Box 1

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Letters to Edith’s sister, Alice Riner and the family describe their planning their posting, the journey. They sailed on the Bremen in October to England and there to Marseilles, then to Kaimosi, Kenya. Michener joined the Kaimosi staff which inclluded with A. A. (Archibald Albert) Bond and E. B. (Everett) Kellum and describes the difficulty of winning the trust of the local population.

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Index, 1930-1938, by R.B.M. Also a second typed index 1930-1933. Photocopies with added handwritten notes. Also loose in binder, R. Bryan Michener's commitment pledge to Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions, 1920, while a student at Friends University.

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Certificates from the American Friends Board of Missions for Edith and Robert Bryan Michener. Bryan was working at the Lying-In Hospital, New York, and Edith taking classes at Columbia. Mimeographed typed letter to "Dear Dad and Alice" from Bryan. Two letters from Edith to "Sis." She mentions spending time with Carolena Wood and other Hicksite Quakers.

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Group letter from Bryan and Edith describes their journey and first months in Africa. Describes the medical practice, schools, local life and culture. Edith gave birth to son Robin in Mango Hospital of the Church (Anglican) Missionary Society in Kampala, Uganda, in a private pavilion for Europeans. All Whites were referred to as "Europeans."

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In July they attended the Annual Prayer Conference. Edith was teaching school and cooking classes.

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Their quarterly report notes that the government was supporting the missions since funding from the U.S. is suffering during the depressed economy. Bryan’s father died January 1932 (recorded at University Friends Meeting, Wichita), and his brother John handled the estate. Details of Bryan's medical practice, especially maternity.

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Letters from Bryan to family and Edith to “Sis” (Alice) and family, and Friends African Mission. Snapshots of Bryan, Edith and son Robin and the boys'school. Description of mission surgical policy and procedures, daily life, Edith’s school. They celebrated son Robin’s first birthday

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Vacation in Africa, Annual Prayer Conference with missionaries from all denomination. Bryan’s quarterly report to Friends Mission described the churches operated by other denominations in East Africa.

Scope and Contents On vacation, hiking Kilimanjaro with native porters. Building girls school and addition to the hospital. Bryan was on a committee to write a report on the “Economic future of Africans in Kenya” and found disagreements in the opinions of fellow authors the Hoyts and Dr. Bond. Money was an issues, and poor European settlers came in for treatment. A new maternity building opened in February. Dr. Bond reported that Africans were demanding more control in politics. Edith described her...

Scope and Contents

Edith organized the girls’ boarding school. Debate among the various missions about co-education. The Micheners were enjoying the company of their fellow Americans, the Bonds, Hoyts, and Kellums and held Quaker meetings. The letters mention the gold miners working nearby which included Hoyt. Missions, including members from other denominations, held the Annual Prayer Conference, but did not otherwise coordinate. The Micheners took a two week vacation in September, hiking in Kenya.