Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Title
Date(s)
- 1910-1925 (Creation)
Extent
0.64 cubic feet
Name of creator
Biographical history
Ernest Isaac Obee (1874-1952), Methodist Protestant Church missionary and minister, was born at Whitehouse, Ohio on October 15, 1874. Obee attended Adrian College and upon graduation in 1904 was quickly accepted as a missionary to Japan with support by the Christian Endeavor Society. Just before his missionary appointment he married Lotta Shields in August. Eventually they gave birth to five children. Together they spent twenty-four years in Japan before returning to the Ohio Annual Conference to pastor various local churches.
While in Japan Obee's duties included President of the Nagoya Boys Middle School, Mission Treasurer and District Missionary. Under his administration the Boy's School would eventually enroll over one-thousand students. Upon returning to the United States in 1928 he would become the pastor of the following Methodist Protestant congregations: Lewistown, Arlington, Rush Creek and Mount Cory. By 1940, the annual conference granted him superannuated status (retirement) but Obee continued to be a short-term supple pastor to various local churches when needed. Many of these churches were considered to be home mission charges.
Unfortunately, Ernest and Lotta were not able to enjoy their retirement together because of her untimely death in 1940. Two years later Obee married Paula Smelser who would outlive him. Obee died in Lima, Ohio, on March 20, 1952. His funeral took place at the Allentown Church on April 2 and subsequent burial was at the Whitehouse cemetery.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
There are five matted photographs illustrating both Obee's and Methodist Protestant Church work in the central region of Japan. There are three photographs documenting the Yokkaichi church, one of First Church in Nagoya and a group photograph of teachers and graduates from the Tokyo School for the Blind. The photographs approximately measure 10.75 x 8.5 inches sans matting.
System of arrangement
Arrangement is by record type.
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
2019-038
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information
Accruals
Related materials elements
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related archival materials
Microfilm Edition of the Mission Biographical Reference Files.
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, Obee Methodist Protestant Japan Mission Photographs, 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
Prepared by Mark C. Shenise, Associate Archivist
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Methodist Protestant Church (Subject)
- Obee, Lotta Shields (Subject)