Bridgman Family Papers, c. 1854-2003
| Oberlin College Archives
Administrative/Biographical History
Henry Martyn and Laura Bridgman
Henry Martyn Bridgman, son of Spenser (Spencer) and Dotha (Burt) Bridgman, was born in Westhampton, Massachusetts on January 8, 1830. Spenser Bridgman was a hard-working farmer of Puritan stock and the family lived through many years of hardship. Henry began his preparatory work at the Monson Academy when he was 19 and then went to Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts where he graduated with an A.B. degree in 1857. Inspired by the values instilled in him by his upbringing in rural America and by his determination to lead an industrious life, Henry decided to enter the ministry and serve in the missionary field. Upon graduating from Amherst, Henry attended the Hartford Theological Seminary and then the Union Theological Seminary in New York City where he graduated in 1860. He was ordained into the Congregational ministry on June 27, 1860 at Westhampton.
Henry married Laura Brainerd Nichols on August 1, 1860. Born on June 20, 1834, Laura was the daughter of Silas A. and Phebe (Brainerd) Nichols, of East Haddam, Connecticut. Laura met Henry when she was a student at the Mount Holyoke Seminary in South Hadley, Massachusetts and Henry was finishing his studies at Amherst. After graduating from Mount Holyoke in February 1856, Laura accepted a position as a school principal in Liverpool, Nova Scotia, where she exchanged correspondence with Henry until they re-united and eventually married in 1860.
Soon after their marriage, the Bridgmans set out to serve as missionaries under the auspices of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (A.B.C.F.M.). Following their commission they set sail for their appointment to the Zulu Mission Station in Natal, South Africa on September 1, 1860. They served at the station at Imfumi from 1861-1866, preaching the Gospel to the native black population. It was at the Imfumi station that Henry first learned the Zulu language and began the long line of Bridgman family missionary work in South Africa that would continue well into the next century.
After a furlough in America, the Bridgmans returned to South Africa in 1869 and served at the Umzumbi station in Natal for 26 years. At Umzumbi, the Bridgmans transformed a small outpost "haunted by hyenas at night" into one of the most beautiful and efficient stations in the colony. Henry and Laura created schools and churches, and built communities within the Zulu nation that helped the natives establish themselves under British Imperial occupation. In 1872, Henry and Laura helped establish the “Umzumbi Home,” a school for native girls that continued to grow throughout the course of the Bridgmans’ career. Henry and Laura’s work with the natives was revolutionary during a time when the imperial elite had placed most of the black population in neglect.
The Bridgmans served at the Umzumbi station until Henry died of chronic bronchitis on August 29, 1896. Laura continued her work in South Africa and eventually died at Umzumbi on January 13, 1923. She was a strong force in the mission field, which required a zeal for temperance and purity. She served as the first President of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (W.C.T.U) in South Africa and was instrumental in introducing the aims and methods of the organization to the native black population. Her forward-looking evangelism and social mindedness found expression in several books in Zulu on temperance and missionary subjects.
Henry served 36 years and Laura 63 years in South Africa. The real fruits of their labor came after their deaths through the extraordinary work of their children among the Zulu nation. Henry and Laura Bridgman had four children, three of whom became missionaries and continued the family service to the Zulu Mission. Their children were: Burt Nichols, Amy (Lit. 1888), Frederick Brainerd (BPh 1893, Hon. DD 1916) and Henry Martyn Jr. All four children were sent back to the United States for their high school and college educations: Burt was sent in 1878, Amy and Frederick in 1881, and Henry in 1884. Both Amy and Fredrick attended and graduated from Oberlin College in 1888 and 1893 respectively.
Sources Consulted
The Bridgman Family Papers (30/349), Series I. Biographical Files, Series III. Diaries/Reminiscences (includes unpublished autobiography of Rev. Henry Martyn Bridgman), Series XV. Research Files of John Bridgman.
Frederick Brainerd and Clara Davis Bridgman
Frederick Brainerd Bridgman, son of Henry Martyn and Laura Brainerd (Nichols) Bridgman, was born in Imfumi, Natal, South Africa on May 18, 1869. At the age of 12, this child of missionary parents was sent to the United States for his education and attended public school in New Britain, Connecticut. Following his secondary education, Frederick attended Oberlin College for both preparatory and college course work, graduating with a Bachelor of Philosophy degree in 1893. Subsequently, Frederick entered the Chicago Theological Seminary and graduated from there with a Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1896. It was during these years that Frederick set his face to the ministry and decided to dedicate himself to the field of missionary work like his parents.
Frederick Bridgman married a fellow Oberlin College classmate, Clara S. Davis, on September 8, 1896 in Elgin, Illinois. Born on February 10, 1872, Clara was the daughter of Reverend Jerome Dean Davis and Sophia (Strong) Davis, both of whom were American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (A.B.C.F.M.) missionaries working in Kobe, Japan. Reverend Davis was a cofounder of the Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan and a prominent voice in Christian missionary work. Clara graduated with a literary degree from Oberlin College in 1893.
