Guide to the Lois H. Visscher Papers

Descriptive Summary

Title

Lois H. Visscher Papers

Inclusive Dates

1942-2002

Call Number

RG 421

Creator(s)

Visscher, Lois H. (Lois Helena), 1914-2002.

Quantity

2.25 cubic feet (3 boxes)

Language

Materials in English

Restrictions on Access

Collection open for research

Repository

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

Biographical Note / Administrative History

Biographical Note

Lois Helena Visscher, medical missionary and physician, was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on September 28, 1914, to Oswald W. and Helen Ruth Thompson Visscher. The family moved to Evanston, Illinois, in 1918. Visscher was educated in Evanston public schools. She attended Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts (1931-1932 and 1933-1934) and the University of Illinois at Urbana (1935-1936). She received her B.S. in Medicine (1938) and her medical degree with honors (1940) from the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago and completed internships and residencies in obstetrics, surgery, and pediatrics.

In November 1942, the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. appointed Dr. Visscher to serve as a medical missionary in India. She worked at Memorial Hospital in Fatehgarh (1943-1964), Christian Hospital in Kasganj (1965-1979), and served briefly on the staff of the Wanless Chest Hospital near Miraj in 1951. She spent two months in 1967 in Vietnam as the first woman doctor accepted by the American Medical Association's Volunteer Physicians for Vietnam and returned again in 1972 under the VPVN program.

In 1979, Dr. Visscher requested a transfer to Nasir Rural Hospital in Sudan, Africa (1980-1981). Following this assignment, she retired in May 1981 from the Program Agency, United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. She then offered her services to the International Rescue Committee and began working with Cambodian refugees in Thailand in June 1981. During her stay in Southeast Asia, Dr. Visscher also served with the Baptist Missionary Fellowship at the Kwai River Christian Hospital near the Burmese border.

In Thailand, Dr. Visscher was the victim of a nearly fatal stabbing. After a lengthy hospital stay in Bangkok and a convalescent period in the United States, she served briefly with the Indian Health Service at the Wind River Indian Reservation in Fort Washington, Wyoming. Subsequently, she returned to Thailand to continue her medial service for another six years. In 1990, she returned to the United States, residing at Westminster Gardens in Duarte, California.

Dr. Visscher died in 2002.

Collection Overview

The bulk of this collection consists of Lois Visscher's diaries written primarily while serving in India, Southeast Asia and the Sudan, and following her retirement to Duarte, California. In addition to documenting her daily activities, the diaries reveal her commitment in providing medical, surgical, and health services to the poor. They also include notations of her reflection on scripture readings. Many of the diaries include loose items such as announcements and invitations. The "Dear Friends" letters (1958-1997) document her activities as a hospital administrator, educator, medical, and surgical physician and foster parent to four Indian children. The correspondence concerning Nasir Rural Hospital in the Sudan documents the difficulties in providing health services. The collection also includes biographical and autobiographical materials, a medical article, hospital reports, guest books, and a handmade photograph album of the Ban Vinai Camp for refugees in Thailand.

Organization and Arrangement

SERIES I: PERSONAL, 1943-2002

SERIES II: CORRESPONDENCE, 1958-2001
Subseries 1: "Dear Friends" Letters, 1958-1997
Subseries 2: Nasir Rural Hospital, Sudan, 1979-1981
Subseries 3: COEMAR/Program Agency, 1972-1980
Subseries 4: Assault in Thailand, 1983-2001
Subseries 5: General, 1974-1993

SERIES III: DIARIES, 1942-1957, 1961-1999

SERIES IV: REPORTS, 1965-1980

SERIES V: ARTICLE, 1963

SERIES VI: GUEST BOOKS, 1965-1979

SERIES VII: PHOTOGRAPH ALBUM, ca. 1986

Related Material

Administrative Information

Acquisition Information

These materials were donated to the Presbyterian Historical Society by Lois H. Visscher, her friends, and her nephew, William Visscher, between 1990 and 2002.

Processing Information

Collection processed and finding aid prepared: August 2003
Rita Beatty, Archives Volunteer

Catalog Headings

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

Personal Name Subject

Visscher, Lois H. (Lois Helena), 1914-2002.

