Buyse, Mabel Easton,
Buyse papers,
1917-1977.
Manuscript Collection: MS 0515
1
box
Agency History/Biographical note:
Mabel Easton was born in Arlington, Massachusetts, on September 24,
1882, to John A. Easton and Martha P. Brock Easton. She went to
English High School in Somerville, Massachusetts from 1898 to 1902.
She attended Mount Holyoke College in 1902-1903 and from 1904-1907.
After graduating with a Bachelor of the Arts degree in English, she
attended the National Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA)
Training School from September to December 1907. In 1923-1924 she
enrolled at the Second Biblical Seminary in New York City. She
worked as a general secretary of the Industrial YWCA between the
years 1908-1910 and she was a county agent for dependent children in
Lockport, New York from 1913-1917. From 1917 to 1957 she worked as a
missionary in Africa as part of the Africa Inland Mission. She was
stationed in the Belgian Congo, Uganda, and the Sudan. In 1928 she
married John George Buyse in Kijabe, Kenya. He was a medical
missionary from the Netherlands who also worked for the Africa Inland
Mission. The Buyses retired to Clermont, Florida, in 1957. She died
on January 26, 1977, in Clermont at the age of ninety-five.
Scope and Content:
The Mabel Easton Buyse Papers consist of correspondence, writings,
memorabilia, biographical information, and photographs. Of
particular interest is Buyse's correspondence, which consists of
about sixty extremely detailed letters (originals or copies and
extracts) written from Africa between September 30, 1917 and November
10, 1944. These letters are to Rose Alden, a Mount Holyoke College
alumna, and other friends; many of them are transcripts or excerpts
of original letters, prepared by Alden. These documents describe
Buyse's life as a missionary in an area of Africa where the Sudan,
the Belgian Congo and Uganda meet. They reflect her work for the
Africa Inland Mission and give detailed descriptions of her daily
life as a missionary, teacher, wife, and midwife. They discuss her
teaching; her travels throughout Africa; her personal life, including
mention of the books that she read; social and political conditions
such as outbreaks of famine and disease and the impact of World Wars
I and II and the worldwide economic depression of the 1930s on
Africa. Writings, 1919-1945, consist of a book by Buyse, "Nyilak and
other African Sketches," published in 1923 and articles by Buyse
published in missionary magazines. Memorabilia contains cards,
brochures and maps from Buyse's missionary travels between 1928-1955.
Included in this series are two maps of the "Fields and Stations of
the Africa Inland Mission" drawn by John Buyse in 1937 and 1938.
Rounding out the collection are biographical information about Buyse,
ca. 1919-1977, including a memorial letter of tribute to her, and
photographs, 1913-ca. 1958, of Buyse and her husband taken in
Florida.
Cite as: Mabel Easton Buyse Papers, Mount Holyoke College,
Archives and Special Collections, South Hadley,
Massachusetts
Access Restrictions: Unrestricted
Series List:
- Correspondence
, 1917-1944
, 3 folders
- Writings
, ca. 1919-1945
, 2 folders
- Memorabilia
, ca. 1928-1955
, 1 folder
- Biographical Information
, ca. 1919-1977
, 1 folder
- Photographs
, 1913-ca. 1958
, 1 folder
PAC
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