In the spring of 1897, Mr. & Mrs. Bridgman received appointments by the A.B.C.F.M. to serve as missionaries to South Africa and, with the exception of some time spent in the United States, Frederick and Clara devoted the remainder of their lives to missionary work in South Africa. Upon arrival in South Africa, Frederick and Clara were first stationed at various locations in Natal, where they preached to tens of thousands of native Zulus, and erected a church and five smaller chapels. In Durban, Natal, Frederick and Clara trained twenty preachers and became the first missionaries to take their work to larger urban centers. Also in Durban, Frederick helped establish the Durban Native Affairs Reform Association. It was Frederick’s ambition to bring his work to such large audiences that drove him to be the pioneer missionary that he was.
Fredrick and Clara pursued their missionary work on an even larger scale when they brought the Gospel to Johannesburg in 1913. This type of missionary work in a major city had been unprecedented, as over 200,000 native South Africans were awaiting their arrival. It was in Johannesburg that Dr. Bridgman realized the exploitation of the hundreds of thousands of black mine workers, and the racial and socioeconomic injustices inflicted by the imperial elite upon the native South African population. Frederick and Clara used this outright discrimination as an incentive for furthering their missionary work. They launched several social service programs aimed at improving the social conditions of the region through Christian education, and communal and recreational activities. In addition to preaching the Gospel, the Bridgmans’ programs included film showings, athletic competitions, and group readings. Frederick had earned the high respect from not only the native Zulus but also from the South African government officials. For many of his years working in Johannesburg, leading government officials and businessmen provided missionary-statesman Frederick Bridgman with tens of thousands of dollars to pursue the goals of his social work. This led the public to regard him as the “apostle to the African city.” Frederick and Clara’s efforts to improve the sociological conditions of the region further served as a bridge between the two opposing spheres of South African society that had for centuries represented the injustices and inhumanity of imperialist exploitation.
During a visit in the United States, a brief hiatus during the Johannesburg period of his career, Frederick was awarded the Doctor of Divinity degree during the commencement exercises at Oberlin College on June 14, 1916. Upon presenting the honorary degree, Professor Charles H.A. Wager declared that Frederick, “has made himself so completely master of the problems of the colony, religious and educational, economic and governmental, that he has become a power not only in the hearts of the native population, but in the councils of their official masters. Such a contribution to civilization,” Professor Wager argued, “is a claim to recognition which Oberlin is proud to acknowledge,” (Frederick Brainerd Bridgman, Necrology for the Year 1924-25, Oberlin College, in student file). The award mirrored and contributed to the worldwide respect and admiration that he received for his life’s work throughout his career.
In the spring of 1925, Frederick returned to the United States for the last time. He died on Sunday, August 23, 1925 at St. Barnabas Hospital in Portland, Maine after an unsuccessful operation for appendicitis. Dr. Bridgman was 56 years old. A funeral service was held in Auburndale, Massachusetts and was led by Reverend Howard Bridgman, a relative.
Following Frederick’s passing, Clara returned to South Africa where she continued to work to improve the socioeconomic conditions of the native population in Johannesburg. She was the leading spirit in founding the Talitha Home for rehabilitating delinquent Zulu girls in 1919. Clara also established the Bridgman Memorial Hospital in 1928 in honor of her husband. As the first hospital for Bantu women in Johannesburg, the hospital primarily served as a maternity clinic for native women and girls, a center for public health in the community, a source of employment for the native population, and an educational resource for midwives and medical students from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Clara also started the Helping Hand Club that assisted Zulu women to find jobs in a society that was otherwise unfavorable towards them. In just seven years, 800 girls joined the club and 600 were placed in domestic service jobs.Clara Bridgman retired in 1941 and spent her last 15 years in Auburndale, Massachusetts. She died on July 9, 1956 at the age of 84. Her memorial service was held at the Walker Missionary home in Auburndale, and her ashes were buried beside Frederick Bridgman’s remains in Natal, South Africa.
As racial tensions continued to rise following Clara’s passing, the Bridgman Memorial Hospital was eventually shut down in 1965 because of its devoted service to poor native blacks in a primarily white area of Johannesburg. The Bridgman legacy, however, lived on passed Clara’s years. The money received for the sale of the hospital was used to create the Bridgman Foundation, a fund that was used to build churches, develop family planning clinics, and help create a foster care department in the Johannesburg Child Welfare Society for abandoned and impoverished native children. The Foundation still exists today.
Frederick and Clara had one child, Frederick Brainerd Jr., who was born on June 25, 1909 in Durban, South Africa. He graduated from Oberlin College with a B.A. degree in 1931 and a master’s in sociology the following year. He then attended Yale University and graduated from there in 1939 with doctorate from the Race Relations Department. Fredrick Jr. spent most of his professional career as a social worker for Child Welfare, the Connecticut Juvenile Court, and the Valley Regional High and John Wintrop Jr. High Schools in Deep River, Connecticut.
