The American Missionary

In Short

This volume is a bound edition of a missionary periodical from 1887, acting as both a newsletter and an administrative report for the American Missionary Association. It chronicles the organization’s efforts to establish schools, churches, and social initiatives among formerly enslaved people in the South, Native American communities, and Chinese immigrants. By blending theological exhortation with practical fundraising reports and field updates, the text offers a window into the institutional mindset of the era, providing a primary source that reveals how religious idealism intersected with the complex racial and political tensions of the period.

The Story

The narrative arc of the volume begins with an administrative appeal, framing the mission work as a moral necessity that requires constant, vigilant support from the Northern public. The editors set the stage by emphasizing that the organization is not merely a collection of schools, but a strategic force for social and religious transformation. They argue that the "New South" remains a place of profound inequality, where the prevailing prejudice against the education of Black citizens necessitates the urgent, persistent intervention of the Association’s teachers and preachers.

As the accounts move into the field, the narrative shifts from editorial philosophy to specific, localized reports. The story of the South is told through the lens of institutional expansion, where the success of schools like Fisk University and the Tillotson Institute is balanced against the sobering reality of the immense, unmet need for educated leadership among millions of formerly enslaved people. The editors openly confront the "one-sided" view of the South—where popular rhetoric about reconciliation often masked enduring systemic poverty and racial hostility. They hold up incidents, such as the tension at a tent revival in Atlanta, to demonstrate that the mission of the organization remains a contested and difficult labor.

Beyond the South, the focus broadens to address the unique challenges of other mission fields. The work among Chinese immigrants in the West is presented as a struggle between "Home-love and Christ-love," highlighting the severe familial estrangement that often occurred when converts abandoned ancestral customs. Simultaneously, the work among Native Americans is treated as a foundational effort, with leaders advocating for a network of churches and schools to serve as centers of stability in rapidly changing territories.

The volume concludes not with a singular climax, but with a return to the cycle of organizational life: the meticulous accounting of funds, the listing of donations, and the advertisements for school supplies and organs that sustained the movement. The ending reinforces the idea that the mission is a permanent, ongoing project. Through these final pages, the reader sees the mechanisms of 19th-century benevolence—the barrels of clothing shipped to Georgia, the student aid funds, and the persistent, prayerful solicitation of Northern donors—all working toward the ultimate goal of what the editors term "making all things new." It is a portrait of a generation convinced that through education, prayer, and organized charity, the moral landscape of a fractured nation could be fundamentally redeemed.

How It Unfolds

The foundational appeal The editors define the Association’s mission as a necessary, long-term response to the social and spiritual voids left by the Civil War. They warn donors against supporting independent, unvetted charities, establishing the Association as the authoritative overseer of its own educational and religious ventures.

The Southern landscape Reports from the field detail both the progress of students and the systemic resistance faced by mission workers. The narrative explicitly challenges the "New South" myth, pointing to the scarcity of educated preachers and the active hostility of local media as proof that the work is far from finished.

The wider mission The focus shifts to the struggles of Chinese converts and the development of schools in the American West. These stories emphasize the personal cost of conversion, framing the experience of the individual as a microcosm of the larger, difficult project of cultural and spiritual assimilation.

The practical machinery The volume concludes with extensive financial ledgers and advertisements for school furniture and musical instruments. These sections demonstrate that the movement relied as much on the logistics of shipping supplies and managing budgets as it did on its religious ideology.

The People

The figures in these pages are divided between the leaders of the Association and the individuals they seek to instruct. Reverend M. E. Strieby and his fellow secretaries act as the intellectual architects, constantly interpreting the "signs of the times" for their readers and maintaining the rigor of the organization’s standards. They are, above all, pragmatists who believe that the spread of education is the only reliable path to social improvement.

In the field, we meet the student teacher who, through six weeks of classroom labor, learns that her duty involves not just instruction but the cultivation of a love for study. Her growth—from nervous visitor to confident educator—mirrors the organization's broader hope for its students. We also see the perspective of individuals like Jee Gam, a Chinese Christian, whose internal conflict over ancestral worship reveals the personal, emotional toll of leaving one’s tradition for a new faith. Finally, the figure of Mrs. Tucker, whose "conversion" to the mission cause is sparked by the sickness of her daughter, represents the ideal donor: someone who moves from skepticism to an active, sacrificial participation in the work. Each of these individuals exists within a system that views their progress as evidence of the Association’s efficacy.

In Its Own Voice

Regarding the superficiality of modern political discourse compared to the hard work of the mission field:

“People may run through the South and get the view that leans to inclination. They may have delightfully warm receptions, but it takes a good many warm days to make a summer.”

Regarding the tension between cultural duty and religious conversion:

“One in this group, as deeply interested and as intelligent and constant as any, is a brother to two of our Chinese brethren, but has never himself confessed Christ.”

Regarding the necessity of a rigorous education for those facing systemic obstacles:

“So for your success as leaders and guides of your people under freedom, you need the best weapons, and so the advantages of a higher education are provided for you.”

What It's Really About

The central argument of this collection is that institutionalized education and religious instruction are the only viable solutions for the social and moral reconstruction of post-Civil War America. The authors argue that the transition from slavery to freedom, and the integration of diverse populations into the American project, cannot be left to chance or to the unreliable influence of local customs. Underlying the plot is a profound anxiety about the "New South" and the realization that political change without corresponding cultural and religious transformation would be hollow. It is a work concerned with the nature of "civilization," the responsibilities of the dominant class to the marginalized, and the role of religious institutions in governing the future of the nation.

Why Read It Today

Readers interested in the history of American religion, education, or the Reconstruction era will find this volume deeply illuminating. It is not a polished narrative; it is a raw, cluttered, and occasionally repetitive archive of a specific moment in time. Reading it feels like looking through the internal documents of a 19th-century NGO, where the mixture of high-minded idealism and the mundane details of shipping barrels of clothing creates a stark, authentic picture of the era.

The book does not shy away from the period’s prevailing attitudes, which can be difficult and alienating to the modern reader. The language regarding race, the assumption of cultural superiority, and the paternalistic tone of the educators are all present, reflecting the prejudices that were common among Northern white reformers of the 1880s. However, precisely because it is unvarnished, it provides a valuable, unmediated look at how these attitudes manifested as policy and action. For those who can navigate the period's limitations, the book offers a hauntingly clear view of the deep, systemic fractures that the mission movement sought—and struggled—to mend. It stays with you as a reminder of how complex and fraught the project of "uplift" has always been in the American context.