Guide to the Margaret Moore Douglas Papers

Descriptive Summary

Title

Margaret Moore Douglas Papers

Inclusive Dates

1905-1948

Call Number

RG 455

Creator(s)

Douglas, Margaret Moore, 1875-1940.

Quantity

1.85 cubic feet (3 boxes)

Language

Materials primarily in English with several items in Portuguese

Restrictions on Access

Collection open for research. Rolled photograph in box 2 restricted (fragile).

Repository

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

Biographical Note / Administrative History

Biographical Note

Margaret Moore Douglas was born in 1875 at White Oak, S.C. She graduated from the Winthrop Normal College in S.C. in 1898, and attended the University of Chicago. She taught in public schools for three years and was an assistant instructor in mathematics at Winthrop Normal College for five years before being appointed missionary to the North Brazil Mission in 1905 by the Executive Committee of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. She was posted to the Agnes Erskine College in Recife in the state of Pernambuco. From 1906 to 1908, she took charge of the school while its director, Eliza Reed, was on furlough. She was named the school’s director in 1913, a post she held until her death in 1940. The Agnes Erskine College, established by Reed in 1904, was a Christian school for girls and young women. It operated as a day school until 1917, when it opened a boarding school. In 1937, the school was awarded the Presbyterian Women’s Birthday Offering for its work educating Christian women and girls.

Collection Overview

The Margaret Moore Douglas Papers document the years she spent as a missionary in Recife, Brazil at the Agnes Erskine College. The collection includes correspondence (1905-1940); manuscripts and typescripts by Douglas about the school and its students; and photographs. Among the photographs are portraits of Douglas; images of the school, including an undated aerial view; and an album of photos of students and staff of the school. There is also an album of postcards, mostly from Pernambuco. Other materials in the collection include pamphlets about Brazil, the North Brazil Mission, and the Agnes Erskine College; pamphlets written by Douglas; newspaper and magazine clippings in English and Portuguese; Douglas’s certificates of appointment to Brazil; and several documents in Portuguese, possibly concerning authorization for Douglas to work in Brazil. Several of the letters and clippings relate to the 1937 Birthday Offering, awarded by Presbyterian Women to the Agnes Erskine College.

Organization and Arrangement

Summary of Box Contents

Box 1: Obituary and memorial resolution, 1940; correspondence, 1905-1940; documents (in Portuguese) probably related to Douglas’s visa, 1923-1924; pamphlets about Brazil, the North Brazil Mission, and the Agnes Erskine College, 1930-1933, 1948 and undated; two pamphlets written by Margaret Moore Douglas, 1927 and undated; personal writings, undated; writings about Brazil,1924-1940 and undated; correspondence with Janie McGaughey about the Presbyterian Women’s Birthday Offering, 1935; clippings (in Portuguese), 1919-1940; clippings about the Presbyterian Women’s Birthday Offering, 1937

Box 2: Photograph album, 1930-1940; postcard album, 1911 and undated; rolled aerial photo of Agnes Erskine College, undated

Box 3: Photographic portraits of Margaret Moore Douglas, undated; photos of Agnes Erskine College, undated; postcards of Brazil, 1907 and undated

Related Material

Administrative Information

Acquisition Information

Received from Robert L. Douglas, Jr. in 2002.

Processing Information

This collection is minimally processed: materials may not have been ordered beyond their original condition. A preliminary inventory is provided in this guide. Guide revised in 2009 by Jennifer Barr, Archives Intern.

Preferred Citation

Margaret Moore Douglas Papers, RG 455, 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

Douglas, Margaret Moore, 1875-1940.

Corporate Subject

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

Presbyterian Church in the U.S. North Brazil Mission.

Agnes Erskine College.

Topical Subject

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

Missions--Brazil--20th century.

Presbyterian Church--Missions--Brazil--Educational work.

Schools--Brazil--20th century.

Geographic Subject

Recife (Brazil)

Brazil--Missions--20th century.

Genre-form

Correspondence. aat

Writings (documents) aat

Photographs. aat

Pamphlets. aat

Collection Inventory

Box	Folder	Description

1	1	Obituary and memorial resolution, 1940
1	2	Correspondence, 1905-1937
1	3	Correspondence, 1938-1940
1	4	Documents in Portuguese, 1923-1924
1	5	Pamphlets about Brazil, the North Brazil Mission, and the Agnes Erskine College, 1930-1933, 1948 and undated
1	6	Pamphlets written by Margaret Moore Douglas, 1927 and undated
1	7	Manuscripts and typescripts by Margaret Moore Douglas, undated
1	8	Manuscripts and typescripts by Margaret Moore Douglas, 1924-1940 and undated
1	9	Correspondence with Janie McGaughey regarding 1937 Presbyterian Women’s Birthday Offering, 1935
1	10	Clippings (in Portuguese), 1919-1940
1	11	Clippings about Birthday Offering, 1937

2		Photograph album, 1930-1940 and undated
2		Postcard album, 1911 and undated
2		Rolled aerial photo of Agnes Erskine College, Recife, undated [restricted (fragile)]

3	1	Photographic portraits of Margaret Moore Douglas, undated
3	2	Photographic portraits of Margaret Moore Douglas and other subjects, undated
3	3	Photographs of Agnes Erskine College students, staff, and buildings, undated
3	4	Postcards, 1907 and undated

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Guide to the Margaret Moore Douglas Papers

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