Sources Consulted
The Bridgman Family Papers (30/349): Series I. Biographical Files, Series VII. Printed Matter (includes histories of Bridgman Memorial Hospital and Bridgman Foundation), Series XV. Research Files of John Bridgman. The student files of Frederick Bridgman and Clara S. Davis Bridgman, Alumni Records, OCA (28/2)
Amy Bridgman Cowles
Amy Bridgman Cowles, the daughter of missionaries Henry Martyn and Laura Brainerd (Nichols) Bridgman, was born in Durban, Natal, South Africa on July 9, 1866. In 1881, her parents sent Amy and her younger brother, Frederick Brainerd, to the United States for education where they took up residence in the home of a family friend, J.B. Smith, in New Britain, Connecticut. Amy began her collegiate work at Oberlin College in 1884 and graduated with a degree from the Literary Department in 1888. The following year she received a diploma from the Connecticut State Normal School in New Britain, Connecticut.Immediately following her education, Amy sailed to Natal, South Africa to assist her parents in their missionary work with the native Zulu population but quickly returned to New Britain in 1891. Amy married George Burr Cowles, son of George Baldwin and Cordelia Cowles, on January 27, 1892. George was born in Yonkers, New York on November 11. 1862 and graduated from New Britain High School in Connecticut, and the Y.M.C.A. Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts.
In 1893, George and Amy received their appointments from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (A.B.C.F.M.) and set sail for the Adams Mission Station in Natal, South Africa. George served as the principal of the Boys Training School, which later became Adams College. In 1902 however, due to failing health, Amy returned to the United States with her husband for about two years. During this time, Amy spoke at more than 300 churches, promoting the mission work in Natal and raising financial support for future endeavors. Also during this visit in the United States, George was ordained at the Congregational Church in New Britain on Oct 5, 1904.
Returning to Africa that fall, Amy and George resumed their work but soon moved to the Umzumbe station where George ran the dispensary and supervised 28 schools and churches in the region. In addition to having the uncompromising zeal of her mother, Amy had an intimate knowledge of the Zulu culture and language and was able to assist her husband in social work and religious teaching at the station. She started a program to organize hundreds of young Zulu boys as Pathfinders or Scouts and girls as Wayfarers or Girl Scouts. Much like the work of Amy’s parents, Henry and Laura Bridgman, and her brothers, Burt Nichols and Frederick Brainerd Bridgman, the Cowles’ work in South Africa not only brought faith to a troubled area of the world, but also improved the socioeconomic conditions of the impoverished and exploited native black population of Natal.
George Burr Cowles died on Aug 12, 1929 in Durban, South Africa after 36 years of service. Amy then retired to Claremont, California in 1931 where she spent her final years. Amy Bridgman Cowles died on November 26, 1948.
George and Amy had four children, Ruth Cordelia (AB 1919), Helen Laura (Acad. 1911-1914), Raymond Bridgman (Acad. 1911-1912) and Frederick Burt.
Sources Consulted
The Bridgman Family Papers (30/349): Series I. Biographical Files, Series. Research Files of John Bridgman; the student file of Mrs. George Burr Cowles (Amy Bridgman), Alumni Records, O.C.A. (28/2).
Ruth Cordelia Cowles
Ruth Cordelia Cowles, the daughter of missionaries George Burr and Amy (Bridgman) Cowles, was born in New Britain, Connecticut on October 2, 1892. When she was just six months old, Ruth accompanied her parents to the Adams Mission Station in Natal, South Africa where her grandparents, Henry and Laura Bridgman, and her uncles, Burt Nichols and Frederick Brainerd Bridgman, were serving as missionaries under the auspices of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (A.B.C.F.M.). It was in Natal that Ruth Cowles spent the first eleven years of her life and was introduced to the native Zulu culture through the social work of her family members.
Like her mother and uncles before her, Ruth returned to the United States for her education. Ruth began high school in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, where she lived with her uncle, Dr. Burt Bridgman, a practicing physician. She finished her high school education at the Oberlin Academy, graduating in 1913. She then went to live with her parents who were on sabbatical in Campbell, California. While living in Campbell, Ruth commuted to the San Jose State Normal School where she graduated with a teaching certificate in 1916. She then returned to Oberlin that fall to continue her studies at Oberlin College. Ruth Cordelia Cowles graduated from Oberlin College, Phi Beta Kappa, with an A.B. degree in 1919.
Immediately after graduation, Ruth pursued a career in nursing and began her training at the Margaret Fahnestock School for Nurses at the New York Post-Graduate Hospital in New York City. Ruth graduated from the school as a registered nurse in 1922 and worked for two years at the Henry Street Settlement House in a slum area of Manhattan. She helped to provide medical care to the under-privileged and this experience prepared her for her life’s work with the impoverished Zulu population in Johannesburg.
