Buyse papers, 1917-1977.
type: FindingAid
type: Document
conforms to: General International Standard for Archival Description
publisher: Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections South Hadley, MA
encoded as: Buyse papers, 1917-1977.
topic: Buyse papers
subject: Buyse papers
has part: Biographical History for: Buyse papers
topic: Correspondence, 1917-1944
subject: Correspondence, 1917-1944
topic: Correspondence, 1917-1930
subject: Correspondence, 1917-1930
topic: Correspondence, 1931-1935
subject: Correspondence, 1931-1935
topic: Correspondence, 1936-1944
subject: Correspondence, 1936-1944
topic: Writings, circa 1919-1945
subject: Writings, circa 1919-1945
topic: Articles, circa 1919-1945
subject: Articles, circa 1919-1945
topic: "Nyilak and Other African Sketches," 1923
subject: "Nyilak and Other African Sketches," 1923
topic: Memorabilia, circa 1928-1955
subject: Memorabilia, circa 1928-1955
topic: Biographical Information, circa 1919-1977
subject: Biographical Information, circa 1919-1977
topic: Biographical information, circa 1919-1977
subject: Biographical information, circa 1919-1977
topic: Photographs, 1913-circa 1958
subject: Photographs, 1913-circa 1958

General International Standard for Archival Description
type: Standard

Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections South Hadley, MA
type: Repository
type: Organization
type: Agent
country code: US
maintenance agency code: mshm
is publisher of: Buyse papers, 1917-1977.
administers: Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections South Hadley, MA
provides access to: Buyse papers
provides access to: Correspondence, 1917-1944
provides access to: Correspondence, 1917-1930
provides access to: Correspondence, 1931-1935
provides access to: Correspondence, 1936-1944
provides access to: Writings, circa 1919-1945
provides access to: Articles, circa 1919-1945
provides access to: "Nyilak and Other African Sketches," 1923
provides access to: Memorabilia, circa 1928-1955
provides access to: Biographical Information, circa 1919-1977
provides access to: Biographical information, circa 1919-1977
provides access to: Photographs, 1913-circa 1958

Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections South Hadley, MA
type: SpatialThing
is administered by: Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections South Hadley, MA

Buyse papers, 1917-1977.
type: EAD
type: Document
description: Finding aid generated in MARC format from database, then encoded using Perl scripts and XSL stylesheet. 2003-05-20
created: 2003-05-20
conforms to: Encoded Archival Description
conforms to: Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
encoding of: Buyse papers, 1917-1977.

