Between the Covers

Hardcover. Quarto. Measuring 10" x 11". Black three ring binder. Contains 198 black and white gelatin silver photographs measuring between 2½" x 2¼” and 8” x 10” with some captions. Very good with rubbing and edgewear with near fine photographs.

This album was prepared in celebration of AIM’s (African Inland Mission) 60-year Diamond Jubilee in 1955 just after many Kikuyus, frustrated by decades of marginalization and angered by the continued expansion of white landholdings, began the bloody Mau Mau uprising. It is divided into three sections: “Jubilee 1955” contains photographs of the anniversary celebrations; “African Groups” contains photos of the organization’s churches, schools, hospital, clergy, teachers, students, and members involved in mission activities; and “Special Occasions” includes images of weddings, immunization programs, outdoor services, a leadership conference, and what appears to be the construction and dedication of a new church.

The AIM, often referred to as “the American Mission,” was conceived by Peter Cameron Scott, a Scottish-American clergyman who had contracted a near-fatal illness while serving at a mission in the Congo. While recuperating in England, he began planning the foundation of a mission network that would stretch from Africa’s southeast coast all the way to Lake Chad in the continent’s interior. After sharing his vision with friends from Philadelphia in 1895, the group formed the Philadelphia Missionary Council. In August, Scott and four others set off for Africa and within a year they had established four missions in Kenya. Soon they were joined by more missionaries from the United States and a few from Canada. After Scott died of blackwater fever in 1896, the organization floundered until Charles Hurlburt, President of the Pennsylvania Bible Institute, who moved to Kenya along with his entire family and set up headquarters in Kijabe. The mission and Christianity appealed to the poverty stricken and powerless Kikuyu people, who had been marginalized by other tribes and the white colonial government, in part because it provided them with an opportunity to exercise leadership and achieve status. With President Theodore Roosevelt’s help, AIM expanded into German East Africa, the Belgian Congo, Uganda, French Equatorial Africa, Sudan, and the islands of the Indian Ocean. AIM continues in operation today, with the stated goal of establishing "Christ centered Churches established among all African peoples . . . through the evangelization of unreached people groups and the effective preparation of church leaders."

A unique collection of photographs documenting mission activities for indigenous Kenyans that were occurring at the same time as the Mau-Mau Rebellion.

Item #423790