Guide to the Millican Family Papers

Descriptive Summary

Title

Millican Family Papers

Inclusive Dates

1900-1984

Bulk Dates

1917-1964

Call Number

RG 199

Creator(s)

Millican family.

Quantity

3.00 cubic feet (3 boxes)

Restrictions on Access

Collection open for research

Digital Content

To browse this collection's digital content visit Pearl.

The entire collection has been digitized.

Repository

Presbyterian Historical Society, 425 Lombard Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147-1516 USA

Biographical Note / Administrative History

Biographical Note

The Free Methodist Church appointed Frank R. Millican (1883-1961) and his wife Aimee Boddy Millican (1884-1974) to its China mission in 1907. The Millicans served as evangelists in the province of Hunan until 1915; the following year they requested and were granted a transfer to the PCUSA's China Mission, arriving at Ningpo in September of 1917. Until 1929, Frank Millican served as Principal of the Presbyterian Boys' High School and later as Vice-President of the Union Middle School, while Aimee Millican engaged in evan-gelistic work with Chinese women. In 1930, they were assigned to the Christian Literature Society in Shanghai, where Frank Millican translated, edited and supervised the distribution of Christian literature and Aimee Millican was instrumental in starting a Christian broadcasting station. 1940 found the Millicans in the United States on furlough; due to increasing political tensions in China, Rev. Millican returned alone to Shanghai in 1941. He was interned by the Japanese until 1945. After the end of the war, the Millicans returned to Shanghai, but as a result of the Communist takeover, they were transferred to the Philippine Mission in 1950. During their three years of service there, Rev. Millican taught at Union Theological Seminary in Manila and at Silliman University in Dumaguete City, while his wife continued her radio work. The Millicans retired from missionary service in 1953.

Edith Frances Millican, their daughter, was born in Hunan in 1914. She earned her MD degree from the Women's Medical College of Philadelphia, and in 1941 she was appointed to the PCUSA's China Council. When war conditions delayed her sailing, she temporarily joined the staff of the Embudo Presbyterian Hospital in Embudo, New Mexico. She arrived in China in 1943, and became physician to the 14th Air Force Fighter Squadron for eleven months. Afterwards she worked with war victims and refugees in Hengyang, Kweiyang, Pichieh and Kweichow. In 1946 she was put in charge of the Chenhsien Hospital in Hunan.

During her 1948 furlough, Dr. Millican returned to Embudo, expecting to resume her work in China the following year. When conditions in China prevented her from returning, she began a two and one-half year residency at the Women's Medical College. She returned to Embudo in 1951 and spent the next five years there. In 1956 she accepted a one-year residency at St. Luke's Hospital in Spokane, Washington before assuming the duties of resident physician at the Board of National Missions' Mora Valley Medical Unit in Cleveland, New Mexico. She resigned from the Board in 1964, moved to Las Vegas, New Mexico, and started a private practice. She died in her sleep on February 14, 1985.

Collection Overview

Record Group 199 documents the Millican family's years of service in the Presbyterian Church from 1917-1964; some later materials are also included. Frank and Aimee Millican's correspondence documents their missionary experience in China and to a lesser extent in the Philippines, emphasizing the difficulties of their work during the Sino-Japanese War of the late 1930s and during the post-World War II years.

Edith Millican's correspondence documents Presbyterian work in China during and after World War II, providing significant insight into the training, experiences and opportunities of American women in the medical profession.

Record Group 199 also includes photographs and other miscellaneous items.

Organization and Arrangement

SERIES I: CORRESPONDENCE AND WRITINGS, 1917-1984
SERIES II: BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS, 1902-1984
SERIES III: PHOTOGRAPHS, 1900-1984

Alternative Formats

To browse this collection's digitized content visit Pearl.

The entire collection has been digitized.

Administrative Information

Processing Information

Letters written by Frank and Aimee Millican to Edith Millican are filed in Frank and Aimee Millican's outgoing correspondence; letters written by Edith to her parents are filed in her outgoing correspondence.

