Melba Mears (1 results)

Contents: Two 4to. volumes of Sebe-seli-wi primers in the indigenous language of the Senufo people in the Kohogo region, Senari. (Korhogo, Côte d'Ivoire: Mission Baptiste, 1960 and 1961, each 76pp). [With:] 22 issues of Sy?? Tãhagami 19641977, a religious periodical in Senari with later issues published under the imprint "Imprimé par la Mission Baptiste, Korhogo," each issue approx. 8 x 6 inches, mostly 16 pages, a few of 8 pages. [With:] 28 b&w photographs and 2 contact sheets (ea. approx. 8 x 10 inches).[With:] 1 small portrait photograph; 32 mounted color postcards; 28 hand-lettered words in English, French, and Senari on cardboard strips. [With:] A 58 x 43 inch orange-colored cloth bearing a color-printed design and the phrases "Abidjan pour Christ", "Jésus est vivant", and "Dieu te parle ecoute le! Maintenant". [With:] A 12½ x 17¾ inch pictorial map on leather showing the country of Cote-d'Ivoire and its principal cities, products, and resources. All in very good or better condition. Housed in an archival box. Archive of illustrated African-language grammar primers, missionary religious periodicals, photographs, and related ephemera documenting an evangelical and linguistic outreach to the Senufo people, in the Kohogo region of Côte d'Ivoire. Although French is the national language, there are over 70 separate native languages spoken in Côte d'Ivoire. In this group the Senari language becomes an evangelical tool in the two illustrated language primers, titled Sebe-seli-wi; and the 22 issues of the illustrated religious periodical, Sy?? Tãhagami. Of the primers, one appears unrecorded and we find no issues of the periodical, Sy[-] Tãhagami, recorded whatsoever. The 22 issues of Sy?? Tãhagami are dated between 19641977 and include articles on contemporary events, persons and religious themes. They are not consecutive. Issues came out monthly, and then moved to six times a year. The primers were written by Namogo Silué et les Missionnaires Baptistes, edited by Wesley Sadler, and illustrated by Melodie Ailanjian. Both appear under the imprint of Mission Baptiste, Korhogo, Côte d'Ivoire. They are written entirely in Senari. Stapled to the front cover of the 1961 publication is a printed or typed note in English that reads in part, "The Beginning Book" or primer. It covers all known combinations of consonants and vowels in the language, so if this is mastered, anything written in the language may be read." It goes on with several demonstrations of how to use the primer. Editor Wesley Sadler (19091994) was a noted Lutheran missionary and African-language linguist; he championed the need for training in modern descriptive linguistics among Christian missionaries in Africa. Of the 28 large, black and white original photographs, fifteen bear an ink stamp on the back indicating they were from the "Centre de Publications Évangéliques in Abidjan" [Côte d'Ivoire]. Two have an ink stamp of the "Conservative Baptist Foreign Mission SocietyWheaton, Illinois" (then, the home office), with a 1966 date and the indication that the photographer was named Baker. Three are titled below the image: "Father and Son", "Pastor's School", and "Camp Mount Korhogo". The photographs portray Africans working in a print shop; white children (kids of missionaries?) in several settings; Africans reading, eating, and playing; and buildings in Kohogo and Abidjan, including a Christian book store in the latter city. Also seen in the collection are 28 hand-lettered words in English (with some French and Senari words) on individual cards for use on display boards, most likely when making presentations about the work of the Ivory Coast missionaries. 32 commercially printed postcards depict various places in Côte d'Ivoire. The archive's provenance can be inferred from internal clues. A studio portrait identified as "Linda Sharp I.C. [Ivory Coast]" and the names "Melba" or "Melba Mears" are written in ink on several issues of Sy?? Tãhagami. Both women have an Or.