Title: Edith Bunker Davis Family Papers, 1857-1990

ID: RG 30/232

Extent: 7.6 Linear Feet

Predominant Dates: 1916-1950

Edith Bunker Davis was born on May 31, 1900 in Amanzimtoti, Natal, South Africa. Her parents, the Rev. Fred Robert (1859-1946) and Isabel Helen (Richards) Bunker (1865-1950) were Congregational missionaries of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions stationed at the Board's Zulu Mission in Natal. The Bunkers' intended destination had been the struggling mission station at Inhambane, Mozambique, but because of health and other problems, the station was closed before the Bunkers' arrival in Africa in 1891. To establish a more favorable location for the mission, the Rev. Bunker and two other missionaries set out in an exploring party in 1892. The Mt. Silinda station (in present-day Zimbabwe) was selected, and mission work began there in earnest in October 1893. The work was difficult, as it involved constructing roads and mission buildings, adapting to an unfamiliar landscape, winning the trust of the native Bantu tribes, studying their several languages, and opening day schools. The Bunkers transferred to Beira, Mozambique in 1904, and to Durban in 1911, where the Rev. Bunker was appointed Mission Day Schools supervisor. The family returned permanently to the United States in 1917, living in Oberlin, Ohio (1917-19), Wilton, Connecticut (1920-32), and several other places in New England (1932-43), including a summer home in Gilmanton, New Hampshire. In his retirement, the Rev. Bunker traveled New England, presenting illustrated lectures on his experiences in Africa. In the last years of their lives, Fred and Belle Bunker made their home in East Williston, New York, with their daughter and son-in-law, Edith and Ernest Davis. Fred Bunker died in Lancaster, New Hampshire in 1946; Belle Bunker died in 1950.

From 1910 to 1913, Edith Bunker lived in Oberlin, Ohio on furlough with her mother and four brothers: Paul Richard (1895-1960; A.B. Oberlin 1918), Wilfrid Herrick (1896-1981; A.B. Oberlin 1923), Kenneth Chandler (1899-1980; A.B. 1921), and Sydney Kittridge (1904-69; A.B. Oberlin 1925; L.H.D. Oberlin 1963). After spending the years 1913 to 1917 in Durban, South Africa, Edith returned to Oberlin, graduating in 1918 from Oberlin High School. Brothers Wilfrid and Paul were then serving in the First World War: Paul in the Oberlin College Unit of the U.S. Army Ambulance Service (June 1917-May 1919), and Wilfrid as a Sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps (1916-19).

In the fall of 1918, Edith entered Oberlin College. She received the A.B. in English in 1922. Following graduation, she worked as Church Secretary for the First Congregational Church in Flushing, New York (1922-23) and as Y.W.C.A. Secretary in Williamsport, Pennsylvania (1923-24). During these years, she debated pursuing a missionary career.

In 1924, Edith Bunker married sales representative P. Ernest Davis (d. 1986) and settled on Long Island, New York. From 1929 to 1966, they lived in East Williston. Along with rearing their children, Edith and Ernest made their home a center of hospitality for friends, relatives, foreign students, and visitors from around the world--many of them connected to the missionary community. For forty-two years, Edith maintained a steady correspondence with friends and missionaries, began to write about the lives of her parents and the history of missions in Africa, and served in numerous volunteer capacities on Long Island and in the region. She was President of the Association of American University Women of Long Island, Vice-President of the Oberlin Women's Club of New York (1958-60), and Elder of the Community Church of East Williston. From 1966 to 1976, the Davises lived on seven acres in Royalston, Massachusetts. There, Edith served as Clerk of the First Congregational Church and as a volunteer at the local Historical Society. In 1976, the couple moved to New London, Connecticut and in 1984 to the Friends House Retirement Community in Sandy Spring, Maryland. P. Ernest Davis died there on October 26, 1986; Edith died on June 30, 1991.

Edith Bunker Davis had three children, all of whom survive her. They are: Virginia Davis Hodge (b. 1926; A.B. Oberlin 1948), Alison Davis Oldham (b. 1929; A.B. Oberlin 1951), and Fred Bunker Davis (b. 1931; A.B. Oberlin 1954).

SOURCES CONSULTED

Portion of Edith Bunker Davis' Student File, held by the Alumni Records Office, Oberlin College.

