Edling correspondence
Scope and Contents
The Leila M. Childs Edling Correspondence consists of letters to relatives and friends, written between 1921-1924, describing her experiences as a teacher and nurse while at a mission station in Angola. Edling recounts the travels with her husband, Edie Emmanuel Edling to Lisbon before their departure to Angola. While in Lisbon, Edling writes of the sites in the Belem district. Upon departure for Africa, Edling describes the activities aboard the ship, including interactions with German travelers. In Angola, where Edling was stationed with her husband between 1921-1950, she describes her encounters with the "native" population and highlights many of the cultural differences between herself and the people of the surrounding community. Edling further attempts to dispel some of the myths of the "Dark Continent" by describing her personal interaction with the local people, while at the same time describes the "heathens" within the mission community. Edling's later correspondence describes the health conditions in Angola, particularly the bubonic plague and malaria, the growth of her clinic, and her struggles to raise her children.
Dates
- 1918-1960
- Majority of material found within 1921 - 1924
Conditions Governing Access
Unrestricted
Biographical Note
Leila M. Childs was born on November 27, 1895 in Northbridge Center, Massachusetts. She graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 1917. In 1920 she became an R.N. after training at Massachusetts General Hospital. She married Eddie Emanuel Edling on October 22, 1920 and in 1921 they sailed to Africa to work as missionaries. They returned to the United States in 1950, after raising four children in Africa. Reverend Edling died on October 29, 1957. Leila M. Childs Edling died on October 9, 1976 in Hermitage, Tennessee.
Extent
1 boxes (1917 Childs)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Edling, Leila Childs, 1895-1976; Nurse and missionary. Mount Holyoke College graduate, 1917. Papers consist of correspondence, primarily documenting her travels to Africa and her subsequent work as a mother and medical missionary in Angola.
- Africa Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Angola -- Description and travel Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Angola -- Social conditions Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Clergy -- United States -- Biography Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Diseases Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Education -- Angola -- History -- Sources Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Family -- United States -- History Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Lisbon (Portugal) -- Description and travel Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Marriage -- United States -- History -- Sources Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Medical care -- Angola -- History Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Missionaries -- Africa Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Missionaries -- Angola -- Biography Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Missionaries -- Angola -- Correspondence Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Mount Holyoke College -- Alumni and alumnae -- Nurses Subject Source: Local sources
- Mount Holyoke College Manuscript Collections Subject Source: Local sources
- Nurses -- Angola -- Correspondence Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Portugal Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Religion Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Spouses of clergy -- United States -- Biography Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Voyages and travels Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Women -- Health and hygiene -- United States -- History Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Women missionaries -- Angola -- Correspondence Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- correspondence Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Title
- Edling correspondence, 1918-1960 (bulk 1921-1924)
- Subtitle
- Finding Aid
- Status
- Edited Full Draft
- Date
- © 2003
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- English
- Sponsor
- Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Repository Details
Part of the Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections Repository
50 College Street
8 Dwight Hall
South Hadley MA 01075-6425 USA
413-538-3079
archives@mtholyoke.edu
