Nellie Arnott's Writings on Angola, 1905–1913

Description

Nellie Arnott’s Writing on Angola, 1905-1913 recovers and interprets the public texts of a teacher serving at a mission station sponsored by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions in Portuguese West Africa. Along with a collection of her magazine narratives, mission reports, and correspondence, Nellie Arnott’s Writing on Angola offers a critical analysis of Arnott’s writing about her experiences in Africa, including interactions with local Umbundu Christians, and about her journey home to the U.S., when she spent time promoting the mission movement before marrying and settling in California.

Informations

• Publié par: Parlor Press, LLC
• Date de parution: 27 novembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781602357419
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Writing Travel
Series Editor, Jeanne Moskal
The series publishes manuscripts related to the new field of travel studies, including works of original travel writing; editions of out-of-print travel books or previously unpublished travel memoirs; English translations of important travel books in other languages; theoretical and historical treatments of ways in which travel and travel writing engage such questions as religion, nationalism/cosmopolitanism, and empire; gender and sexuality; race, ethnicity, and immigration; the history of the book, print culture, and translation; biographies of significant travelers or groups of travelers (including but not limited to pilgrims, missionaries, anthropologists, tourists, explorers, immigrants); critical studies of the works of significant travelers or groups of travelers; and pedagogy of travel and travel literature and its place in curricula.
Other Books in the Series
Maria Graham’s Journal of a Voyage to Brazil , ed Jennifer Hayward and M. Soledad Caballero (2010)
Au Japon: The Memoirs of a Foreign Correspondent in Japan, Korea, and China, 1892–1894, Amédée Baillot de Guerville, ed. by Daniel C. Kane (2009)
Sarah Heckford: A Lady Trader in the Transvaal , ed. by Carole G. Silver (2008)
Vienna Voices: A Traveler Listens to the City of Dreams, Jill Knight Weinberger (2006)
Eating Europe: A Meta-Nonfiction Love Story , Jon Volkmer (2006)


Nellie Arnott’s Writings on Angola, 1905–1913
Missionary Narratives Linking Africa and America
Sarah Robbins and Ann Ellis Pullen
Parlor Press
Anderson, South Carolina
www.parlorpress.com


Parlor Press LLC, Anderson, South Carolina, USA
© 2011 by Parlor Press
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
S A N: 2 5 4 - 8 8 7 9
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Robbins, Sarah. Nellie Arnott’s writings on Angola, 1905-1913 : missionary narratives linking Africa and America / Sarah Robbins and Ann Ellis Pullen. p. cm. -- (Writing travel) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-60235-141-7 (pbk. : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-1-60235-142-4 (hardcover : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-1-60235-143-1 (adobe e-book) 1. Angola--Description and travel. 2. Angola--Church history. 3. Darling, Nellie Jane Arnott, 1873-1963--Travel--Angola. 4. Missionaries--Travel--Angola. 5. Women missionaries--Travel--Angola. 6. Congregational churches--Missions--Angola. 7. Americans--Travel--Angola. I. Pullen, Ann Ellis, 1943- II. Darling, Nellie Jane Arnott, 1873-1963. III. Title. DT1282.R63 2011 266’.02373067092--dc22 [B] 2010046852
Cover design by David Blakesley.
Cover illustration: Postcard, map and group photograph from a scrapbook and album prepared by Nellie Arnott Darling. Nellie Jane Arnott Darling Papers, 1905–1943. Courtesy of The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Printed on acid-free paper.
Parlor Press, LLC is an independent publisher of scholarly and trade titles in print and multimedia formats. This book is available in paper, cloth and Adobe eBook formats from Parlor Press on the World Wide Web at http://www.parlorpress.com or through online and brick-and-mortar bookstores. For submission information or to find out about Parlor Press publications, write to Parlor Press, 3015 Brackenberry Drive, Anderson, South Carolina, 29621, or e-mail [e-mail].


Contents
Abbreviations
Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Missionary Authorship as Network-Building
Part I: Contexts for Reading Nellie Arnott’s Writing
1 Nellie Arnott Darling: Traveler in Mission Service
2 Mission Service in National and Transnational Contexts
3 Writing on Multiple Journeys
Part II The Public Writings of Nellie J. Arnott (Darling)
4 Traveling to Portuguese West Africa
5 Woman’s Work at a Highlands Mission Station
6 Cultivating Networks of Influence
Appendix 1: Mission Publications’ Editing of Arnott’s Writing
Appendix 2: ABCFM Missionaries in Angola
Appendix 3: Image Citations and Explanatory Context
Bibliography
Index for Print Edition
About the Authors