In 1924, her uncle, Frederick Brainerd Bridgman, persuaded her to return to South Africa to work at the Mission Clinic that he had established for the natives at Doornfontein, Johannesburg. On May 3, 1925, she was commissioned by the A.B.C.F.M. and sailed for South Africa soon after. Ruth began working with Dr. Madame Crinsoz de Cottens, a Swiss Doctor, at the maternity clinic in Doornfontein, delivering babies and caring for poor black mothers in the slums of Johannesburg. Ruth was often forced to travel through the extremely dangerous neighborhoods of Doornfontein, dodging drunken brawls and risking her life, to provide care for impoverished mothers.
During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the A.B.C.F.M. could not afford to pay Ruth’s missionary salary and her position at the maternity clinic became tenuous. Fortunately, much like her uncle Frederick and her other missionary family members, Ruth had earned the high respect of almost everyone in the community – black and white. In order to alleviate the financial situation for this highly respected community nurse, a group of “English gentlemen” in Johannesburg raised funds locally and saved Ruth’s position at the Clinic (from Ruth’s memorial service eulogy by Alfred Heininger in Ruth Cordelia Cowles student file, RG 28/2, OCA).
At about this same time, The Johannesburg Municipal Health authorities ordered all native blacks to leave Johannesburg by the 1st of January, 1935, causing tens of thousands of Zulus to seek refuge in the Alexandra township, a designated “Native Location” ten miles outside of the city. Ruth Cowles followed the natives to Alexandra and established another clinic in the new community. This new clinic, which eventually became known as the Alexandra Health Centre and later associated with the University of Witwatersrand, grew rapidly and became the most fruitful of Ruth’s accomplishments as a public servant. Within a decade, the clinic grew from a small sun-dried brick building without electricity to a large complex of buildings equipped with sterilizing rooms, dental facilities, waiting rooms, and operating theaters. By 1945, the number of patients at the Alexandra Health Centre rose above 87,000, and the clinic’s medical staff expanded to meet the increase in demand for medical services.
Ruth worked in every department of the clinic as a senior nurse and even lived on the premises. She specialized in infant care and the training of native nurses, and established the Bantu Trained Nurses Association in 1932. Ruth also set up a day care program for native infants whose mothers were forced to leave home during the daytime hours for work. She also trained African nurses at the Bridgman Memorial Hospital in Johannesburg, the facility established by her aunt Clara in honor of Ruth’s then deceased uncle, Frederick Bridgman. Like her Bridgman-Cowles missionary predecessors, Ruth’s tireless efforts as a nurse and preeminent community figure supported and improved the otherwise neglected socioeconomic conditions of the native Zulu population.
Ruth left South Africa in 1946 but continued to serve as a nurse in Claremont, California until she retired from the A.B.C.F.M. in 1950. From 1953 to 1963, Ruth was a visiting nurse at Claremont’s Pilgrim Place, a community of mostly retired missionaries. In 1966, she retired to Pilgrim Place herself, where she lived until her death on October 2, 1971. She was buried at the Adams Mission Cemetery in Natal, South Africa, along side her parents, Amy and George Cowles, her uncle and aunt, Frederick and Clara Bridgman, and her grandparents, Henry and Laura Bridgman.
Ruth Cordelia Cowles was the ninth and last member of the Bridgman-Cowles family to devote her life to helping the Bantu people of South Africa. They served a total of 279 years as missionaries to the Zulu nation.
Sources Consulted
The student file of Ruth Cordelia Cowles, OCA (RG 28/2). The Bridgman Family Papers (30/349): Series I. Biographical Files, Series VII. Printed Matter (includes history of Bridgman Memorial Hospital).
Forms of Material (links to similar genres)certificates
diaries
digital images
drawings (visual works)
geneological tables
lecture notes
letters (correspondence)
manuscripts
music
notebooks
photograph albums
photographs - photographic prints
poems
programs (documents)
publications
records (documents)
research (document genres)
scrapbooks
short stories
sound recordings - CD-ROMs
sound recordings - phonograph records
timelines (chronologies)
visitors' books
Administrative Information
This is a sizable collection. The Bridgman Family Papers document the family’s time and achievements as missionaries to South Africa over nearly a century (1860-1949). Included in these family papers are a good many biographical and genealogical histories of each member of the extended family. Unevenness exists in the collection, however, in part because the bulk of the materials primarily document the work and accomplishments of Frederick Brainerd Bridgman (1869-1925) and his wife, Clara Davis Bridgman (1872-1956). The research materials relating to the lives of other family members, including Frederick’s parents, Henry Martyn and Laura Bridgman, and his sister and niece, Amy Bridgman and Ruth Cordelia Cowles, among others, are less weighty in terms of the amount of documentation. While the entirety of the historical information on the Bridgman family covers the period 1641-2003, it mainly documents the three generations that served as missionaries in South Africa since 1860.
