The American Missionary, Volume 34, No. 12, December 1880

In Short

Published in December 1880 by the American Missionary Association, this periodical details home and foreign missions focusing on freedmen, Chinese immigrants, and Native Americans. It surveys institutional triumphs, financial recoveries, and the relentless daily labor of teachers and preachers operating in isolated or challenging regions. Through reports, sermons, and firsthand accounts, the volume records a pivotal era of social transition. It endures as a primary historical artifact, illuminating the complex intersection of religious devotion, educational pioneering, and racial uplift during America's post-reconstruction period.

The Story

The volume opens with a theological foundation, presenting a sermon on the power of right principles that champions unyielding moral courage and the pursuit of righteousness over expediency. This philosophical grounding immediately frames the subsequent institutional review by Rev. M. E. Strieby, who outlines the American Missionary Association's financial liberation—celebrating the complete clearance of a long-standing debt—and recounts expansive efforts across diverse fields. The narrative then shifts from broad administrative overviews to the granular, grassroots realities of the American South. Field reports illuminate the struggles and triumphs of higher education and industrial training at institutions like Atlanta University, Tougaloo, and Fisk University, where rising student enrollment and advanced scholarship signal a profound cultural shift toward self-reliance and intellectual ambition.

Interspersed with academic reports are intimate glimpses of daily life in the field: student-teachers managing isolated schools, improvising resources, and confronting deep-seated community poverty. The text broadens its geographical and cultural scope to examine Native American education, contrasting traditionalist resistance with the assimilationist models advanced by figures at Carlisle and Hampton. Here, the argument pivots on the premise that moral and physical discipline must precede abstract intellectual instruction for populations emerging from vastly different historical backgrounds.

The horizon expands further to encompass international and migrant communities, tracking the condition of Chinese laborers and church members in California. Reports from religious leaders detail the reception of Christianity among Chinese fishermen and urban workers, highlighting testimonies of moral reformation and community oversight. Simultaneously, the publication turns its gaze toward Africa, assessing the fledgling Mendi Mission. Dr. Strieby evaluates the early trials of deploying formerly enslaved Americans as missionaries to their ancestral continent, framing initial hardships not as failure, but as essential apostolic discipline.

Moving toward its conclusion, the volume presents humble testimonies of emancipation, such as the firsthand account of a young woman's perilous, faith-sustained escape from slavery. These personal narratives bridge the gap between grand ecclesiastical strategy and individual human experience. The book closes with detailed financial receipts, constitutional bylaws, and organizational statistics that starkly quantify the vast network of churches, schools, and supporters sustaining the enterprise. Through this progression from high moral theory to granular fieldwork and administrative accounting, the volume presents a comprehensive panorama of a religious movement striving to reshape the nation's moral landscape.

How It Unfolds

• The foundational sermon establishes the moral imperatives of the Association, asserting that adherence to right principles rather than worldly expediency ensures ultimate triumph. It calls for the martyr spirit and unyielding courage in confronting systemic oppression.
• The financial review celebrates the complete elimination of the organization's heavy debt, framed metaphorically as shedding a scorching garment. This economic milestone clears the path for an ambitious expansion of educational and missionary enterprises nationwide.
• Southern field reports detail the gritty, day-to-day labors of teachers and students across Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Educators grapple with makeshift facilities, scarce supplies, and intense community hunger for knowledge, gradually establishing order out of chaos.
• Educational maturation is charted at institutions like Fisk University, where rising scholarship levels and increased enrollment demonstrate the lasting value of persistent academic training. The text notes a growing local sentiment that rejects superficial instruction in favor of rigorous liberal arts.
• Native American initiatives explore the complexities of government policy, reservation schooling, and eastern industrial institutes like Carlisle and Hampton. The narrative weighs the necessity of character formation and physical labor against traditional methods of book learning.
• California Chinese missions record the integration and spiritual conversion of immigrant workers through dedicated local outreach. Testimonies from converts illustrate how religious faith fosters internal discipline, sobriety, and mutual accountability within mining and fishing communities.
• African mission reflections candidly appraise the early trials of sending newly freed African Americans to the Mendi Mission. The text interprets these preliminary disappointments as necessary crucible moments for training future spiritual heroes.
• Personal narratives of escape culminate in the vivid recollections of a young woman's perilous flight to freedom. Her story grounds the broader political reality of emancipation in an intimate, faith-filled triumph over winter cold and pursuers.

