Guide to the Annie Dowd Papers

Descriptive Summary

Title

Annie Dowd Papers

Inclusive Dates

1896-1957

Call Number

RG 430

Creator(s)

Dowd, Annie Henrietta, 1861-1960.

Quantity

1.00 cubic foot (4 boxes)

Language

Materials primarily in English with several items in Japanese

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

Annie Dowd was born November 6, 1861, in Aberdeen, Mississippi. A graduate of Aberdeen College, Dowd served as a music teacher at Chickasaw Female College from 1886 to 1888. She was appointed in 1887 as a missionary by the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. (PCUS) Executive Committee of Foreign Missions, and spent the next forty-seven years in Japan. Stationed in Kochi, on the island of Shikoku, Dowd focused her missionary efforts on an industrial school for poor girls that she founded. Officially designated the Carrie McMillan Home, the school was more commonly known as “Miss Dowd’s School for Girls.” The girls were given a place to live and provided with a basic education as well as religious studies and some industrial training. The first Birthday Offering of the PCUS Women’s Auxiliary went to construct new facilities for the home. The buildings would later be destroyed during World War II. After her retirement in 1934, Dowd resided at a home for elderly women in Jackson, Mississippi, until her death on April 23, 1960.

Collection Overview

The papers consist of correspondence from Dowd to her mother and sister, 1896-1931; a typescript history of the PCUS Japan Mission, circa 1953; an audiocassette of an oral history interview of Dowd, conducted in 1956, and a transcript of the interview; an oversized book containing Japanese drawings; a photograph album of portraits of Japanese individuals and families; and loose photographs, including images of Annie Dowd, her Japanese friends and students, group photographs of students in Japan and at the Auxiliary Training School, and several Japanese landscapes and buildings.

Organization and Arrangement

The papers consist of one series that is arranged according to the type of record.

Related Material

Administrative Information

Acquisition Information

Received from Perrin Henderson in 1998.

Processing Information

A preliminary inventory is provided in this guide. Guide revised in 2009 by Jennifer Barr, Archives Intern.

Preferred Citation

Annie Dowd Papers, RG 430, Presbyterian Historical Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Catalog Headings

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

Personal Name Subject

Dowd, Annie Henrietta, 1861-1960.

Corporate Subject

Presbyterian Church in the U.S. Executive Committee of Foreign Missions.

Presbyterian Church in the U.S. Japan Mission.

Carrie McMillan Home (Kōchi-shi, Japan)

Topical Subject

Women missionaries--Japan.

Missions--Educational work--Japan.

Presbyterian Church--Missions--Japan.

Girls' schools--Japan--Kōchi-shi.

Geographic Subject

Japan--Missions.

Genre-form

Correspondence. aat

Photographs. aat

Photograph albums. aat

Oral histories (literary genre) aat

Collection Inventory

Box	Folder	Description

1	1	Correspondence, 1896-1899
1	2	Correspondence, 1901-1904
1	3	Correspondence, 1905
1	4	Correspondence, 1906
1	5	Correspondence, 1907-1909
1	6	Correspondence, 1912-1913
1	7	Correspondence, 1914-1916
1	8	Correspondence, 1917-1920
1	9	Correspondence, 1922-1923
1	10	Correspondence, 1924-1926
1	11	Correspondence, 1927-1929
1	12	Correspondence, 1930
1	13	Correspondence, 1931
1	14	Correspondence fragments, undated
1	15	Annie Dowd calling cards, undated
1	16	Typescript history of the PCUS Japan Mission, circa 1953
1	17	Japanese souvenir booklet, 1925
1	18	Oral history audiotape and transcript, “My Experiences in Japan,” by Annie Dowd, recorded 1957 Feb. 6

2		Oversized book containing Japanese drawings, undated

3		Photograph album, 1940 and undated

4		Photographs, 1937-1939 and undated

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Guide to the Annie Dowd Papers

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