Strong, William E. The Story of the American Board (American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, 1910).

Author: Valerie S. Komor

Subjects (links to similar collections)

Forms of Material (links to similar genres)

Languages of Materials

Administrative Information

Acquired: Accession Nos: 1992/27, 1992/45, 1992/52, 2006/037.

Restrictions: Beaded artifacts and glass plate negatives are closed from handling.

Acquisition Note: The Edith Bunker Davis Family Papers were transferred by donors Virginia Davis Hodge, Alison Davis Oldham, and Fred Bunker Davis in one lot to the Oberlin College Archives in 1992. Two subsequent accessions occurred in June 1992. In 2006, Kit Oldham donated a CD-ROM containing the photo album entitled “Grandmother’s Stories.”

Related Materials:

As noted above, the researcher is directed to the papers of Fred R. Bunker, held at Talladega College in Talladega, Alabama, and at the Houghton Library of Harvard University. The student records of Fred R. Bunker are held at Olivet College in Olivet, Michigan and those of Isabel Richards Bunker at Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

For correspondence of other missionaries stationed in the African field, consult the papers of the Misses Alice and Elisabeth Little (30/7), the papers of Chauncey N. Pond (30/42), and the papers of Gertrude Jacob (30/85) in the Oberlin College Archives. Also consult the Goodenough family files (28). The student files (28) of Paul, Wilfrid, Kenneth, and Sydney Bunker contain additional biographical information about the Bunker family. The Oberlin College Library holds the annual reports of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (1810- ). See Record Group 21, the Oberlin File, Section VII, for a diary account (1900-08) of missionary work in Mozambique. For additional holdings in the Oberlin College Archives related to missionary work in Africa, see the "Preliminary Guide to Missionary Records" (November 1989).

Finding Aid Revisions: Processed by Valerie S. Komor, 19 May 1992. Revised May 20, 1992, June 26, 1992, August 10, 1992, April 2007, July 2014.

Collection Material Type: Personal Papers

Scope and Contents:

The Edith Bunker Davis Family papers provide evidence of Mrs. Davis' concern to document the work in Africa (1891-1917) of her missionary parents, the Rev. Fred Robert Bunker and Isabel ("Belle") Bunker. The papers also supply information about the professional lives of Edith's brothers, Paul, Wilfrid, Kenneth, and Sydney. These men established successful careers in education, diplomacy, international business, and the Congregational ministry. Unfortunately, there is little information in the collection concerning the personal lives of Edith Davis and her husband, P. Ernest Davis.

The collection is organized into seven records series: I. Bunker-Richards Family Correspondence; II. Diaries; III. Bunker-Davis Family Miscellany; IV. Correspondence of Edith Bunker Davis; V. Writings of Edith Bunker Davis; VI. Photographs; and VII. Zulu Artifacts. Within series, papers are typically arranged chronologically, alphabetically by topic or type of material, or into subseries. The correspondence of Edith Bunker Davis is dated with recourse to postmark date, or, where possible, by consulting the perpetual calendar. Postmark dates are placed within brackets in the upper right-hand corner of the letter.

Among the earliest items in the collection are letters (1859-82) written by the family of Isabel ("Belle") Richards Bunker of Paw Paw Michigan. Correspondence includes letters from Belle's father, Chandler Richards (1829-82), to his wife, Adeline ("Addie") Richards (1829-1904) and to his sister, Helen Richards Clark, a missionary of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions in Honolulu, Hawaii. Letters from Belle's Aunt Helen describe in detail her experiences in Honolulu and were an important influence on Belle's own decision to become a missionary.

Fred and Belle Bunker's residence in East and South Africa as missionaries for the American Board's Zulu Mission is best documented by the Rev. Bunker's diaries (1891, 1892, 1895) and circular letters (1891-1914) and by the diaries (1892-94) of Belle Bunker. Fred Bunker's 1891 diary describes his wedding on January 2, 1891 to Isabel Richards in Olivet, Michigan, the couple's journey to Boston and the purchase there of the missionary "outfit", their February 11 departure aboard the S.S. Teutonic, and their arrival at the port of Durban on March 26. The circular letters, written intermittently by Fred Bunker to his family in Michigan and to the Olivet Mission Board, detail the difficulties he and Belle faced in establishing a mission presence in the lowlands of Inhambane Bay. Bunker's pioneering journey from Beira, Mozambique to stake out a new mission site for the American Board in British-controlled Gazaland (Zimbabwe) is recounted in his diary for July-October 1892, which was edited by Edith Bunker Davis in 1954 but never published. Neither the circular letters nor the diaries are present in the original; they exist here in the form of photocopies or typed transcriptions. In some cases, only extracts of letters are duplicated. The original circular letters and the complete diaries (1887-1941) of Fred and Belle Bunker comprise a portion of the Fred R. Bunker Collection presently held at the Talladega College Historical Collections in Talladega, Alabama.