Box 2 Folders 16-19 contain undated letters written by Edith Millican. Internal evidence was used to determine the approximate chronological order in which these four folders are arranged. They appear to cover the same time span as her dated letters, 1940-1968.

Box 2 Folders 28 and 29 contain correspondence which relates only tangentially to the Millicans but which is informative about the situation in China during the post-World War II years.

Collection processed and finding aid prepared: 1985
Frederick J. Heuser Jr., Archivist

Collection reprocessed, material added and finding aid revised: January 1991
Stephanie Muntone, Processing Archivist

Catalog Headings

The following headings have been used to index the description of this collection in the society’s electronic catalog.

Personal Name Subject

Millican, Frank R., 1883-1961.

Millican, Aimee Boddy, 1884-1974.

Millican, Edith F., 1914-1985.

Corporate Subject

Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Board of National Missions.

Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. China Mission.

Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Philippine Mission.

Union Theological Seminary (Philippines)

Christian Literature Society for China.

Chenhsien Hospital (Hunan, China)

Embudo Presbyterian Hospital (Embudo, N.M.)

Topical Subject

Missionaries--China.

Missionaries--Philippines.

Presbyterian Church Missions China.

Women missionaries--China.

Women missionaries--Philippines.

Missions--China.

Missions--Philippines.

Presbyterian Church--Missions--Philippines.

Presbyterian Church--Missions--China.

Women physicians--China.

Religious literature--Publishing--China.

Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1945.

Religious broadcasting--China.

Religious broadcasting--Philippines.

Religious literature--Publishing.

Geographic Subject

China--Missions.

Philippines--Missions.

Genre-form

Photograph albums. aat

Photographs. aat

Biographies (literary genre) aat

Personal Added Name

Millican, Frank R., 1883-1961.

Millican, Aimee Boddy, 1884-1974.

Millican, Edith F., 1914-1985.

Corporate Added Name

Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Board of Foreign Missions.

Collection Inventory

Box	Folder	Description	Alternative Formats

1	1	Finding Aid to RG 199

		SERIES I: CORRESPONDENCE and WRITINGS, 1917-1984

		Aimee Millican: Outgoing Correspondence
1	2	Aimee and Frank Millican outgoing correspondence, 1933	Digital
1	3	Aimee Millican correspondence to her daughter, Edith, 1934	Digital
1	4	Aimee Millican correspondence to her daughter, Edith, 1935 January-August	Digital
1	4	Frank Millican Annual Report, 1935	Digital
1	5	Aimee and Frank Millican correspondence to their daughter, Edith, 1935 September-December	Digital
1	6	Aimee and Frank Millican correspondence to their daughter, Edith, 1936	Digital
1	6	Worship Trends in the Chinese Church by Aimee B. Millican, 1936	Digital
1	7	Aimee and Frank Millican correspondence to their daughter, Edith, 1937	Digital
1	7	"Our Dear Friends" letter by Elleroy and Mabelle Smith, 1937	Digital
1	8	Aimee Millican correspondence, primarily to her daughter, Edith, 1938	Digital
1	9	Aimee and Frank Millican correspondence to their daughter, Edith, 1939	Digital
1	10	Aimee and Frank Millican correspondence to their daughter, Edith, 1940	Digital
1	11	Aimee and Frank Millican correspondence to their daughter, Edith, 1941 May-December	Digital
1	11	Broadcast Bulletin of the National Christian Council of China, 1941	Digital
1	12	Aimee Millican correspondence to her daughter, Edith, 1942	Digital
1	13	Aimee Millican correspondence to her daughter, Edith, 1943-1944	Digital
1	14	Aimee and Frank Millican correspondence to their daughter, Edith, 1945-1948	Digital
1	15	Aimee Millican correspondence to her daughter, Edith, 1949-1950	Digital
1	16	Aimee Millican correspondence to her daughter, Edith, 1951	Digital
1	17	Aimee Millican correspondence, primarily to her daughter, Edith, 1952	Digital
1	18	Aimee and Frank Millican correspondence to their daughter, Edith, 1953	Digital
1	19	Aimee and Frank Millican correspondence to their daughter, Edith, 1954	Digital
1	20	Aimee and Frank Millican correspondence to their daughter, Edith, 1955	Digital
1	21	Aimee and Frank Millican correspondence to their daughter, Edith, 1956-1957	Digital
1	22	Aimee and Frank Millican correspondence to their daughter, Edith, 1958-1961	Digital
1	23	Aimee Millican correspondence to her daughter, Edith, 1962	Digital
1	24	Aimee Millican correspondence to her daughter, Edith, 1963 January-June	Digital
1	25	Aimee Millican correspondence to her daughter, Edith, 1963 June-December	Digital
1	26	Aimee Millican correspondence to her daughter, Edith, 1964-1965	Digital

