Bamboo Plantation in Nanking (Nanjing, China). Glass lantern slide from the Lin Collection

Bamboo Plantation in Nanking (Nanjing, China). Glass lantern slide from the Lin Collection, acquired by the Yale Divinity Library in 2016. The Lin Collection is a curated set of photographs and printed materials visually documenting Chinese society through the eyes of Western missionaries. Consisting of ca. 900 original photographs, printed materials, rare books, and other artifactshis, the collection pays particular attention to cross-cultural interactions between China and the West, the growth of Christianity in China in the early 20th century, and the development of the indigenous Chinese church.

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Camels at rest

Glass lantern slide from the Lin Collection, acquired by the Yale Divinity Library in 2016. The Lin Collection is a curated set of photographs and printed materials visually documenting Chinese society through the eyes of Western missionaries. Consisting of ca. 900 original photographs, printed materials, rare books, and other artifactshis, the collection pays particular attention to cross-cultural interactions between China and the West, the growth of Christianity in China in the early 20th century, and the development of the indigenous Chinese church.

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Fukien Christian University (Fujian xie he da xue) campus from the Min River in Fuzhou (Fujian, China)

View of the Fukien Christian University (Fujian xie he da xue) campus from the Min River in Fuzhou (Fujian, China).

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Karl Ludvig Reichelt's notes on Chinese religion

Detail of a manuscript page of the handbook Kinas religioner. Haandbok i den kinesiske religionshistorie (1913 and 1922), by the Norwegian missionary and religious scholar Karl Ludvig Reichelt (1877-1952). Digital copy of an original preserved in the library of the Tao Fong Sghan Christian Centre (道風山基督教叢林), founded by Reichelt in 1930 in Shatin, Hong Kong. 

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Chinese Street View

Glass lantern slide from the Lin Collection, acquired by the Yale Divinity Library in 2016. The Lin Collection is a curated set of photographs and printed materials visually documenting Chinese society through the eyes of Western missionaries. Consisting of ca. 900 original photographs, printed materials, rare books, and other artifactshis, the collection pays particular attention to cross-cultural interactions between China and the West, the growth of Christianity in China in the early 20th century, and the development of the indigenous Chinese church.

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Victor Animatograph glass lantern slide from the Lin Collection

Victor Animatograph glass lantern slide from the Lin Collection, acquired by the Yale Divinity Library in 2016. The Lin Collection is a curated set of photographs and printed materials visually documenting Chinese society through the eyes of Western missionaries. Consisting of ca. 900 original photographs, printed materials, rare books, and other artifactshis, the collection pays particular attention to cross-cultural interactions between China and the West, the growth of Christianity in China in the early 20th century, and the development of the indigenous Chinese church.

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Yenching University Students Perform As You Like It (August 1, 1930)

In this photograph dated August 1, 1930, two Yenching University students act in a school performance of As You Like It. The Yale Divinity Library holds a large amount of documents and images related to Yenching University, as part of the Archives of the United Board of Christian Higher Education in Asia (UBCHEA).

Related Links: Yenching materials in the Yale Divinity Library Special Collections
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Floatplane on the Min River in Fuzhou (Fujian, China)

Floatplane on the Min River in Fuzhou (Fujian, China). The photograph was taken by a  student as part of final exams at Fukien Christian University (Fujian xie he da xue).

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Recent Acquisitions

The Margaret Farley papers are now available for research!

The Margaret A. Farley Papers document the career of the first tenured woman faculty member at the Divinity School. Margaret Farley is a renowned authority in the areas of the history of ethics, feminist ethics, phenomenology and ethics, medical ethics, sexual ethics, ethics and spirituality, and responses to the AIDS pandemic in Africa. Her papers include materials related to courses she taught, materials related to committee work on stem cell research, in-vitro fertilization, sex-selection, and other topics, writings, presentations, subject files, and biographical documentation.  She taught at YDS from 1971 to 2007 and is now Gilbert L. Stark Professor Emerita of Christian Ethics.
Last modified: 
Thursday, March 17, 2022 - 11:17am

In Focus

Covid-19 Library Update image
Special Collections Reopened

Yale University Library special collections reading rooms are now open to the Yale community and to non-Yale researchers who are fully vaccinated and boosted, when eligible. Non-Yale researchers are required to register in the Yale Library special collections system, complete the University vaccine attestation process in advance of their visit, and show a copy of their approval email for admission to the library on the day of their visit. Plan your visit.

George E. Day
New Exhibit: Deans of the Divinity School

In recognition of the Divinity School's bicentennial in 2022, exhibit spaces in the Library will be used to highlight aspects of the School’s history over the coming year. The cases in the Day Missions Reading Room now contain information about the Deans of YDS, with selections from their papers.