The Bridgman Family Papers are arranged into 16 record series: Series I. Biographical Files; Series II. Correspondence; Series III. Diaries and Reminiscences (mostly unpublished); Series IV. Genealogical Files; Series V. Guest Book; Series VI. Newspaper Clippings; Series VII. Printed Matter; Series VIII. Writings; Series IX. Photo Albums; Series X. Photographs; Series XI. Scrapbooks; Series XII. Sound Recordings, Series XIII. Artifacts; Series XIV. Miscellaneous; Series XV. Research Files of John Bridgman (photocopies); and Series XVI. CD-ROMs.
Materials most relevant to the Bridgman-Cowles family history and missionary work in South Africa, however, can be found in the correspondence in Series II, the diaries and reminiscences in Series III, and the photographs in Series X. Although the correspondence series is modest in size (approximately 0.3 l.f.) and the date span is rather uneven, the letters contain commentary relating to the daily life and missionary activity in South Africa. For example, in a 1916 letter to her son, Frederick Bridgman, who was on furlough at the time, Laura Bridgman discusses the difficulties of working in “Darkest Africa” at her old age (nearly 82), as well as the health of Frederick’s sister, Amy Bridgman Cowles, and the overall progress being made at the Umzumbe Station in Natal. The correspondence series also includes a 1963 letter from the General Secretary of the American Board, John Reuling, to Ruth Cowles, in which he explains that a government decree was forcing the Bridgman Memorial Hospital to close because of its devoted service to poor native blacks in a predominantly white area of Johannesburg.
The diaries and reminiscences in Series III, also provide information pertinent to the Bridgman-Cowles family history and missionary work in South Africa. Featured in this series is the 1890 unpublished autobiography (handwritten and typed transcript) of Henry Martyn Bridgman, in which he discusses his childhood, his education at Amherst College (Massachusetts), his courtship with Laura Bridgman, and his missionary experience in Natal, South Africa. Another featured item in this series is the diary of Frederick Brainerd Bridgman, which documents his day-to-day activities from 1913-1917 in South Africa and on his extended furlough; among the entries in the diary is that of his acceptance of the honorary Doctor of Divinity degree during commencement exercises at Oberlin College on June 14, 1916. Other useful materials include Frederick Bridgman’s hand written reminiscences of Zulu Boyhood (n.d.), and the personal diaries of Laura Bridgman (1871) and Clara Davis (1889, n.d.).
In addition to the photographs of extended family members, Series X provides a visual documentation of the Bridgman-Cowles’ missionary work in South Africa. Within the Zulu tribe subseries, one will find photographic content or evidence of native customs, including competitive dancing, a courting ritual, and a wedding ceremony. Included here are visual representations of the Bridgman family members working amongst the impoverished and neglected black population, as well as the merging of Western Christian tradition with the native Zulu culture. Within Series X, there also exists a subseries of photographs documenting the delivery of medical services to patients, the work of doctors, and the existence of facilities at the Bridgman Memorial Hospital. More photographs, mainly relating to the family history, are housed in five large photo albums and several loose album pages in Series IX.
Series VII consists of printed matter that provides additional documentation relating to the Bridgman Memorial Hospital (founded in 1928). Also included in Series VII is printed matter relating to the 1860 ordination of Henry Martyn Bridgman, and booklets issued by the American Board about Zulu culture and the history of the missionary effort in the Natal region. (see the Bridgman Family Papers series descriptions and inventory for listings of specific materials contained in all printed matter subseries).
In addition to the series highlighted above, the Bridgman Family Papers also contain biographical materials relating to both the missionary work in South Africa as well as the biographical history of the Bridgman-Cowles family. By way of example, the articles and obituaries in the biographical series (Series I) provide an informative overview of the family’s achievements as missionaries as well as several family members’ biographical histories (birth, childhood, education, marriage, children, occupations, and other accomplishments). While the bulk of the series relates to the life of Frederick Brainerd Bridgman, the files also includes biographical materials on other members of the Bridgman-Cowles family including Henry and Laura Bridgman, Burt Bridgman, Clara Davis Bridgman, and Ruth Cordelia Cowles, among others. The genealogical files, housed in Series IV, contain family timelines, biographical sketches, and other materials that help to trace the Bridgman, Brainerd, and Cowles families back to the 1640s. The collection also contains materials relating to several of the family members’ student years at Oberlin College, including Clara Davis’ 1889 diary from Oberlin (Series III. Diaries and Reminiscences), Frederick Bridgman Sr.’s 1887-1896 college scrapbook (Series XI. Scrapbooks), and Frederick Bridgman Jr.’s 1928-29 “Animal, Botany, and Ecology,” lecture notes (Series VIII.). Other notable materials in the collection include the record albums of Zulu prayer and South African music (Series XII. Sound Recordings, Series XVI. CD-ROMs), and the artifacts in Series XIII, which include Zulu beadwork, weapons, and tools among other items.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series I. Biographical Files, 1896-2002, n.d. (11 folders)
Consists of two passports, one immunization certificate, and several other associated documents relating to the commission of Clara Davis Bridgman to perform missionary work in Natal, South Africa (1897-1941). Biographical files also contain an announcement of the wedding of Frederick Brainerd Bridgman and Clara Strong Davis, and the birth of Frederick Brainerd Bridgman Jr. Series includes obituary notices and clippings from several South African newspapers, missionary and church magazines, and the Oberlin Alumni Magazine, regarding the 1925 death of Frederick Brainerd Bridgman. Files also contain the eulogy of Dr. Frederick B. Bridgman as delivered by Dr. Howard Bridgman and others concerning Frederick’s life and achievements as a missionary in South Africa. Included in the series is a 1925 unpublished, typed manuscript on Dr. Bridgman’s life written by Basil Matthews. Finally, the series also consists biographical sketches and obituary notices of Ruth Cordelia Cowles and other members of the Bridgman-Davis-Cowles family (i.e. Henry Martyn Bridgman, Laura Bridgman, Jerome Davis, Frederick B. Bridgman Jr.).
