Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Title
Date(s)
- 1950-1972 (Creation)
Extent
0.66 cubic feet
Name of creator
Biographical history
Mary Dumm (1916-2002) was a Methodist Episcopal Church medical missionary to India. She received a B.A. from Swarthmore College in 1938, and an M. A. (1940) and a Ph.D. (1943) from Bryn Mawr College. Dumm was also a Harvard Medical School research fellow in biological chemistry.
From 1942 to 1944 she was an instructor of physiology and biochemistry at Bryn Mawr. In 1944 she became an instructor in the biochemistry department in the College of Medicine at New York University and remained there until 1956. While at N.Y.U. she also worked in the department of medicine with a research group conducting studies on nutrition and metabolic disease. Dumm became an adjunct assistant professor in biochemistry in 1950.
In 1956 she went to India and began work at Christian Medical College in Vellore, North Arcot, where she lectured in biochemistry and nutrition and was active in research.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
The Mary Dumm Papers document her work as a missionary. The bulk of this collection is correspondence written by Dumm to her parents, Elizabeth and Walter Dumm of Madison, New Jersey. Dumm wrote to her parents on a weekly basis while she was in India, and this correspondence is from 1959 to 1972. Several letter indices were included with the letters. These were probably prepared by her parents, but are not complete for the entire years. Also included in the correspondence are several postcards from a trip Dumm took to Europe in 1969. Other correspondence included in this collection is addressed to her parents and concerns Mary's work. Some of these letters were written by individuals who had visited or who had contact with Dumm while she was stationed in India. The remaining letters addressed to her parents are from the Vellore Christian Medical College Board, the Women's Division of Christian Service of the Board of Global Ministries, and "Dear Friends" letters from other missionaries in India.
There are numerous news clippings regarding Dumm's work, life, and accounts of talks and presentations on her missionary experience in India. All the clippings have been photocopied from the originals because of deterioration. Programs and newsletters also document some of these presentations. Twenty-five black and white photographs are also included. All have been identified and dated. The second part of this collection documents the Christian Medical College and Hospital in Vellore, India. Items in this section of the papers include publications, articles, miscellaneous materials such as brochures, book announcements, pamphlets, and news clippings.
System of arrangement
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
Material is predominantly in.
Finding aids
Acquisition and appraisal elements
Custodial history
Immediate source of acquisition
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information
Accruals
Related materials elements
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related archival materials
Related descriptions
Notes element
General note
When citing material from this collection please use the following format: Direct reference to the item or its file folder, Mary Dumm Papers, 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
Prepared by Kristen D. Turner and Mark C. Shenise, Associate Archivists
Access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Christian Medical College and Hospital (Subject)