Encoded Archival Description
type: Standard

Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
type: Standard

Buyse papers
type: ArchivalResource
access provided by: Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections South Hadley, MA
level: collection
identifier: MS 0515
date: 1917-1977.
date created accumulated string: 1917-1977.
extent: 1 box
extent: (2.5 linear in.)
language: eng
origination: Buyse, Mabel Easton, 1882-1977.
has biographical history: Biographical History for: Buyse papers
scopecontent: Scope and Contents of the Collection The Mabel Easton Buyse Papers consist of correspondence, writings, memorabilia, biographical information, and photographs. Of particular interest is Buyse's correspondence, which consists of about sixty extremely detailed letters (originals or copies and extracts) written from Africa between September 30, 1917 and November 10, 1944. These letters are to Rose Alden, a Mount Holyoke College alumna, and other friends; many of them are transcripts or excerpts of original letters, prepared by Alden. These documents describe Buyse's life as a missionary in an area of Africa where the Sudan, the Belgian Congo and Uganda meet. They reflect her work for the Africa Inland Mission and give detailed descriptions of her daily life as a missionary, teacher, wife, and midwife. They discuss her teaching; her travels throughout Africa; her personal life, including mention of the books that she read; social and political conditions such as outbreaks of famine and disease and the impact of World Wars I and II and the worldwide economic depression of the 1930s on Africa. Writings, 1919-1945, consist of a book by Buyse, "Nyilak and other African Sketches," published in 1923 and articles by Buyse published in missionary magazines. Memorabilia contains cards, brochures and maps from Buyse's missionary travels between 1928-1955. Included in this series are two maps of the "Fields and Stations of the Africa Inland Mission" drawn by John Buyse in 1937 and 1938. Rounding out the collection are biographical information about Buyse, circa 1919-1977, including a memorial letter of tribute to her, and photographs, 1913-circa 1958, of Buyse and her husband taken in Florida.
associated with: Books and reading.
associated with: Education - Uganda - History - Sources.
associated with: Education - Zaire - History - Sources.
associated with: Marriage - United States - History - Sources.
associated with: Missionaries - Uganda - Correspondence.
associated with: Missionaries - Zaire - Correspondence.
associated with: Voyages and travels.
associated with: Women missionaries - Uganda - Correspondence.
associated with: Women missionaries - Zaire - Correspondence.
associated with: Buyse, John G. (John George)
associated with: Buyse, Mabel Easton, 1882-1977.
associated with: Alden, Rose, 1878-1961.
associated with: Uganda - Description and travel.
associated with: Uganda - Social conditions.
associated with: Zaire - Description and travel.
associated with: Zaire - Social conditions.
associated with: Africa.
associated with: Letters
type: Aggregation
type: Collection
has part: Correspondence, 1917-1944
aggregates: Correspondence, 1917-1944
has part: Writings, circa 1919-1945
aggregates: Writings, circa 1919-1945
has part: Memorabilia, circa 1928-1955
aggregates: Memorabilia, circa 1928-1955
has part: Biographical Information, circa 1919-1977
aggregates: Biographical Information, circa 1919-1977
has part: Photographs, 1913-circa 1958
aggregates: Photographs, 1913-circa 1958

collection
type: Level
type: Concept

1 box
type: Extent
archbox: 1
label: (2.5 linear in.)

Buyse, Mabel Easton, 1882-1977.
type: Agent
is origination of: Buyse papers

Biographical History for: Buyse papers
type: BiographicalHistory
type: Document
type: DocumentPart
body: Biographical Note Mabel Easton was born in Arlington, Massachusetts, on September 24, 1882, to John A. Easton and Martha P. Brock Easton. She went to English High School in Somerville, Massachusetts from 1898 to 1902. She attended Mount Holyoke College in 1902-1903 and from 1904-1907. After graduating with a Bachelor of the Arts degree in English, she attended the National Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) Training School from September to December 1907. In 1923-1924 she enrolled at the Second Biblical Seminary in New York City. She worked as a general secretary of the Industrial YWCA between the years 1908-1910 and she was a county agent for dependent children in Lockport, New York from 1913-1917. From 1917 to 1957 she worked as a missionary in Africa as part of the Africa Inland Mission. She was stationed in the Belgian Congo, Uganda, and the Sudan. In 1928 she married John George Buyse in Kijabe, Kenya. He was a medical missionary from the Netherlands who also worked for the Africa Inland Mission. The Buyses retired to Clermont, Florida, in 1957. She died on January 26, 1977, in Clermont at the age of ninety-five.
topic: Buyse, Mabel Easton, 1882-1977.
subject: Buyse, Mabel Easton, 1882-1977.
is biographical history for: Buyse papers
is part of: Buyse papers, 1917-1977.

Books and reading.
type: Concept
in scheme: lcsh

lcsh
type: ConceptScheme

Education - Uganda - History - Sources.
type: Concept
in scheme: lcsh

Education - Zaire - History - Sources.
type: Concept
in scheme: lcsh

Marriage - United States - History - Sources.
type: Concept
in scheme: lcsh

Missionaries - Uganda - Correspondence.
type: Concept
in scheme: lcsh

Missionaries - Zaire - Correspondence.
type: Concept
in scheme: lcsh

Voyages and travels.
type: Concept
in scheme: lcsh

Women missionaries - Uganda - Correspondence.
type: Concept
in scheme: lcsh

Women missionaries - Zaire - Correspondence.
type: Concept
in scheme: lcsh

Buyse, John G. (John George)
type: Concept
in scheme: lcnaf
focus: Buyse, John G. (John George)

lcnaf
type: ConceptScheme

Buyse, John G. (John George)
type: Person
type: Agent
type: E21 Person

Buyse, Mabel Easton, 1882-1977.
type: Concept
in scheme: lcnaf
focus: Buyse, Mabel Easton, 1882-1977.

