Dora Amelia Wagner Collection

Identity elements

Reference code

US NjMdUMCG 5855

Name and location of repository

Level of description

Collection

Title

Dora Amelia Wagner Collection

Date(s)

  • 1903-1953 (Creation)

Extent

0.93 cubic feet

Name of creator

(1888-1980)

Biographical history

Dora Amelia Wagner (1888-1980), American Missionary, daughter of John Franklin and Helen Mardora Wagner, was born on October 10, 1888, in LaCygne County, Kansas. Wagner, who became a deaconess in the Methodist Episcopal Church, attended both Baker and Northwestern Universities for her formal education. Upon completing her higher education, the Women's Foreign Missionary Society sent Wagner to Japan and arrived in Tokyo on December 7, 1913. Wagner taught at Aoyama Jogakuin Girl's School (1913-1915), Women's Christian College (1923-1933) in Tokyo as well as Iai Jogakko Girls School in Hakodate (1915-1922, 1933-1941 and 1946-1953). Besides teaching other duties included supervising Sunday School work in the Hakodate area, YMCA, church choir and organist. During World War II, she worked with Japanese churches in Colorado. Because of her commitment to Japanese education, the government awarded her the Fifth Order of the Sacred Treasure in 1953. Wagner left Japan for good on June 30, 1953 and retired to the Robincroft Home in Pasadena, California. She died on September 22, 1980, in Lemon Grove, California

Content and structure elements

Scope and content

The Dora Amelia Wagner Papers contain graduate certificates as well as documents from Wagner’s time spent in Japan. Three certificates of degree are enclosed from Kingman High School in Kansas, Northwestern University in Evanston-Chicago, and Baker University in Kansas. A letter documenting her experience in Japan in 1936, including meeting Emperor Hirohito, a newspaper from Iai Jo Gakko Girls’ School in Hakodate chronicling Helen Keller’s visit to the school amongst other school activities, and a photograph of the Emperor in his car, are also included in the collection. Of the three large documents with currently unknown Japanese characters, one appears to be a Testimonial of Gratitude to Miss Wagner from the mayor of Hakodate, and one is the “Fifth Order of Sacred Treasure,” granted by Emperor Hirohito.

System of arrangement

Arrangement is by file folder title.

Conditions of access and use elements

Conditions governing access

There are no restrictions regarding this collection.

Physical access

Technical access

Conditions governing reproduction

Detailed use restrictions relating to our collections can be requested from the office of the archivist at the General Commission on Archives and History. Photocopying is handled by the staff and may be limited in certain instances. Before using any material for publication from this collection a formal request for permission to publish is expected and required.

Languages of the material

  • English

Scripts of the material

    Language and script notes

    Finding aids

    Acquisition and appraisal elements

    Custodial history

    Immediate source of acquisition

    2003-019: General Board of Global Ministries, Women's Division. 475 Riverside Drive, New York, NY

    2016-025: United Methodist Church (U.S.). North Carolina Annual Conference Mark Conard 6508 N. Madison St., Hutchinson, KS 67502 July 6, 2016 Gift.

    Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information

    Accruals

    Related materials elements

    Existence and location of originals

    Existence and location of copies

    Related archival materials

    Mission Biographical Reference Files

    Microfilm Edition of the Methodist Church (U.S.). Board of Missions. Missionary files series.

    Related descriptions

    Notes element

    General note

    The purpose of this finding aid is to help you understand the nature of this collection and to assist you in the retrieval of material from this collection. The following pages contain a brief biographical history of the person, or persons, who created or collected these papers, followed by a general description of the collection in the scope and content note. If more detailed information is warranted then series descriptions also appear. The container listing appears last and is the listing of material in each box, or container, of this collection. To request material you need to turn to the container listing section. It is essentially a listing of file folders, or artifact items, in the collection. Each folder, or item, has a call number associated with it. Each folder also lists the inclusive dates of the material in the folder. On the material request form list both the call number and the folder, or item, title. Use a different line for each folder, or item, requested. When your request sheet is complete, or full, bring it to the archivist and the material will be retrieved.

    General note

    When citing material from this collection please use the following format: Direct reference to the item or its file folder, Dora Amelia Wagner Collection, United Methodist Church Archives - GCAH, Madison, New Jersey. Do not make use of the item's call number as that is not a stable descriptor.

    Specialized notes

    Alternative identifier(s)

    Description control element

    Rules or conventions

    Sources used

    Archivist's note

    Archivist's note

    Daisy Wiggins King, Student Assistant and Mark C. Shenise, Associate Archivist

    Access points

    Subject access points

    Place access points

    Name access points

    Accession area