Scope and Contents note
The collection of Frederick and Myra Scovel contains 69 letters from 1930-1958, from Dr. and Mrs. Scovel and Dr. Scovel’s mother, Mrs. Carl W. Scovel, who was with them in Tsining and Huai Yuan. They are arranged chronologically and separated according to location. There are six diaries written by Dr. Scovel, 1933, 1937, 1945-1946, 1959, one undated and a carbon of part of the journal kept by Myra Scovel during their internment by the Japanese from 1941 to 1942.
Myra Scovel has written 13 books dealing with her missionary experiences. Manuscripts, proofs, publicity and correspondence from four of the books, The Chinese Ginger Jar, 1962; I Must Speak; The Biography of Augustine Ralla Ram, 1961; Richer by India, 1964; and To Lay a Hearth 1968, are also included in the collection.
Dates
- Creation: 1930-1974
Creator
- Scovel, Myra (Person)
- Scovel, Frederick Gilman (Person)
Conditions Governing Access note
Collection is open to the public. Collection must be used in Special Collections and University Archives Reading Room. Collection or parts of collection may be stored offsite. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives in advance of your visit to allow for transportation time.
Conditions Governing Use note
Property rights reside with Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries. Copyright resides with the creators of the documents or their heirs. All requests for permission to publish collection materials must be submitted to Special Collections and University Archives. The reader must also obtain permission of the copyright holder.
Biographical/Historical note
Myra (Scott) Scovel (August 11, 1905- August 26, 1994) was born in Mechanicville, New York to Robert George Myrtle (Fox) Scott and passed away in Lake Placid, New York. She attended Syracuse University, Hospital of the Good Shepard, Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve University), Babies’ and Children’s Hospital and Pediatric Nursing Specialty. Her religion was Protestant. She was a member of Poetry Society of America, National League of American Pen Women, International Platform Association and Author’s Guild. She married Frederick Gilman Scovel, a physician-administrator, on June 15, 1929.
Her career was spent at Cortland County Hospital in Cortland, New York as an obstetrics supervisor from 1927-1928. She then worked at the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions and its successor, United Presbyterian Commission on Ecumenical Mission and Relations, in China from 1930-1951. She also worked in India from 1953 to 1959 as coordinator of Medical Emphasis Program, 1959-1961 and as editor for office of communications, beginning in 1961.
Frederick Gilman Scovel was born in 1902 in Cortland, New York, and was educated at Cornell University. Dr. and Mrs. Scovel had six children.
Dr. Frederick Gilman Scovel and Myra Scott Scovel, R.N., spent nearly 30 years in the overseas mission of the United Presbyterian Church. They worked in China from 1930-1951 and in India from 1953-1959.
After marrying in 1929, the Scovels spent a year of language study in Peking. In 1930 they were assigned to Bachman Hunter Hospital in Tsining, Shantung, China and remained there for fifteen years until they were repatriated in 1943 after a period in a Japanese internment camp.
In 1946 Dr. and Mrs. Scovel worked at Hope Hospital, Huai Yuan, Anhwei, China. They were transferred to Hackett Medical Center, Canton China, in 1948 and remained in Canton a year and a half after the communists gained control. Early in 1951 they returned to the United States.
From 1953-1959 the Scovels were associated with the Christian Medical College, Ludhiana, Punjab, India.
Extent
2 linear feet (2 containers)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Dr. Frederick Gilman Scovel (born 1902) and his wife Myra Scovel (August 11, 1905- August 26, 1994) were missionaries overseas for the United Presbyterian Church for almost thirty years. The works in this collection are a collection of correspondence, diaries, manuscripts and other miscellaneous items that represent the Scovels’ missionary work and their time spent overseas.
Arrangement note
Collection is organized into the following series:
Core Collection (November 1972)
Addenda (May 1973)
Addenda (June 1979)
Addenda (2009)
Immediate Source of Acquisition note
Gift of Frederick and Myra Scovel in 1972. Gift of Jane McKean.
Processing Information
Collection processed by staff.
This finding aid may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.
Subject
- Scovel, Myra (Person)
- Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A (Organization)
- Scovel, Frederick Gilman (Person)
Genre / Form
Topical
- Missionaries
- Missionaries, Medical -- China
- Missionaries, Medical -- India
- Presbyterian Church -- Missions -- China -- Shandong Sheng
- Presbyterian Church -- Missions -- India -- Punjab
- Sino-Japanese Conflict, 1937-1945 -- China -- Personal narratives, American
- Women
- Women authors, American -- 20th century
- Women missionaries -- China -- Biography
- Women missionaries -- India -- Biography
- Title
- Guide to the Frederick and Myra Scovel Papers
- Status
- Complete Description
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by processing staff
- Date
- 2006
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English
- Sponsor
- Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Repository Details
Part of the University of Oregon Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives Repository
