Yale Divinity Library has primary responsibility for Yale's research collections in specified areas of Christian history, thought, and practice. Given the nature of scholarship on Christianity, the Divinity Library's collections are by definition international in scope. More than half of the material it collects is published outside of North America.
The Day Missions Library
The Divinity Library's Day
Missions Library is a world-renowned collection documenting world Christianity
and the history of the missionary movement. Established in 1891 by George Edward
Day and his wife, Olivia Hotchkiss Day, the collection today makes up approximately
one third of the Divinity Library's 500,000 volumes, and constitutes the bulk
of its manuscript and archival collection. Monographic and archival materials
are complemented by strong collections of periodicals, annual reports, and pamphlet
literature. When the Yale Divinity Library was established in 1932, the Day
collection constituted two thirds of the Divinity Library's original collection.
The collection has continued to grow over the years, with support from an endowment
established by the Days and, since 1981, with income from a fund established
by Kenneth Scott Latourette, D. Willis James Professor of Missions and World
Christianity, 1921-1953.
Special Collections
Documentation of the Protestant missionary endeavor is an important focus for the Divinity Library's archival and manuscript collections. The Library's China Records Project and subsequent collecting efforts have made its China-related resources particularly strong. The Guide to archival and manuscript collections provides an overview of archives and manuscript collections held at the Yale Divinity Library, in both original and microform format. Online finding aids are available for all of the Library's original holdings. The Library has the world's most comprehensive microform collection of missions-related archives for which the originals are held in other repositories.
International InvolvementThe Divinity Library has initiated or participates in a variety of programs related to the documentation and study of world Christianity:
- The Latourette Initiative for the Documentation of World Christianity is a proactive program to preserve and provide access to the documentation of world Christianity
- The Yale-Edinburgh Group on the History of Christianity in the Non-western World was formed to facilitate discussion and exchange of information about historical aspects of the missionary movement and the development of world Christianity
- The Internet Mission Photography Archive project provides access to historical images from Protestant and Catholic missionary collections held at a number of centers in Britain, continental Europe, and North America.
- Yale is a member of the Pacific Manuscripts Bureau.
- Divinity Library staff have been active in workshops and consultations related to documentation of world Christianity, including the Rescuing the Memory of our Peoples Joint IACM-IAMS Documentation and Archives Conference and the Asia-Pacific Forum for Library and Archives Management Training.
Research Guide for Christianity / International Collections
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