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School of Oriental and African Studies

INTERNATIONAL MISSIONARY COUNCIL AND CONFERENCE OF BRITISH MISSIONARY SOCIETIES

IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 0102 IMC/CBMS

Held at: School of Oriental and African Studies

Title: INTERNATIONAL MISSIONARY COUNCIL AND CONFERENCE OF BRITISH MISSIONARY SOCIETIES

Date(s): Bulk 1910-1945

Level of description: Collection (fonds)

Extent: 135 boxes and 851 microfiche

Name of creator(s): International Missionary Council
Conference of British Missionary Societies

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

The archive dates from the period after the World Missionary Conference held in Edinburgh in 1910. The Conference of British Missionary Societies was founded in 1912 with over 40 member missionary societies of various denominations. The International Missionary Council was founded in 1921 and its members comprised interdenominational associations of missionary societies in various countries and interdenominational field bodies. The two bodies shared premises at Edinburgh House, near Sloane Square, London, until the IMC became part of the World Council of Churches in 1961.

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

Joint archive, largely dating from 1910-1945, of the International Missionary Council and Conference of British Missionary Societies, relating to co-operative missionary endeavours in Africa (chiefly British Africa, but also including areas under Belgian, Portuguese and French control) and India, in the form of correspondence, memoranda, pamphlets and reports, including material relating to various other missionary societies, comprising original files on Africa, and microfiche copy of files on India.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: Mainly English; some French, German and Portuguese

System of arrangement:

The archives comprise two sub-fonds: records of work in Africa and records of work in India.

Conditions governing access:

Unrestricted.

Conditions governing reproduction:

No publication without written permission. Apply to archivist in the first instance.

Physical characteristics:

Finding aids:

Unpublished handlist for Africa (2 volumes) and India (1 volume) and database. Separate descriptions of the two sub-fonds for Africa and India are also available online.

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:

Accruals:

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

The original files on Africa were deposited with the archive of the Conference of British Missionary Societies in 1977.

ALLIED MATERIALS

Existence and location of originals:

The original files on India are deposited at the offices of the World Council of Churches in Geneva.

Existence and location of copies:

Published on microfiche by IDC Publishers.

Related material:

The School of Oriental and African Studies holds records of the Conference of British Missionary Societies (Ref: CBMS); records of the Christian Literature Bureau for Africa and its succession by the International Committee on Christian Literature for Africa (part of the International Missionary Council) (Ref: ICCLA); and microfiche copy of the archives of the International Missionary Council (Ref: IMC).

Publication note:

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Note:

Archivist's note: Compiled by Rachel Kemsley as part of the RSLP AIM25 project. Sources: Rosemary Seton, Guide to Archives and Manuscript Collections (School of Oriental and African Studies, 1994), p 9; IDC Publishers, Missionary Archives on microfiche.