- 1937-1945.
- China -- History -- 1949-
- China -- History -- Civil War, 1945-1949.
- China -- History.
- China -- Politics and government.
- China -- Religion.
- China Inland Mission.
- Chinese -- Missions.
- Chinese.
- Church and state -- China.
- Church and state.
- Communism -- China.
- Communism.
- Evangelistic work -- China.
- Evangelistic work.
- Hunter, George W., 1861-1946.
- Indigenous church administration
- Indigenous church administration -- China.
- Language in missionary work.
- Lattimore, Owen, 1900-1989.
- Mather, Percy Cunningham.
- Medical care
- Medical care -- China.
- Missionaries -- Training of.
- Missionaries -- Appointment, call, and election.
- Missionaries -- Salaries, etc.
- Missionaries.
- Missions -- China.
- Missions -- Finance.
- Missions to Buddhists -- China.
- Missions to Buddhists.
- Missions to Muslims -- China.
- Missions to Muslims.
- Missions, Medical.
- Moody Bible Institute.
- Muslims -- China.
- Muslims.
- Schoerner, Katharine Dodd.
- Schoerner, Otto Frederick.
- Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1945.
- Three-self movement.
- Zhongguo guo min dang.
- Title
- Collection 055 Papers of Otto F. Schoerner
- Author
- Bob Shuster
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the Evangelism & Missions Archives Repository