{"id":8120,"date":"2022-02-08T08:00:30","date_gmt":"2022-02-08T13:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.dlg.galileo.usg.edu\/?p=8120"},"modified":"2024-11-19T12:14:17","modified_gmt":"2024-11-19T17:14:17","slug":"mission-messenger-now-available-freely-online","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.dlg.galileo.usg.edu\/?p=8120","title":{"rendered":"Issues of the Mission Messenger Now Available Freely Online"},"content":{"rendered":"

19th and 20th-century issues from the journal of the largest group of Protestant women in the world have just been digitized. Mercer University Special Collections and Archives have partnered with the Digital Library of Georgia (DLG) to digitize Mercer\u2019s run of the <\/span>Mission Messenger<\/span><\/i><\/a> from 1895-1921, published monthly by the Woman’s Baptist Missionary Union of Georgia (WBMU), more commonly known today as simply the Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU)<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>Mission Messenger<\/span><\/i> was digitized and described as part of the DLG\u2019s <\/span>competitive digitization subgrant program<\/span><\/a>, broadening partner participation amongst nonprofit cultural heritage institutions across the state. <\/span>\u00a0The collection was transferred to Mercer directly by the WMU, making it likely the most complete run of the <\/span>Mission Messenger<\/span><\/i> for the period.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Starting from a handful of women in 1888 as the WBMU, the organization became the largest Protestant group for women in the world, with a membership of approximately 1 million. It was also the first and remains the largest body of organized laity in the Southern Baptist Convention.<\/span><\/p>\n

Women’s organizations like the WBMU played a significant role in American life during the 19th and early 20th centuries, mobilizing women to raise money for Southern Baptist missions worldwide.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Written contributions to the <\/span>Mission Messenger<\/span><\/i> came from a broad variety of WBMU members across the state.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One of its most famous contributors was <\/span>Mary Emily Wright Wilbur<\/span><\/a>, a notable female leader of fin de si\u00e8cle Georgia and the first member of WBMU leadership, who served as one of the publication\u2019s early editors from 1899-1906.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Although consigned to the private sphere of the home by law and custom, women influenced the public sphere of policy and society through organizations dedicated to causes such as temperance, poverty relief, anti-slavery, and suffrage, among others.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Reports from local church chapters, adult and children\u2019s programming suggestions, letters to the editor, financial reports, fundraising drives, Bible studies, and reports from Southern Baptist missionaries worldwide were regular features of the magazine and described how Georgia women viewed the world and demonstrated Georgia’s influence across the globe.<\/span><\/p>\n

Issues of the <\/span>Mission Messenger<\/span><\/i> show how Georgians responded to significant historical events, including:<\/span><\/p>\n