Annie Sanford Collection

Collection

Identifier: ULS-MS-064

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection includes the papers and photographs of Annie Sanford, a Lutheran Missionary who served in India from 1895-1940. Miss Sanford completed a rotating schedule of seven years in India, followed by a two-year furlough in the United States.

The records are arranged into two series: 1) Documents and 2) Photographs. The contents of each series are arranged by subject in chronological order.

During travel and work, Miss Sanford kept a journal that she would write for several months, then would send back to her family as a letter. She refers to these documents interchangeably as journals and letters. For consistency purposes, this finding aid refers to the documents as letter journals to express their dual function in Miss Sanford’s life. In her letters, she chronicles her experiences spreading education and Christianity within India. She also highlights local customs, the rigid Indian caste system, the weather, traveling throughout India, and current events in India and in the U.S. Each time Miss Sanford would travel between the U.S. and India, she would take a different route to tour parts of North Africa, Asia, and Europe.

The collection also includes various correspondence to and from Miss Sanford beginning in 1891 with letters about her becoming a missionary to 1959 when Abdel Ross Wentz asked her to choose the Gettysburg Seminary Archives to store her papers. Papers regarding her activities in the U.S. after her time in India include: a talk given to the students at her alma mater, Carthage College, about her life, family, and experiences; a diploma for finishing the program at Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle; and various clippings from publications of her writings.

A large part of the collection includes scrapbook pages that depict Miss Sanford’s adventures in India with other missionaries and locals. Additional materials included in the collection range from poems written for her retirement, personal memoirs, a small book of psalms, a pamphlet written in Telegu and portraits of Miss Sandford.

Dates

Existence: 1873 - 1961

Conditions Governing Use

The collection is open for research

Biographical / Historical

Annie Evaline Sanford was born on February 4, 1873 in Springfield, Illinois. Initially she did not finish high school, but later attended Carthage College to finish her studies and earn a degree in 1894. She attributed her drive to finish her education and missionary work to the influence of her grandfather, Frances Springer. Dr. Springer was a strong leader in the Lutheran Church and throughout his life he served as a Chaplain in the Civil War, established Lutheran schools in the United States, and received a Doctor of Divinity for his contributions to the church from the Gettysburg Seminary in 1873.

Annie Sanford completed five missionary terms in India from 1895-1902, 1904-1911, 1913-1920, 1922-1929, and 1931-1938. Primarily stationed at the Guntur Girls School in Guntur, India, Miss Sanford assisted in hospital duties, taught Sunday school, and completed local missionary work during her service.

After her time as a missionary in India was completed, Miss Sanford stayed for an extra six years traveling the country and visiting missions across India and Burma. Miss Sanford was very fond of her life in India and although she moved back to the United States to live in the National Lutheran Home in Washington D.C in 1946, she continued to travel across to the U.S. sharing her experience with parishioners. She also completed the reading program at the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle in New York in 1957. Annie E. Sanford died on December 22, 1961.

Extent

0.42 Linear Feet (1 box)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Custodial History

This collection was received by the Seminary Archives as a donation from Annie Sanford in 1959.

Related Materials

Please see the Annie Sanford file in the Photography Collection for more photographs of Miss Sanford. The Photography Collection also includes photographs of Jessie Brewer, Mary Baer, and Amy Sadtler Albrecht, all whom served with Miss Sanford in India. The other missionaries can be found among the scrapbook photographs in the Annie Sanford Collection as well.

Writings of Miss Sanford can also be found in:

Lutheran Women’s Work, ed. Lutheran Women’s Home and Foreign Missionary Society of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, vol. VII, no. 1-12 (Lutheran Publication Society, 1914).

Lutheran Boys and Girls, (United Lutheran Publication House).

Processing Information

The Annie Sanford collection was donated in 1959 by Miss Sanford herself. Records indicate that Seminary President Abdel Ross Wentz actively sought Miss Sanford’s journals to be placed in the Seminary Archives. The collection was previously partially sorted, so the original condition of the materials is not known. Within the past fifty-eight years, the scrapbooks were disassembled and the pages were placed into archival folders to better preserve their integrity. Additionally, records show that Miss Sanford’s letters were sent to her family, retyped, and the copies were sent back to the Seminary Archives.

The Seminary Archives intern, Meriah Swope, made topographical and chronological changes to create an ease of access for the patron. Folder titles created by the intern are denoted with square brackets.