Mellony Turner Collection

Elementos de identidad

Código de referencia

US NjMdUMCG 3830

Nombre y localización del repositorio

General Commission on Archives and History

Nivel de descripción

Colección

Título

Mellony Turner Collection

Fecha(s)

  • 1908-1963 (Creación)

Extensión

5.61 cubic feet

Nombre del productor

Turner, Mellony
(1901-1949)

Historia biográfica

Mellony Turner (1901-1949), Methodist missionary, was born on April 9, 1901 at Erin, New York. Turner graduated in 1919 from the Cazenovia Seminary located in Cazenovia, New York. In 1924, Turner began to teach at the American School for Girls in Lovetch, Bulgaria for the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1930 she had became the principal of the school.

During World War II, Turner was able to continue teaching at the school. Her problems became worse after the war when the Communists took over the country. The official communist paper of Bulgaria, Rabotnichesko Delo, repeatedly mocked Turner and her work in the paper.

Forced out of Bulgaria, Turner relocated to Athens, Greece, and taught at Pierce College. After her departure from Bulgaria, false accusations of espionage were made against her after the torture of fifteen Bulgarian Methodist pastors with whom she had closely worked. Turner never returned to Bulgaria.

On Sunday, November 20, 1949, Mellony was scheduled to give a missionary message at Baldwinsville, New York, Methodist Church. On the way to the church a truck hit her and her father, W. Cleon Turner, a Methodist minister, and both were killed instantly. Turner is buried with her father and mother on a hilltop in Cato, New York.

Área de contenido y estructura

Alcance y contenido

The Mellony Turner papers primarily documents her life as a missionary in Bulgaria. There is a number of records on the American School for Girls in Lovetch, consisting of photographs, textbooks, yearbooks, and financial records. Turner's notebooks and lecture notes are included in the collection. It should be noted that there is a single folder containing information on closing the school. Turner kept diaries during her tenure in Bulgaria as well extensive correspondence. There are general images in both photograph and slide format ranging from the royal family of Bulgaria to her own family in the United States. Turner has a copy of a sermon by Bishop Burt; the bishop who had established the Bulgarian mission at the beginning of the twentieth century. Clippings and other types of publications reflect Bulgarian life and politics. There are eight lectures and a sermon written by Turner. Artifacts are personal in nature, reflecting the clothing and accessories of mid-twentieth century Bulgarian dress. There is a pot in the artifact series as well.

The other series within the collection reflects Turner's immediate family. The few records relating to her parents deal with their will and a folder of letters. Mellony's brother, Ewart Turner's three folders are related to his spying for the United States War Department during the World War II. Though he was ministering to a church in the United States during the war, Ewart was familiar with German communities in Europe and South America. The War Department had Turner collect information on Germans, in the U.S., who were thought to be a threat to national security during the war. This information is elucidated in a correspondence folder.

Sistema de arreglo

This collection is arranged by series and subseries.

Condiciones de acceso y uso de los elementos

Condiciones de acceso

There are no restrictions regarding this collection.

Acceso físico

Acceso técnico

Condiciones

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.

Idiomas del material

  • inglés

Escritura(s) de los documentos

    Notas sobre las lenguas y escrituras

    Instrumentos de descripción

    Elementos de adquisición y valoración

    Historial de custodia

    Origen del ingreso

    Valoración, selección y eliminación

    Acumulaciones

    Elementos de material relacionado

    Existencia y localización de originales

    Existencia y localización de copias

    Unidades de descripción relacionadas.

    Descripciones relacionadas

    Elemento notas

    Nota general

    When citing material from this collection please use the following format: Direct reference to the item or its file folder, Mellony Turner 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.

    Notas especializadas

    Identificador/es alternativo(os)

    Área de control de la descripción

    Reglas o convenciones

    Fuentes

    Nota del archivista

    Prepared by Walter Cano and Kathleen Knaack, Student Assistants and Mark C. Shenise, Associate Archivist

    Puntos de acceso

    Puntos de acceso por materia

    Puntos de acceso por lugar

    Puntos de acceso por autoridad

    Tipo de puntos de acceso

    Área de Ingreso