American Missionary photograph collection

The collection contains photographs that were gathered for use in the monthly magazine American Missionary, published by the American Missionary Association. Photographers include W. Knighton Bloom, Laura Kincheloe, and Frank Moore. These photographs document various ethnic groups and communities, both urban and rural in various sections of the United States. Also included are numerous photographs related to Ellis Island in the 1920s.

Photographs taken and collected by W. Knighton Bloom (1920-1932) contain portraits, portrait postcards and snapshots of individuals who engaged in Student Summer Service for the American Missionary Association. These photographs are organized in alphabetical order by last name of the person. In addition to photos of identified persons, other portraits, portrait postcards and snapshots of unidentified individuals, as well as pictures of identified and unidentified groups are included within the collection.

Photographs by Laura Kinsloe are organized alphabetically by state and divided into the categories: buildings, indoor views and outdoor views. The pictures are housed in the following order; Alabama buildings, Alabama indoor views, Alabama outdoor views, Alaska building, Alaska indoor views, etc. In some instances there is a print and negative of a given image, while in other cases there is only a negative.

The arrangement of the photographs by Frank L. Moore uses the original numbering system devised by the photographer. Frank Moore indexed his photographs by geographic location and subject. His original index is available at the Amistad Research Center.

In addition to photographs by Bloom, Kincheloe, and Moor there are additional photographs, negatives, postcards, clippings, flyers, drawings, printed ephemera and collected matter, including Congregational church materials and Non-AMA publications.