Series II. Correspondence, 1854-1971 (20 folders)
The correspondence series contains four subseries. Subseries 1 consists of five folders of correspondence of Henry Martyn and Laura Nichols Bridgman. The subseries contains one letter written by Henry Martyn Bridgman in 1869, and 13 letters (1854-1916) sent and/or received by Laura Nichols Bridgman. Subseries 2 consists of seven folders of letters (1869-1925) sent or received by Frederick Brainerd Bridgman, Sr. throughout his lifetime, including a 1916 letter from his mother, Laura Bridgman, sent to Frederick while he was away on furlough, that describes the progress being made at the Umzumbe Mission Station in Natal, South Africa. The subseries also includes four additional letters regarding Frederick’s death in 1925 and the arrangements for his memorial service. Subseries 3 consists of two folders of letters (1869-1954) sent and/or received by members of the Davis and Strong families.Included here are letters (1869-1912) from Cheyenne, Wyoming; Beloit, Wisconsin (n.d.); and Kobe, Japan, as well as miscellaneous letters (1912-1954) sent and received by Clara Bridgman’s brother, Merle Davis. And, finally, Subseries 4 consists of six folders of correspondence of Frederick Brainerd Bridgman, Jr. (1923-1971). The letters include Frederick’s correspondence with his parents, Frederick Sr. and Clara Bridgman, his aunt, Helen Davis Chandler, his cousins, Ray Cowles and Ruth Cordelia Cowles, and John A. Reuling, the General Secretary for the Division of World Mission of the United Church Board for World Ministries, among other family members and colleagues.
Series III. Diaries/Reminiscences (mostly unpublished), 1871-1917, n.d. (7 folders)
The series includes transcripts of letters contained in the 1871 diary of Laura Bridgman (original not included). The series also contains both the transcript and original handwritten copy of Henry Martyn Bridgman’s unpublished autobiography; in the autobiography, Henry chronicles his life from his early childhood days through 1891(the year of the work’s composition). The series contains handwritten reminiscences of Rev. Frederick Brainerd Bridgman’s childhood at the Zulu mission station, written later while living at 33 South Professor St. in Oberlin, OH (c. 1887-93), as well as his diary from 1913-1917. Finally, Series III contains the diaries and reminiscences of Clara S. Davis Bridgman from as early as 1889, while a student at Oberlin, through her years of service at the Bridgman Memorial Hospital (Johannesburg) in the 1930s.
Series IV. Genealogical Files (1641-2001), compiled in 2001, n.d. (6 folders)
Series contains biographical sketches and material (photocopies and transcriptions) establishing the genealogical relationships of members of the Brainerd family, Laura Bridgman’s ancestry, dating back to 1641 (2f). To trace the years of missionary work of the Bridgman-Cowles family back to Henry and Laura Bridgman’s first commission to South Africa in 1860, there exists a timeline and detailed list of significant dates and events. The genealogical files also contain a historical packet from John E. Bridgman. Compiled in 2001, the packet includes an obituary notice of Laura Bridgman (1923), the minutes on the death of Henry Bridgman (written 1897), a letter from Amy Bridgman Cowles (1896) to family members in the United States announcing Henry’s death, and an article written by James Bridgman (2001) about Mabel Martson, another Bridgman descendant, among other related Bridgman family memorabilia.
Series V. Guest Book, 1912 (1 folder)
Consists of one guest book given to Frederick Brainerd Bridgman from friends and colleagues of Durban, South Africa, upon his departure in 1912. Inside the book is a two-page letter of thanks to Dr. Bridgman, signed by 35 colleagues. Also included are two personal letters of thanks to Dr. Bridgman from various friends and colleagues, and a letter concerning a fund in honor of Bridgman.