Abbreviations
ABCFM
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, Nellie Arnott’s governing organization during foreign mission service
NJADP
Nellie Jane Arnott Darling Papers (The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley)
AMA
American Missionary Association, sponsor of Nellie Arnott’s “home” mission service in the southern U.S.
WBM
Woman’s Board of Missions, headquartered in Boston
WBMI
Woman’s Board of Missions of the Interior, headquartered in Chicago; Arnott’s sponsoring group for Angola service


Illustrations
All illustrations come from these sources: The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, or family collection of Mary Darling Caris. See Appendix 3 for more detailed information about the illustrations.
Figure 1: Scenes from Kamundongo, Arnott’s station.
Figure 2: Arnott (center) in Angola.
Figure 3: “Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep” in Umbundu, from one of Arnott’s letters to her grandchildren.
Figure 4: Arnott Family, about 1898.
Figure 5: Page from Arnott’s Photo Album: Angola maps and postcard.
Figure 6: Scenes of Woman’s Conference at Bailundu, 1911.
Figure 7: Arnott’s circular letter notebook for 1905.
Figure 8: Arnott (left, in a tepoia) and Mrs. [Elisabeth] Ennis in a bush-cart.
Figure 9: Arnott’s official ABCFM photograph.
Figure 10: Four Photographs from Ocileso.
Figure 11: Missionary delegates at Ohualondo Conference, 1907.
Figure 12: Camping scenes, 1911.
Figure 13: Marriage license of Nellie Arnott and Paul Darling.
Figure 14: Cipuku and Nakalu, with Arnott’s notation: “My Girls, 1905–1912.”
Figure 15. 1937 Christmas card from Means School.
Figure 16: Page of English-Umbundu Hymnal.
Figure 17: Photo album page with Bailundu (Bailundo) scenes and missionary photos.
Figure 18: Dr. and Mrs. Sanders, Marshall and Danforth, 1912.


Acknowledgments
This project has had many generous sponsors and supporters.
We must thank, first of all, the energetic and generous staff of the Bancroft Library at the University of California Berkeley for introducing us to the Nellie Jane Arnott Darling collection in all its rich complexity. Through multiple visits to the library over many years, we found the entire team at the Bancroft to be a model of collegial support; we especially thank Susan Snyder, a true colleague in the archival recovery process.
Once our initial research had uncovered the basic outline of Nellie Arnott’s experiences as an African missionary, we needed to find the beloved grandchildren who were referenced so often in her papers. After a series of dogged but unsuccessful attempts to track down these family members, we were close to giving up when our marvelous student assistant, Marty Lamers, made contact with the two Darling grandchildren, now, of course, adults with extended families of their own. Mary Darling Caris and Christopher (Truman) Darling gave us access to a wide range of family materials and personal stories that deepened our understanding of their grandmother’s life. Mary and Chris were patient and encouraging during our long process of research and writing. We appreciate their willingness to contribute to the project.
From the outset, we received important support from Kennesaw State University (KSU). The KSU Foundation and the Faculty Incentive Grant program assisted our initial research, including funds for student assistants who learned about archival work by doing it with us. Our first-round team of student assistants included Allyson Manning and Jamie Spears, and toward the end of our manuscript preparation, Kathryn Jonell brought fresh eyes to the material. Original research team member Margie Hendrix remained with the project through the end of her undergraduate program and into graduate work. Margie took on a series of roles funded by such programs at KSU as the Graduate Research Assistants program and the Student Assistance for Leadership in Teaching initiative. Later on, KSU graduate student Kenzie Freeman brought her incisive and careful editing skills to our manuscript. KSU administrators and faculty colleagues were unfailingly supportive throughout our years of research and writing. In particular, we want to recognize Griselda Thomas and Cherif Diop for providing important input into the revision of our introduction, and we thank Sam Abaidoo for an especially helpful discussion of mission schools in Ghana.
The body of materials Arnott left behind was far more vast and complex than one might imagine a single missionary could produce, and partly for that reason, we began to recognize the benefits of using the Web to make her diaries—the most personal record of her experiences—available along with records from other missionaries who served in Angola. In anticipation of potentially producing such a website, we assembled a team to assist our planning. Special thanks, therefore, go to the following advisory board members: Akanmu Adebayo, Gatsinzi Basaninyenzi, Shirley Brown, Harvey Hill, Kathy Matthews, Barbara McCaskill, Laura McGrath, Laura Micham, Jean Pfaelzer, Liz Rohan, Karen Sanchez-Eppler, Ann Smith, Laura Wexler, and Sandra Zagarell. Meanwhile, one audience we were especially eager to reach through our study of Arnott has been schoolteachers, so we thank Traci Blanchard, Michelle Goodsite, Scott Kent, Deb Schmalholz, and Dave Winter for serving