Mellony Turner Collection

Zone d'identification

Cote

US NjMdUMCG 3830

Nom et localisation du dépôt

General Commission on Archives and History

Niveau de description

Collection

Titre

Mellony Turner Collection

Date(s)

  • 1908-1963 (Création/Production)

Importance matérielle

5.61 cubic feet

Nom du producteur

Turner, Mellony
(1901-1949)

Notice biographique

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.

Zone du contenu et de la structure

Portée et contenu

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.

Mode de classement

This collection is arranged by series and subseries.

Zone des conditions d'accès et d'utilisation

Conditions d'accès

There are no restrictions regarding this collection.

Accès physique

Accès technique

Conditions de 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.

Langue des documents

  • anglais

Écriture des documents

    Notes de langue et graphie

    Instruments de recherche

    Éléments d'acquisition et d'évaluation

    Historique de la conservation

    Source immédiate d'acquisition

    Évaluation, élimination et calendrier de conservation

    Accroissements

    Sources complémentaires

    Existence et lieu de conservation des originaux

    Existence et lieu de conservation des copies

    Sources complémentaires

    Descriptions associées

    Élément de notes

    Note générale

    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.

    Notes spécialisées

    Identifiant(s) alternatif(s)

    Zone du contrôle de la description

    Règles ou conventions

    Sources utilisées

    Note de l'archiviste

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

    Mots-clés

    Mots-clés - Sujets

    Mots-clés - Lieux

    Mots-clés - Noms

    Mots-clés - Genre

    Zone des entrées