Overview
| Repository: |
Yale University Divinity
School Library
409 Prospect
Street New Haven, CT 06511 Email: divinity.library@yale.edu Phone: (203) 432-5301 |
| Call Number: | Record Group No. 219 |
| Creator: | Sheffey, Charles |
| Title: | Charles and Joy Sheffey Papers |
| Dates: | 1913-1985 |
| Bulk Dates: | 1922-1943 |
| Physical Description: | Total archival boxes 7 + 10 oversize; total linear footage 10' |
| Language(s): | In English. |
| Summary: | Charles and Joy Sheffey were American Methodist medical missionaries who served in Wembo Nyama, Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) between 1922 and 1944. Letters, journals, and writings of Charles and Joy Sheffey document their medical work and record their reactions to the culture and environment they encountered in Africa. |
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| Finding Aid Link: | To cite or bookmark this finding aid, use the following address: http://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/divinity.219 |
| Request Materials: | To view manuscript and archival materials at the Yale Divinity Library, please submit the request form at http://www.library.yale.edu/div/request.htm. |
| Catalog Record: | A record for this collection, including location information, may be available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog. |
Administrative Information
Provenance
Gift of Grace Sheffey Webb, 2009
Information about Access
This collection is open to qualified researchers
Cite As
Charles and Joy Sheffey Papers, Record Group No. 219, Special Collections, Yale Divinity School Library
Biography
| 1894 June 19 | Charles Phillips Mahood Sheffey born in Lynchburg, VA, son of Edward Fleming Sheffey and Mattie Mahood Sheffey |
| 1907 May 26 | Mae Joy Burch (Sheffey) born in Danville, VA, daughter of Nannie Towsey Burch and Rev. William G. Burch, a Methodist minister in the Virginia Conference |
| 1911-1915 | CPMS attended Randolph Macon College, receiving A.B. and M.A. degrees |
| 1921 | CPMS graduated from School of Medicine of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, followed by additional training at New York Postgraduate Medical School ; he also served as an intern at Norfolk Protestant Hospital |
| 1922-1926 | CPMS served as medical missionary in Wembo Nyama, Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) under the Methodist Board of Missions |
| 1920s | JBS attended Longwood College and Lynchburg College, continuing her nursing training in Richmond, VA and Philadelphia, PA |
| 1930 | CPMS and JBS married while CPMS was on extended stay in U.S. due to illness of his father |
| 1931 | CPMS and JBS sailed for Africa, spending some months at École de Medécine Tropicale in Belgium en route; arrived in Congo in July |
| 1931-1944 | CPMS and JBS ran a medical training center in Wembo Nyama and provided surgical services to a region that spanned a 500-mile radius. |
| 1931 | Daughter Grace born; she later attended the Central School for missionary children in Lubondai |
| 1935 | Daughter Nancy born |
| 1945 | Sheffey family returned to Lynchburg, VA where CPMS practiced medicine until his retirement in1969 |
| 1957 | CPMS received honorary LL.D. degree from Randolph Macon College |
| 1985 March 8 | CPMS died |
Description of the Papers
Letters, journals, and writings of Charles and Joy Sheffey document their medical work and record their reactions to the culture and environment they encountered in Africa. Circular letters and writings provide substantive documentation of their life and work in the Belgian Congo between 1922 and 1944. Letters to and from their children Grace and Nancy provide detail about the life of missionary children in Africa. Of particular note are the records that Charles Sheffey kept to describe operations performed at the Wembo Nyama hospital and surrounding area. Collected material includes documentation of the Methodist Mission, school books in African languages used in its schools. Photographs document the Sheffey family and their mission in Wembo Nyama
The collection contains a notable number of diverse artifacts. These include African musical instruments, a "witch doctor's magic gourd", jewelry, metal implements, and textiles.