Corporate Subject

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

United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. India Mission.

United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Sudan Mission.

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

United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Commission on Ecumenical Mission and Relations.

United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Program Agency.

Memorial Hospital (Fatehgarh, India)

Christian Hospital (Kasganj, India)

Nasir Rural Hospital (Nasir, Sudan)

Topical Subject

Women missionaries--India--20th century.

Women missionaries--Sudan--20th century.

Presbyterian Church--Missions--India--20th century.

Presbyterian Church--Missions--Sudan--20th century.

Missions, Medical--India--20th century.

Missions, Medical--Sudan--20th century.

Refugee camps--Thailand.

Hospitals--Thailand.

Geographic Subject

India--Missions--20th century.

Sudan--Missions--20th century.

Genre-form

Diaries. aat

Correspondence. aat

Collection Inventory

Box	Folder	Description

1	1	Finding Aid to Record Group 421

		SERIES I: PERSONAL, 1943-2002

1	2	Biographical and autobiographical materials, 1943-2002, n.d.
1	3	Personal Development and Self Evaluation Reports, 1964-1974
1	4	Certificate, 1991
1	5	Passports, 1980, 1984, 1994

		SERIES II: CORRESPONDENCE, 1958-2001

		Subseries 1: “Dear Friends” Letters, 1958-1997

1	6	Fatehgarh, U. P., India, 1958-1964
1	7	Kasganj, U. P., India, 1965-1973
1	8	Kasganj, U. P., India and Sudan, 1974-1981
1	9	Thailand and Duarte, CA. USA, 1981-1997
1	10	Mailing lists, 1969-1991

		Subseries 2: Nasir Rural Hospital, Sudan, 1979-1981

1	11	Incoming and outgoing, 1979-1981

		Subseries 3: (COEMAR)/Program Agency, 1972-1980

1	12	Incoming and outgoing, 1972-1980

		Subseries 4: Assault in Thailand, 1983-2001

1	13	Incoming and outgoing, 1983-2001

		Subseries 5: General, 1974-1993

1	14	Garten, Jo and Roy, outgoing, 1974-1984
1	15	Mills, Robert, incoming and outgoing, 1988
1	16	Meditations/reflections, 1993
1	17	Third party, 1980

		SERIES III: DIARIES, 1942-1957, 1961-1999

1	18	Diary, 1942-1949
1	19	Diary, 1950-1953
1	20	Diary, 1954-1957
1	21	Diary, 1961-1967
1	22	Diary, 1968-1971
1	23	Diary, 1972-1976
1	24	Diary, 1977-1979
1	25	Diary, 1980-1981
1	26	Diary, 1982-1983

2	1	Diary, 1983-1984
2	2	Diary, 1984, 1992-1997, 1999
2	3	Diary, 1985-1986
2	4	Diary, 1986-1993
2	5	Diary, 1987-1990
2	6	Diary, 1991
2	7	Diary, 1992
2	8	Diary, 1993
2	9	Diary, 1994
2	10	Diary, 1995
2	11	Diary, 1997
2	12	Diary, 1998

		SERIES IV: REPORTS, 1965-1980

3	1	Annual Reports of Christian Hospital, Kasganj, U.P., India. 1965-1969, 1973-1975, 1978-1979
3	2	"Vietnam, Delta Region, Revisited by a VPVN After Five Years," Lois H. Visscher, M.D., ca. 1972
3	3	Death of Ruac Bol, Nasir Rural Hospital, Sudan, 1980

		SERIES V: ARTICLE, 1963

3	4	“Conservation Treatment of Rupture of the Uterus,” Lois H. Visscher, M.D., reprinted from The Journal of the Christian Medical Association of India, November, 1963

		SERIES VI: GUEST BOOKS, 1965-1979

3	5	Guest Books, 1965-1971
3	6	Guest Books, 1972-1979

		SERIES VII: PHOTOGRAPH ALBUM, ca. 1986

3	7	Ban Vinai Camp for refugees, Thailand, ca. 1986

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Guide to the Lois H. Visscher Papers

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