Sereno Edwards Bishop papers

This collection contains the papers of Hawaiian missionary and scientist Sereno Edwards Bishop, his father, Artemas Bishop, and the Bishop family. This collection condenses nearly a century of missionary life on the Sandwich (Hawaiian) Islands, and subject matter includes: Hawaii and Hawaiian life; education both in Hawaii and Amherst, Massachusetts; travel; and missionary work. Mainly the papers of Sereno Edwards Bishop, the collection contains letters between Artemas and Sereno. Father and son consulted and discussed widely affairs of family, mission and school, world events, and biblical interpretations in the candid, open way possible only between persons who fully trust each other. These discussions likely influenced Sereno's attitudes and success as a writer and editor, and encouraged him in his scientific investigations such as on the effects of volcanic eruptions on atmospheric conditions. Letters between Sereno and his wife, Cornelia Ann (Sessions) Bishop, give a comprehensive picture of life on the Islands through the decades 1850s-1880s. There are also letters from other family members, and from friends, missionaries, and business associates, both in the Islands and on the mainland. The collection also contains several journals. Of the journals in the collection, of note is a journal of Cornelia Ann Sessions Bishop (written between 1856-1862) (BSH 509) and a journal of Sereno E. Bishop kept in passage from Hawaii to Newport, Rhode Island, on the ship, William Lee (1839-1840), which discusses whaling (BSH 708). There is also a manuscript "Childhood Recollections of the Old Mission House, between 1831 and 1839" by Sereno E. Bishop (BSH 709). Correspondents represented in the collection include: the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, American Seamen's Friend Society, Artemas Bishop, Cornelia Ann Sessions Bishop, Edward Fletcher Bishop, Luther Halsey Gulick, Albert Francis Judd, and John Sessions.