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While completing the processing of Record Group 424, our collection of missionary personnel files from 1924-2002, the stories of various African American missionaries stood out. Especially the story of missionary couple Howard and Verna Mwikuta, who were appointed Volunteers in Mission from 1983-1985 in the administrative capacity with Procure and the Christian Literature Program in Zaire.

Howard was born in 1941 in a village outside Ndola, in what was then Northern Rhodesia. His parents died...

--by Christine B. Lindner

One piece of advice I often give students and colleagues commencing a research project is to start with a research goal or question, but to let the archives guide your project. This advice reflects not only my commitment to empirically based research, but also my experience as a historian. Research projects are often refocused after hours of sorting through the dusty pages from the past when it becomes evident that there is scant archival material on a designated project. This does not mean abandoning the original project, but rather...