		Aimee Millican: Incoming Correspondence, Writings
1	27	Commission on Ecumenical Mission and Relations' correspondence to Aimee Millican, 1942, 1964	Digital
1	28	Miscellaneous writings by Aimee Millican, 1938, undated	Digital
1	28	"Wounded Soldiers Find God" by Aimee B. Millican, 1938 February	Digital
1	28	"The Second World MRA Assembly" by Aimee B. Millican, 1939 October	Digital
1	29	Aimee Millican's notebook, 1964-1968	Digital

		Frank Millican: Outgoing Correspondence, Writings
1	30	Frank Millican correspondence to his daughter, Edith, 1934-1939	Digital
1	31	Frank Millican correspondence to his wife, Aimee, and daughter, Edith, 1939-1951	Digital
1	32	Frank Millican correspondence to his daughter, Edith, 1951-1961, undated	Digital
1	33	Frank Millican's miscellaneous writings, 1936-1937, 1951, undated	Digital
1	33	The Chinese Recorder, Vol. 69, No. 1, 1938 January	Digital
1	33	The Chinese Recorder, Vol. 69, No. 2, 1938 February	Digital

		Aimee and Frank Millican: Correspondence
1	34	Aimee and Frank Millican home letters, 1934-1960, undated	Digital
1	35	Aimee and Frank Millican correspondence to their daughter, Edith, 1955	Digital
1	36	Aimee and Frank Millican correspondence to their daughter, Edith, 1956	Digital
1	37	Aimee and Frank Millican correspondence to their daughter, Edith, 1957-1959	Digital
1	38	Aimee and Frank Millican correspondence to their daughter, Edith, 1960-1961	Digital
1	39	Incoming correspondence addressed to Aimee and Frank Millican, 1929-1966, undated	Digital
1	40	Aimee and Frank Millican's Christmas speech transcript, circa 1952	Digital
1	41	Correspondence regarding Aimee and Frank Millican's transfer to the Board of Foreign Missions, 1916-1917	Digital
1	42	Correspondence regarding Aimee and Frank Millican's East Cliff property in China, 1926-1934	Digital

		Edith Millican: Outgoing Correspondence
1	43	Edith Millican correspondence to her parents, Aimee and Frank Millican, 1940-1942	Digital
1	44	Edith Millican correspondence primarily to her parents, Aimee and Frank Millican, 1943-1945	Digital
1	45	Edith Millican correspondence to her parents, Aimee and Frank Millican, 1946-1948	Digital

2	1	Edith Millican correspondence to her parents, Aimee and Frank Millican, 1952	Digital
2	2	Edith Millican correspondence to her parents, Aimee and Frank Millican, 1953-1955	Digital
2	3	Edith Millican correspondence primarily to her parents, Aimee and Frank Millican, 1956	Digital
2	4	Edith Millican correspondence to her parents, Aimee and Frank Millican, 1957	Digital
2	5	Edith Millican correspondence to her parents, Aimee and Frank Millican, 1958	Digital
2	6	Edith Millican correspondence to her parents, Aimee and Frank Millican, 1959	Digital
2	7	Edith Millican correspondence to her parents, Aimee and Frank Millican, 1960	Digital
2	8	Edith Millican correspondence to her parents, Aimee and Frank Millican, 1961	Digital
2	9	Edith Millican correspondence to her parents, Aimee and Frank Millican, 1962	Digital
2	10	Edith Millican correspondence to her mother, Aimee Millican, 1963	Digital
2	11	Edith Millican correspondence to her mother, Aimee Millican, 1964	Digital
2	12	Edith Millican correspondence to her mother, Aimee Millican, 1965	Digital
2	13	Edith Millican correspondence to her mother, Aimee Millican, 1966	Digital
2	14	Edith Millican correspondence to her mother, Aimee Millican, 1967	Digital
2	15	Edith Millican correspondence to her mother, Aimee Millican, 1968	Digital
2	16	Edith Millican correspondence to her parents, Aimee and Frank Millican, undated	Digital
2	17	Edith Millican correspondence to her parents, Aimee and Frank Millican, undated	Digital
2	18	Edith Millican correspondence to her parents, Aimee and Frank Millican, undated	Digital
2	19	Edith Millican correspondence to her parents, Aimee and Frank Millican, undated	Digital
2	20	Edith Millican general letters, 1943-1967	Digital