Buyse, Mabel Easton, 1882-1977.
type: Person
type: Agent
type: E21 Person

Alden, Rose, 1878-1961.
type: Concept
in scheme: lcnaf
focus: Alden, Rose, 1878-1961.

Alden, Rose, 1878-1961.
type: Person
type: Agent
type: E21 Person

Uganda - Description and travel.
type: Concept
in scheme: lcsh
focus: uganda-descriptionandtravel

Uganda - Social conditions.
type: Concept
in scheme: lcsh
focus: uganda-socialconditions

Zaire - Description and travel.
type: Concept
in scheme: lcsh
focus: zaire-descriptionandtravel

Zaire - Social conditions.
type: Concept
in scheme: lcsh
focus: zaire-socialconditions

Africa.
type: Concept
in scheme: lcsh
focus: africa

Letters
type: Concept
type: GenreForm
in scheme: aat

aat
type: ConceptScheme

Correspondence, 1917-1944
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: Buyse papers
is aggregated by: Buyse papers
access provided by: Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections South Hadley, MA
level: series
extent: 3 folders
scopecontent: This series consists of about sixty letters that Buyse wrote between 1917-1944. Most of these letters are addressed to a friend, Rose Alden, and the series contains many copies and extracts of Buyse's letters that Alden prepared. In her letters, Buyse describes her life and work in Africa, where she served as a missionary for the Africa Inland Mission, an international organization founded in 1895. She discusses teaching women and children at mission boarding schools and the problems associated with that work, such as the difficulty of learning many local dialects. Buyse also mentions her many other tasks, which included serving as a midwife. She traveled widely in Africa and describes her many visits to missionary stations, schools, and conferences, as well as occasional vacations. She also discusses social and political conditions in Africa, including outbreaks of disease and famine; customs related to housing, clothing, food, and celebrations; government policies and responses to local uprisings; and the impact of world events such as World Wars I and II and the worldwide economic depression of the 1930s on Africa. In addition, Buyse mentions many details of her personal life. She discusses her religious faith and missionary philosophy; her marriage and work with her husband; her health, loneliness and feelings of discouragement with the progress of Protestant mission work in Africa; and the pleasure that she receives from writing music to hymns and reading books by Dicken, Proust, and others.
access restrictions: Unrestricted
type: Aggregation
type: Collection
has part: Correspondence, 1917-1930
aggregates: Correspondence, 1917-1930
has part: Correspondence, 1931-1935
aggregates: Correspondence, 1931-1935
has part: Correspondence, 1936-1944
aggregates: Correspondence, 1936-1944

Writings, circa 1919-1945
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: Buyse papers
is aggregated by: Buyse papers
access provided by: Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections South Hadley, MA
level: series
extent: 2 folders
scopecontent: This series includes Buyse's published writings about her missionary experiences teaching English and religion in various African villages between circa 1919 and 1945. These writings are descriptive sketches of the lives and culture of the African villagers whom Buyse interacted with as a missionary. Several documents are articles from the missionary magazine, "Inland Africa." These articles give Buyse's impressions of people of Arua, a village in the Belgian Congo circa 1919-1928, Lugbara Village, Belgian Congo, before 1939, and Tanganyika, Kenya in 1944. A small book of narratives entitled "Missionary Cameos" briefly describes various "branches of the work of the Africa Inland Mission in Congo." This booklet includes photographs and narrative sketches of the Nadi tribe, Mwanza Bay, the Aba and Adi Villages of the Belgian Congo, and Goli, Uganda. Of particular interest is Buyse's book, "Nyilak and other African Sketches," published in 1923. The manuscript copy of the first chapter of "Nyilak" is included in Buyse's writings.
access restrictions: Unrestricted
type: Aggregation
type: Collection
has part: Articles, circa 1919-1945
aggregates: Articles, circa 1919-1945
has part: "Nyilak and Other African Sketches," 1923
aggregates: "Nyilak and Other African Sketches," 1923