Although the bulk of the Bunkers' personal correspondence consists of incoming letters from family, friends, and fellow missionaries, portions of the correspondence provide information relating to the Bunkers' missionary work. Of particular interest is a 1903 journal letter (photocopy) written by missionary J.D. Taylor to Mrs. Taylor during a trip with the American Board Deputation to Africa, with Fred Bunker accompanying. Also present in Series I are letters written by Fred Bunker to his wife and children on furlough in Oberlin, Ohio from 1911 to 1913. During the Bunker family's residence in Oberlin (1917-19), Fred Bunker expressed his views on the situation in Portuguese East Africa (Mozambique) in a letter (10 January 1919) to Oberlin College President Henry Churchill King (1858-1934), who was then in Paris serving as Chairman of President Woodrow Wilson's Inter-Allied Commission to Syria. The bulk of Fred Bunker's correspondence, including correspondence relating to his supervision of the Natal Day Schools of the American Board (1910-17), is located in the Talladega College Historical Collections. Correspondence and other materials, covering not only his life in Africa but also his missionary promotional work in Connecticut (1920-46), is held at the Houghton Library of Harvard University. It is not known whether Belle Bunker's letters from Africa to her parents in Paw Paw, Michigan have survived, either in the original or in letterpress.

Numerous loose photographs (1887-ca. 1940), eight photograph albums (1900-25) and seventy-nine glass plate negatives (1898-1917) offer a visual record of the Bunker family's residence in Africa and their travels. Photographs depict members of the Bunker and Richards families, the Bunker children, the Bunkers' 1900 journey to the United States, their 1910-13 residence in Oberlin, the family's 1917 trip from Africa to the United States by way of Japan and Vancouver, Edith Bunker's years in Oberlin as a student (1918-22), and the Rev. Bunker's home in Wilton, Connecticut (1920-32). Also present are photographs of the American Board missionaries and mission stations in the African field. The lantern slides used by the Rev. Bunker in his public lectures in Connecticut are located in the Talladega Historical Collections.

What distinguishes the Oberlin holdings from the Bunker papers housed elsewhere is the incoming correspondence of Edith Bunker Davis (1919-90). While the papers of missionaries are often silent with regard to the influence of the parents' careers on their children, the correspondence of Edith's brothers offers an opportunity to examine the choices made by the Bunker children and the extent to which the children carried forward or departed from the missionary ideals of their parents. Edith's brothers, all graduates of Oberlin College, were Paul Bunker (1895-1960), teacher, foreign service officer, international businessman, and Administrative Director in Munich of the American Committee for Liberation (1957-60); Wilfrid Bunker (1896-1981), a Congregational minister; Kenneth Bunker (1899-1980), a teacher, salesman, minister, and missionary in Natal (1932-34); and Sydney Bunker (1904-69), Congregational minister, Professor of Religion at Talladega College, Talladega, Alabama (1936-37), and Principal (1937-47) and President (1947-67) of Jaffna College in Vaddukoddai, Sri Lanka. Their correspondence covers such topics as their personal relationships, professional concerns, and the activities of their children. Correspondence written by Alma Asted Bunker from Natal (1932-33) to family in the United States describes the missionary work there undertaken by her and her husband, Kenneth Chandler Bunker.

Other family correspondents include Edith's parents, writing of their activities in retirement in Wilton, Connecticut (1920-32) and Gilmanton, New Hampshire (1932-43). Among the friends of Edith Davis who wrote frequently are Africa missionary Edith A. Conn of Waycross, Georgia, Tapera Nkomo, Erasmus and Athanasius Nkomo, and Mrs. Nokukhanya Lutuli, the wife of Nobel Peace Prize recipient (1960), Albert John Lutuli. There is also correspondence (1973-82) from Talladega College archivist, Leon Spencer, relating to the gift of the Fred R. Bunker papers to the college and to his research in African church history.