VI. Newspaper Clippings, 1898-1937 (2 books, 1f)
Series contains two scrapbooks of mounted newspaper clippings relating to the social missionary work of Frederick Brainerd Bridgman and Clara Davis Bridgman (1898-1937). Prominent among the clippings are those taken from South African newspapers (the Johannesburg Star, the Ilang laseNatal, and the Daily Mail, among others). These pieces chronicled the press coverage of the Bridgman’s missionary work, highlighting the focal points of their labor like the Helping Hand Club, the Bridgman Memorial Hospital, and other local programs. The series also includes a copy and original print of an unpublished newsletter circulated by Frederick Brainerd Bridgman entitled “The Transvaal News” (1918-19).
Series VII. Printed Matter, 1880-2000, n.d. (27 folders)
The series contains five subseries. Subseries 1 consists of two folders of printed matter relating to Frederick Brainerd Bridgman. Included here is a 1927 tribute piece, “Frederick Brainerd Bridgman: A Modern Pioneer Missionary,” produced by the American Board on the life and contributions of Frederick B. Bridgman, written by James Dexter Taylor, D.D. There is also an article, “In the Name of the Father,” a feature in the November 26, 2000 issue of the Sunday Times Explorer. The latter investigates the history and effects of American missionary work on the Umzumbe Valley in Natal, South Africa. Four folders of printed material regarding the Bridgman Memorial Hospital in Johannesburg make up subseries 2. Specific material includes a published history of the hospital (1987), the 1961-62 annual report, two information brochures (1953, n.d.), and a paper, “Urban History and Health: Nurse Cowles and Alexandra Township 1926-1946,” written by Columbia University Professor, Marcia Wright, about Ruth Cordelia Cowles’ work at the Bridgman hospital and in the surrounding area. Subseries 3 consists of five folders of church records. The subseries includes an article published (1940) in the Northampton Gazette on the discovery of church records related to the 1860 ordination of Henry Martyn Bridgman at the Congregational church in Westhampton, Massachusetts. Also included in the subseries is a 1926 program from a service in Brockton, Massachusetts that honored Clara Bridgman’s missionary work in South Africa. The subseries also contains a January 1945 calendar issued by the African Women’s Christian Temperance Movement, as well as other documents related to the Bridgman family’s history with churches in East Haddam, Connecticut, and Westhampton, Massachusetts. Subseries 4 consists of eight folders of printed matter relating to the Bridgman’s social work among the native Zulu tribe of South Africa. The subseries contains a copy of “Zulu Mission: A Condensed Sketch 1835-1898,” which is a detailed history of the Zulu people, the Natal region, and the missionary work in the area, compiled and issued by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. The subseries includes an unpublished history of the Bridgman family’s missionary work with the Zulu nation written in 1986, as well as a published work (n.d.) entitled, “The Story of Laura Bridgman of Umzumbe,” that chronicles the work of the late Mrs. Henry Martyn Bridgman in Natal, South Africa. The subseries includes a South African song book (n.d.), as well as an English-Zulu dictionary (1880) and an elementary Zulu language text-book (1921). Also found in the Zulu tribe files are original typed and handwritten mission reports (n.d.) from the Umzumbe station. Subseries 5 contains eight folders of miscellaneous printed matter relating to the Bridgman/Davis families and South African missionary work (see inventory for specific title listings).
Series VIII. Writings, 1888-1954 (2 folders)
Contains writings by Clara Davis Bridgman’s sister, Helen Chandler, in honor of Clara Bridgman’s 82nd birthday (1954). This series includes a transcript and original handwritten poem written by Laura Bridgman to her husband, Henry Martyn Bridgman, on the occasion of his 58th birthday (1888). Included in the series is a story, “Hana, The Mountain Blossom,” written in Oberlin by Clara Davis (c. 1893). Also included is the “Animal, Botany, and Ecology,” lecture notebook of Frederick Brainerd Bridgman, Jr. (1928-29).
Series IX. Photo Albums, c. 1870s-1961, 1999 (5 volumes and 1 folder)
Includes five photo albums of the Davis-Strong and Bridgman-Cowles families. Contains several hundred childhood/family photographs, as well as photographed accounts of missionary work in South Africa, Japan, and China by members of the extended family. The series also includes loose album pages containing photos of Bridgman-Cowles family members, the Umzumbe mission station in Natal, and more recent photos (1999) of John Bridgman, grandson of Henry Martyn Bridgman, in South Africa.
