Scope and Contents: The collection contains both handwritten and typewritten monthly diaries by Maryknoll priests and Brothers dating from 1912 to 1969. They cover four areas:
1. Overseas missions in Africa, Asia, Middle America, South America and the Hawaiian Islands, 1919-1969 - Authors of these diaries recorded details of daily life as well as accounts of local events, culture and traditions, and socio-economic, political, agricultural and/or medical conditions in the area. Missioners inn many of these areas also wrote travel diaries that provide accounts of travel to or within the mission areas. The dates provided are indicative of the full time period covered, not the specific dates of the diaries for any given area.
Africa
Tanzania: Dioceses of Musoma (1946-1967) and Shinyanga (1954-1969)
Asia
China: Archdiocese of Guangzhou [Canton] (Kwangtung Province) (1947-1951); Prefecture Apostolic of Fushun (Manchuria) (1927-1945); Vicariate Apostolic of Hong Kong/Diocese of Hong Kong (1920-1966); Vicariate Apostolic of Kaying [Meixian] (Kwangtung Province) (1925-1949); Vicariate Apostolic of Kongmoon [Jiangmen] (Kwangtung Province) (1918-1949); Apostolic Prefecture of Kweilin [Guilin] (Kwangsi Province) (1933-1951); Vicariate Apostolic of Peking [Beijing] (1934-1937); Diocese of Shanghai (1946-1947); Szechwan Province (1944-1945); Yunnan Province (1944-1945) (1944-1945); Vicariate Apostolic of Wuchow [Wuzhou] (Kwangsi Province) (1922-1950)
Japan: Diocese of Kyoto (1940-1967); Diocese of Sapporo (1954-1968); Tokyo (1947-1957)
Korea: Diocese of Cheong Ju (1953-1968); Diocese of Inchon (1958-1967); Prefecture Apostolic of Peng-Yang (1923-1941); Diocese of Pusan (1951-1963); Archdiocese of Seoul (1955-1964)
Philippines: Province of Batangas (1952); Province of Cebu (1940-1941); Province of Davao (1958-1967); Province of Laguna (1952-1959); Province of Rizal (1925-1967)
Taiwan: Diocese of Taichung (1951-1966); Archdiocese of Taipei (1954-1963); Archdiocese of Taipai – Miaoli (1955-1963)
Middle America
El Salvador: Santa Ana (1961-1966)
Guatemala: Department of Huehuetenango(1943-1968); Department of Quezaltenango (1962-1965)
Mexico: Nayarit [Diocese of Tepic] (1943-1948); Quintana Roo (1943-1967); Yucatan (1945-1967)
South America
Bolivia: Diocese of Cochabamba (1942-1967); Archdiocese of LaPaz (1942-1967); Diocese of Santa Cruz (1942-1968); Pando Vicariate (1943-1966)
Chile: Diocese of Chillan (1943-1966); Archdiocese of Concepcion (1965); Archdiocese of Santiago (1945-1963); Diocese of Talca (1944-1967); Diocese of Temuco (1943-1964)
Colombia: Manizales – Instituto Catequistico Latin-Americano (1966)
Ecuador: Diocese of Guayaquil (1943-1947)
Peru: Arequipa Archdiocese (1949-c. 1965); Huancayo Diocese (1963); Juli Prelature (1955-1967); Lima Archdiocese (1946-1968); Puno Diocese (1943-1965)
Hawaiian Islands: Island of Hawaii (1927-1962)
2. United States operations, 1911-1968 - Includes diaries from the Society’s US-based mission work, development and education houses.
California: Los Altos [Mountain View] Junior Seminary (1929-1969); Los Angeles Japanese mission (1921-1955); Los Angeles Procure (1931-1936) San Francisco Procure (1918-1939); San Juan Bautista mission (1928-1941)
Idaho: Japanese internment camp (1942-1944)
Illinois: Glen Ellyn College (1949-1968)
Massachusetts: Bedford Priests Novitiate (1932-1964); Brookline Junior Seminary / Brothers Novitiate (1945-1966); Hingham Priests Novitiate (1964-1966)
Michigan: Detroit House of Study (1935-1940)
Missouri: St. Louis House of Study (1937-1958)
New Jersey: Lakewood Junior Seminary (1947-1954)
New York: Buffalo House of Study (1942-1943); Maryknoll Center (1907, 1911-1959); Manhattan Procure (1922-1925); NYC Development House (1933-1939)
Ohio: Akron House of Study and Brothers Novitiate (1937-1941, 1947-1951); Cincinnati House of Study (1929-1936)
Pennsylvania: Clark’s Summit Venard Junior Seminary (1913-1967)
Washington DC: House of Study – Maryknoll at Catholic University (1922-1929)
Washington: Seattle mission (1920-1953)
3. Diary Digests, 1937-1942 - Contains monthly aggregations of diaries from overseas missions and US operations for Society members edited by either the General Council or The Field Afar staff. The digest content pre-dates the date of the digest itself.
4. Departures, 1918-1942 - Contains accounts of missioners traveling from Maryknoll, New York to their assigned mission fields for the Society’s first 29 Departures 1918-1942. Accounts of the 23rd (1936) and 26th (1939) Departures are missing. Additional travel accounts to and within mission fields can also be found in the individual mission areas series.
Many of the diaries, especially those from the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, are heavily marked up with edits by either (or both) the General Council and The Field Afar staff.
Generally, date information recorded for each diary stops at the year(s). This means there is one or more monthly diaries for the year(s) listed. In a few instances where only one or two diaries exist for a location the date information is recorded as month/year.
Subjects (links to similar collections)