The outgoing correspondence of Edith Bunker includes her letters to her parents (1920-46), which are housed with the correspondence of Fred and Belle Bunker in Series I. Edith's letters from Oberlin College (1920-22) describe her classes, her friends, parties, and her work as the Vice-President of the Student Volunteer Union. Also present is a series of mimeographed Christmas letters (1957-90) sent by Edith and Ernest to their family and friends.

Additional materials relating to Edith Bunker Davis include an incomplete run of diaries and notebooks spanning the years 1914 to 1991, the year of her death. The diaries, often partially filled, record Edith's daily life as a mother, wife, woman of faith, and devoted friend. One diary dates from her student days in Oberlin (1917-20).

Edith Bunker Davis' unpublished manuscripts, housed in Series V, describe her parents' lives and the history of mission work in South Africa. Other writings include ms. drafts of book reviews and talks, as well as meditations written for inclusion in a "Daily Prayer Book for Women" (ca. 1980). A set of publications of the Bunker Family Association tracing the genealogy of the Bunker family from the sixteenth century to the present is housed in Series III.

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

Series I. Bunker/Richards Family Correspondence, 1857-1950, n.d. (1 l.f.)

Organized into four subseries: 1. Calendar to the Correspondence; 2. Bunker Family Correspondence; 3. Circular Letters of Fred R. Bunker; and 4. Correspondence of Alma Asted Bunker. Subseries 2 includes the correspondence of the Chandler Richards family, as well as the incoming and outgoing correspondence of Fred R. and Isabel (Belle) Richards Bunker, chronologically arranged. Early letters are filed in front of accompanying transcriptions which were made by the donor. In Subseries 3 and 4, correspondence is chronologically arranged.

Series II. Diaries, 1887, 1891-95, 1914-91, n.d. (1 l.f.)

Organized into three subseries by author and thereunder chronologically: 1. Diaries and Notes of Fred R. Bunker; 2. Diaries of Isabel Bunker; and 3. Diaries of Edith Bunker Davis. The diaries of Edith Bunker Davis are all in the original, while the diaries of her parents, with the exception of one ms. account, are either photocopies or transcriptions of the original. Original diaries are located in the papers of Fred R. Bunker at Talladega College, Talladega, Alabama, and at the Houghton Library of Harvard University.

Series III. Bunker-Davis Family Miscellany, 1887-1991 (1.2 l.f.)

Bunker family histories (published), autograph album, address and guestbooks, diplomas, birth, marriage, and death certificates, passports, maps, missionary leaflets, mailing lists, church bulletins, commencement and ordination programs, devotional booklets, “Songs and Tales from the Dark Continent” by Natalie Curtis (1920), travel postcards, and newspaper clippings gathered by the Bunker and Davis families. Materials are arranged alphabetically by topic or type of material.

Series IV. Correspondence of Edith Bunker Davis, 1919-90, n.d. (0.8 l.f.)

Correspondence of Edith Bunker Davis, organized into two subseries and thereunder chronologically arranged. Subseries 1 includes the largely incoming personal correspondence of Edith Bunker Davis; Subseries 2 includes the outgoing Christmas letters (printed) of Edith and Ernest Davis.

Series V. Writings of Edith Bunker Davis, 1913, 1949-88, n.d. (0.4 l.f.)

Ms. typescript drafts of unpublished stories, essays, book reviews, and meditations; incoming correspondence from editors relating to submitted manuscripts; and three bound notebooks containing ms. notes for a book on the Bunker family. Arranged alphabetically by type of material and thereunder by title.

Series VI. Photographs, 1886-ca. 1982, n.d. (3.1 l.f.)

Arranged by type of material into four subseries: 1. Glass plate negatives; 2. Film negatives; 3. Loose photographs; and 4. Photograph albums. Within subseries, materials are chronologically arranged. Glass plate negatives are housed individually and labeled by the donor. Reference copies from digital surrogates of the glass negatives are stored with film negatives and loose photographs. Three albums are disbound due to the advanced deterioration of leaves and bindings.

Series VII. Zulu Artifacts, ca. 1910, n.d.

One woven basket and two boxes of loose beads and necklaces, stored together.

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