Series X. Photographs, 1866-1960, n.d. (73 folders and 2 framed photographs)
The series consists of four subseries. Subseries 1 contains photographs (1928-1949, n.d.) of doctors, nurses, mothers, babies, events, and facilities at the Bridgman Memorial Hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa. Subseries 2 consists of entirely family photographs (1866-1960). Individuals photographed include Henry Martyn Bridgman, Laura Bridgman, Sohpie Davis, Frederick Bridgman, Clara Davis, Merle Davis, George Cowles, and Amy Bridgman Cowles among others at various stages of their lives (1866-1960). Subseries 3 contains photographs related to the family missionary work. Included here are photographs of the Helping Hands Club, the Taletha Home for Girls, the Umzumbe mission station, churches and other mission -related sites. Subseries 4 consists of photographs of the Zulu Tribe. Included in the subseries are photographs of Zulu men, women, babies, a wedding, a witch doctor, and other aspects of Zulu culture.
Series XI. Scrapbooks, 1881-1933 (2 books, 5 loose pages)
Contains a scrapbook of letters, concert programs, invitations, sketches, and other memorabilia from Frederick Brainerd Bridgman’s school years in New Britain, Connecticut, and at Oberlin High School, Oberlin College, and the Chicago Theological Seminary. The series also includes the scrapbook of Mrs. Helen Mathews Bridgman, spouse of Frederick Brainerd Bridgman, Jr. The scrapbook contains letters, programs, class schedules, and memorabilia from Helen Mathews’ student years at Oberlin College (1928-1932). Series also includes an envelope of five loose album pages containing photographs of Johannesburg, Durban, and other locations in South Africa.
Series XII. Sound Recordings, c. 1947, n.d. (11 albums, sheet music)
Includes 11 albums of South African prayers and music. Contains one album of Clara Bridgman reciting the “the Lord’s Prayer” in Zulu, recorded on November 10, 1947. Series also consists of seven albums entitled, “Songs of the South African Veld,” by Josef Marais and his Bushveld Band, as well as three albums of other South African music (n.d.). (See Series XVI. for CD copies of these records.)
Series XIII. Artifacts 1925-1931, n.d. (2 boxes)
Series contains original Zulu artifacts (n.d.) including a doll, beaded gourd, bracelet, whip, hatchet, spear, and a ball weapon collected during various commissions to South Africa. Also includes Laura Bridgman’s spectacles, an Oberlin Senior prom brush (1931), and other Bridgman family items. A trowel used for the cornerstone of the Bridgman Memorial Hospital (1928) is also contained in the series.
Series XIV. Miscellaneous, 1860-1925, n.d. (1 box)
Series contains a chart (n.d.) that traces a timeline of the Bridgman-Cowles family missionary service to South Africa (1860-1949); the very same chart appears in Series IV. Genealogical Files. The series also includes an undated, framed certificate, printed in a foreign language, entitled, “Mfundisi Bridgman ne Nkosikazi.”
Series XV. Research Files of John Bridgman, 1835-2003 (8 folders)
Series consists of several items complied in 2003 by John Bridgman, grandson of Henry Martyn Bridgman. Contained in the series is a folder of materials from Amy Bridgman Cowles including a transcript of a speech (1934) she delivered on the history of missionary work in South Africa, a transcript of Henry Martyn Bridgman telling the story of his education (n.d.), an excerpt from Henry’s diary en route to Liverpool, Nova Scotia (1858), an excerpt from Laura Bridgman’s diary (n.d.) entitled, “Reminiscences of Bygoen Days,” as well as other writings and letters of Amy Bridgman Cowles and family members. The series also includes an 1986 unpublished history of the Bridgman family’s social/missionary work with the Zulu tribe entitled, “Bridgman Family Missionaries of Zululand,” (also appears in Series VII. Printed Matter, Subseries 4. Zulu Files). The John Bridgman compilation also contains a published history of the South African missionary effort entitled, “One Hundred Years of the American Board Mission in South Africa, 1835-1935” by Reverend J. Dexter Taylor, D.D. (n.d.). Also included in the series in another published, undated missionary history by Mary W. Tyler Gray entitled, “Stories of the Early American Missionaries in South Africa.” The series contains three folders of miscellaneous lists of missionaries and other printed matter related to missionary work in South Africa. Finally, the John Bridgman research files contain a copy of a 1909 photograph of the American Board Mission, as well as copy of an undated photograph of the Bridgman-Cowles Family (pictured: Burt Bridgman, George B. Cowles, Amy Bridgman Cowles, Frederick B. Bridgman, Clara Davis Bridgman, Laura Bridgman, Ester Bridgman, Henry Martyn Bridgman II, and small children).
Series XVI. CD-ROMs/DVDs, 1870s-1930s, 1947, n.d. (7 compact discs, 3 DVDs)
This series consists of four compact disc copies of the record albums of African prayer and music contained in Series XII. Sound Recordings. The series also contains three CDs created by Margaret and Bill Holcomb of scanned images of select photographs, correspondence, printed matter, and other materials contained in the Bridgman Family Papers collection. Three (3) DVDs contain images (Tif) from three photo albums filed in Series IX. Microfilm of these photo albums is stored in the microfilm cabinet.