		Edith Millican: Incoming Correspondence, Writings
2	21	Edith Millican incoming correspondence, 1939-1948	Digital
2	22	Edith Millican incoming correspondence, 1949-1984	Digital
2	23	Edith Millican incoming correspondence from the Women's Hospital of Philadelphia and the Board of Foreign Missions, 1948-1950	Digital
2	24	Edith Millican incoming correspondence from Embudo Presbyterian Hospital and the Board of Foreign Missions, 1950-1951	Digital
2	25	Edith Millican personal notebook, 1943-1946	Digital
2	26	Edith Millican personal notebook, 1944-1948	Digital

		SERIES II: BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS, 1902-1984

2	27	Board of Foreign Missions General Letters, 1949	Digital
2	27	Board of Foreign Missions General Letter, 1949 December	Digital
2	28	Chinese missionaries miscellaneous letters, 1949-1950	Digital
2	29	The World Day of Prayer Program, 1941 February 28	Digital
2	29	Chinese missionaries miscellaneous letters, Shanghai, 1941-1949, 1972, 1982, undated	Digital
2	30	Millican family biographies, 1961, 1974, 1983	Digital
2	31	Millican family clippings, 1941-1985	Digital
2	31	Two articles by Janette T. Harrington, 1957-1958	Digital
2	32	Aimee Millican notebook, 1902-1906	Digital
2	32	Frank Millican Foreigners' Resident Certificate, 1948	Digital
2	32	Aimee Millican Foreigners' Resident Certificate, circa 1948	Digital
2	32	Edith Millican Certificate of Church Membership, 1949	Digital
2	32	Edith Millican birth certificate, China, 1914	Digital
2	32	Board of Foreign Missions' Citation of Frank and Aimee Millican, 1953	Digital
2	32	Edith Millican missionary service certificate, 1943 March	Digital
2	32	Edith Millican New Mexico Medical License, 1942 April	Digital
2	32	Aimee Millican United States passport, 1944	Digital
2	32	Aimee Millican United States passport, 1948	Digital
2	32	Aimee Millican United States passport, 1952	Digital
2	32	Edith Millican United States passport, 1947	Digital

		SERIES III: PHOTOGRAPHS, 1900-1984

3	1	Aimee Boddy Millican	Digital
3	2	Frank Millican, Millican Family	Digital
3	3	Aimee and Frank Millican	Digital
3	4	Edith Millican	Digital
3	5	Aimee, Frank and Edith Millican	Digital
3	6	China Missionaries	Digital
3	7	Girls' School, Ning Po	Digital
3	8	China Mission	Digital
3	9	Embudo Presbyterian Hospital, New Mexico	Digital
3	10	Portraits	Digital
3	11	Millican family photograph album, 1917	Digital
3	12	Frank and Aimee Millican photograph album, Shanghai, China, 1937-1939	Digital
3	13	Millican family photograph album, 1943-1944	Digital
3	14	Millican family photograph album, circa 1907-1915	Digital
3	15	Millican family photograph album, undated	Digital
3	16	Edith Millican photograph album, 1943-1948	Digital
3	17	Edith Millican photograph album, New Mexico, circa 1940s	Digital

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Guide to the Millican Family Papers

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