[1960s–1970s Archive of Missionary Linguistic activities in Côte d’Ivoire, i.e., The Ivory Coast].

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Archive of illustrated African-language grammar primers, missionary religious periodicals, photographs, and related ephemera documenting an evangelical and linguistic outreach to the Senufo people, in the Kohogo region of Côte d’Ivoire.

Although French is the national language, there are over 70 separate native languages spoken in Côte d’Ivoire. In this group the Senari language becomes an evangelical tool in the two illustrated language primers, titled Sebe-seli-wi; and the 22 issues of the illustrated religious periodical, Syɔ̃ Tãhagami. Of the primers, one appears unrecorded and we find no issues of the periodical, Sy[-] Tãhagami, recorded whatsoever.

The 22 issues of Syɔ̃ Tãhagami are dated between 1964–1977 and include articles on contemporary events, persons and religious themes. They are not consecutive. Issues came out monthly, and then moved to six times a year.

The primers were written by Namogo Silué et les Missionnaires Baptistes, edited by Wesley Sadler, and illustrated by Melodie Ailanjian. Both appear under the imprint of Mission Baptiste, Korhogo, Côte d’Ivoire. They are written entirely in Senari. Stapled to the front cover of the 1961 publication is a printed or typed note in English that reads in part, “The Beginning Book” or primer. It covers all known combinations of consonants and vowels in the language, so if this is mastered, anything written in the language may be read.” It goes on with several demonstrations of how to use the primer. Editor Wesley Sadler (1909–1994) was a noted Lutheran missionary and African-language linguist; he championed the need for training in modern descriptive linguistics among Christian missionaries in Africa.²

Of the 28 large, black and white original photographs, fifteen bear an ink stamp on the back indicating they were from the “Centre de Publications Évangéliques in Abidjan” [Côte d’Ivoire]. Two have an ink stamp of the “Conservative Baptist Foreign Mission Society…Wheaton, Illinois” (then, the home office), with a 1966 date and the indication that the photographer was named Baker. Three are titled below the image: “Father and Son”, “Pastor’s School”, and “Camp Mount Korhogo”. The photographs portray Africans working in a print shop; white children (kids of missionaries?) in several settings; Africans reading, eating, and playing; and buildings in Kohogo and Abidjan, including a Christian book store in the latter city.

Also seen in the collection are 28 hand-lettered words in English (with some French and Senari words) on individual cards for use on display boards, most likely when making presentations about the work of the Ivory Coast missionaries. 32 commercially printed postcards depict various places in Côte d’Ivoire.

The archive’s provenance can be inferred from internal clues. A studio portrait identified as “Linda Sharp I.C. [Ivory Coast]” and the names “Melba” or “Melba Mears” are written in ink on several issues of Syɔ̃ Tãhagami. Both women have an Oregon connection. The Central Oregonian (Prineville, OR) on November 3, 1966 printed a notice that a Prineville native, Linda Sharp, who had been attending Arizona Bible College in Phoenix, would be working as a missionary in the Ivory Coast for the Conservative Baptist Foreign Mission Society. Ms. Sharp was a trained nurse. A search for Melba Mears turned up a newspaper reference of a “Melba Mears of the Ivory Coast” appearing at a church service in Albany, Oregon in March, 1968.

The Conservative Baptist Foreign Mission Society (known since 2005 as WorldVentures) was formed in Chicago in 1943. Among the thrusts of the Mission Society’s work were evangelism, medical work, the establishment of local churches, literature work, and literacy.¹

This archive of Senari-language publications (all apparently unrecorded save for one title) and documentary photographs, etc. offers a view into the linguistic work of missionaries in the Ivory Coast during the 1960s and 1970s.

Price: $2,250.00