Call Number:

1000

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives

Extent:

1.1 linear feet (one manuscript box and one scrapbook box.)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

[Item name]. Box [Box number]. M. Henry Kerr Cameroon expedition papers. Penn Museum Archives. Accessed [Date accessed].

Date:

1895-1899 (bulk) and 1892-1968 (inclusive)

Creator:

Kerr, M. Henry, 1869-1935 and Kerr, S. Logan, d. 1968

Donor:

Kerr, Janet K.

Form:

Scrapbooks

Abstract:

Henry Kerr (1869-1935), a Presbyterian minister, worked in several villiages in Cameroon, West Africa from 1892-1899. The Presbyterian Mission League tasked him with expanding the mission locations, translating hymns and the four Gospels, teaching, and promoting industry. Contained in the collection are his own photos and correspondence, both letters sent and replies. The bulk of the collection is in the format of a scrapbook compiled by Kerr.

M. Henry Kerr (1869-1935), a Presbyterian missionary, worked in small, formerly German-controlled villages in Cameroon, Africa from 1892-1899, particularly Batanga, Elat, and Efulen. The Presbyterian mission league tasked him with “building the mission stations, locating sites, teaching the natives handcrafts and initiating the industrial training schools” (Kerr, S. Logan, 1958). Kerr took a strong interest in the native language, Bulu, and worked with minister Adolphus C. Good (1856-1894) to translate the four Gospels, as well as several hymns.

In 1898, Kerr briefly returned home to marry Margaret McClean Logan; the couple returned to Cameroon that year and worked together as missionaries. However, in 1899, Margaret Kerr became ill and the couple returned to the United States. They resided in Flourtown, Pennsylvania and did not return to the mission field (The Presbyterian Historical Society, http://www.history.pcusa.org/).

The Henry Kerr papers came to the University of Pennsylvania Museum in 1968 when Janet S. Kerr, Henry Kerr’s daughter-in-law, donated them. At that time, the loose papers were organized approximately by date and subject and placed into folders; the scrapbook appears to have been left in the order it was originally created. When this finding aid was written in March 2009, the loose papers were reorganized in a more definitive subject and date scheme and separated into the series: Correspondence, Diaries, and Printed Material; no items were discarded. The scrapbook was left in its original order.

The papers measure 1.1 linear feet, contained in one manuscript box and one scrapbook box. The bulk of the material was written by Kerr on site in Cameroon in the village of Batanga between 1895 and 1899. Kerr retained both letters he sent and letters sent in reply from the United States, as well as clippings from an unknown print media source detailing and promoting the Presbyterian missionary efforts for the benefit of American readers. Also contained is a manuscript of the book The Beloved: an Iowa Boy in the Jungles of Africa, a compilation of letters and short memoirs regarding the mission work in Batanga; unique to this edition is a forward by S. Logan Kerr, Henry Kerr’s son.

The loose papers comprise correspondence between Kerr and his friends and family in the United States, depicting both day-to-day life as a missionary in the Cameroon, as well as the political and business affairs of the missionary league. Also contained are diary pages, photos and postcards made from Kerr’s own photos, and several published materials Kerr used or contributed towards during his work in Cameroon. These published materials include: a canvas map of West Africa; Mbamba foé Mateus, Markus, Lukas ba Yòhanes be ñga tili, a Bulu translation of the four Gospels by A.C. Good to which Kerr contributed; and a book of hymns translated into Bulu by Kerr et. al.