Memorabilia, circa 1928-1955
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: Buyse papers
is aggregated by: Buyse papers
access provided by: Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections South Hadley, MA
level: series
extent: 1 folder
scopecontent: This series consists of cards, brochures, and maps from Buyse's missionary travels between circa 1928-1955. Included in the documents are a business card of Rev. and Mrs. John G. Buyse and two cards advertising the Africa Inland Mission, one with photographs of Buyse and her husband and their travel route from New York to Aba, Belgian Congo. Also contained in this series are two maps of the "Fields and Stations of the Africa Inland Mission" drawn by John Buyse in 1937 and 1938.
access restrictions: Unrestricted
type: Aggregation
type: Collection
has part: Memorabilia, circa 1928-1955
aggregates: Memorabilia, circa 1928-1955

Biographical Information, circa 1919-1977
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: Buyse papers
is aggregated by: Buyse papers
access provided by: Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections South Hadley, MA
level: series
extent: 1 folder
scopecontent: This series contains articles, notes, Mount Holyoke Class of 1907 reports, and Buyse's memorial service program. Of particular interest in this series is a statement by R. Floyd Pierson, a friend and fellow African missionary, entitled "In Memorium of Mabel Easton Buyse" and written after her death in 1977. In this document, Pierson gives his recollections of Buyse and records many of her beliefs about religious faith.
access restrictions: Unrestricted
type: Aggregation
type: Collection
has part: Biographical information, circa 1919-1977
aggregates: Biographical information, circa 1919-1977

Photographs, 1913-circa 1958
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: Buyse papers
is aggregated by: Buyse papers
access provided by: Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections South Hadley, MA
level: series
extent: 1 folder
scopecontent: This series consists of formal and informal photographs of Buyse and her husband taken between 1913 and 1958. The photograph from 1913 is captioned "Leaving Jersey" and shows Buyse in travel clothes at a ferryboat dock. There are four formal photographs and three snapshots of Buyse and her husband by their home and church in Florida in about 1958.
access restrictions: Unrestricted
type: Aggregation
type: Collection
has part: Photographs, 1913-circa 1958
aggregates: Photographs, 1913-circa 1958

series
type: Level
type: Concept

3 folders
type: Extent
folder: 3

Correspondence, 1917-1930
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: Correspondence, 1917-1944
is aggregated by: Correspondence, 1917-1944
access provided by: Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections South Hadley, MA

Correspondence, 1931-1935
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: Correspondence, 1917-1944
is aggregated by: Correspondence, 1917-1944
access provided by: Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections South Hadley, MA

Correspondence, 1936-1944
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: Correspondence, 1917-1944
is aggregated by: Correspondence, 1917-1944
access provided by: Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections South Hadley, MA

2 folders
type: Extent
folder: 2

Articles, circa 1919-1945
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: Writings, circa 1919-1945
is aggregated by: Writings, circa 1919-1945
access provided by: Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections South Hadley, MA

"Nyilak and Other African Sketches," 1923
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: Writings, circa 1919-1945
is aggregated by: Writings, circa 1919-1945
access provided by: Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections South Hadley, MA

1 folder
type: Extent
folder: 1

Memorabilia, circa 1928-1955
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: Memorabilia, circa 1928-1955
is aggregated by: Memorabilia, circa 1928-1955
access provided by: Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections South Hadley, MA

1 folder
type: Extent
folder: 1

Biographical information, circa 1919-1977
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: Biographical Information, circa 1919-1977
is aggregated by: Biographical Information, circa 1919-1977
access provided by: Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections South Hadley, MA

1 folder
type: Extent
folder: 1

Photographs, 1913-circa 1958
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: Photographs, 1913-circa 1958
is aggregated by: Photographs, 1913-circa 1958
access provided by: Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections South Hadley, MA