The People

• Rev. M. E. Strieby serves as the primary administrative voice, seeking financial solvency and strategic expansion for the Association. Standing against crushing debt and institutional doubt, he emerges triumphant with a cleared ledger and a renewed vision for global missions.
• General S. C. Armstrong guides the discussion on Native American education, seeking practical methods to transform the physical and moral habits of indigenous youth. Standing against traditional resistance and flawed government treaties, he advocates for a foundational curriculum prioritizing heart and health over mere book learning.
• Rev. W. C. Pond champions the spiritual integration of Chinese immigrants in California, seeking to bring the healing light of the gospel to marginalized communities. Standing against language barriers, social hostility, and rough living conditions, he fosters thriving congregations of reformed, self-monitoring believers.
• Jule, a young formerly enslaved woman recounting her escape, seeks liberty and safety across frozen terrain. Standing against armed pursuers, freezing weather, and the immense machinery of bondage, she successfully reaches Union lines, ending her journey in exuberant, steadfast faith.
• Unnamed student-teachers in the rural South seek to impart basic literacy and moral instruction to impoverished children. Standing against severe isolation, lack of local funds, and parental skepticism, they manage brick-making, improvised repairs, and arduous daily schedules to keep their schools moving forward.

In Its Own Voice

Reflecting on the enduring legacy of the organization's founders, the text underscores their uncompromising commitment to moral duty:

They had the martyr spirit and toiled on, waiting for the morning; and the morning came.

Addressing the financial burdens successfully lifted after years of struggle, the administrative review notes:

We have paid our great debt. This had clung to us for years, like the shirt of Nessus, scorching while it clung.

Describing the quiet perseverance required in remote Southern outposts, a field correspondent captures the daily reality:

Every day has brought some unexpected emergency--so mixing church and school and brick-making, that no line of thought or action was marked with sufficient distinctness to express itself on paper.

What It's Really About

The volume grapples with the definition and immediate requirements of true freedom, arguing that legal emancipation is merely a preliminary step toward genuine human flourishing. It investigates the moral obligation of Christian societies to provide thorough educational, spiritual, and economic training to marginalized populations, framing this duty as a divine mandate rather than a charitable afterthought. Beneath the administrative reports and fundraising receipts lies a deeper inquiry into cultural maturation, exploring how communities emerging from centuries of oppression can cultivate internal discipline, intellectual depth, and leadership. Ultimately, the text examines the friction between idealistic spiritual goals and the harsh, practical realities of institutional survival, poverty, and prejudice in late nineteenth-century America.

Why Read It Today

Modern readers interested in American history, nineteenth-century religion, and the post-reconstruction social landscape will find this volume deeply compelling. It offers an unfiltered, primary-source window into the mechanics of social reform, moving effortlessly from high ecclesiastical philosophy to the intimate, handwritten letters of young student-teachers in rural outposts. Reading it feels like browsing through the archives of a bygone era, where every ledger entry, receipt, and sermon reflects an immense, collective exertion of will.

Contemporary readers must navigate the complex, often paternalistic racial attitudes of the period, as well as the dense nineteenth-century prose style and frequent administrative itemizations. Yet, these very elements preserve the authentic texture of the era. What stays with the reader long after closing the volume is the quiet tenacity of individuals building schools with their own hands, the poignant testimonies of formerly enslaved people claiming their dignity, and the sheer scale of an organization attempting to re-weave the moral fabric of a fractured nation.