Ayers Family Papers
This collection contains photographs and other memorabilia from Thomas Willburn Ayers and Sanford Emmett Ayers, a father and son who were both doctors and missionaries in China. The photographs were taken between the years 1918 and 1949. Several are photographs of the hospital T.W. Ayers opened with his wife Minnie Skelton in Hwanghsien, China. The microfilm reel contains family history and writings by T.W. and Sanford Ayers.
Biographical and Historical Note
Dr. Thomas Willburn Ayers was born in Habersham County, Georgia in 1858. He graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Baltimore, Maryland in 1886. From there he conducted medical and missionary work in Hwanghsien, Shantung, China where he was the founder and superintendent of Warren Memorial Hospital. It was the first foreign mission hospital of the Southern Baptist Convention. Dr. Ayers was married to Minnie Skelton in 1878 and they had five children.
The collection includes papers and photographs from both Dr. T.W. Ayers' missionary work in China as well as his son's work, Dr. Sanford Emmett Ayers.
Collection Overview
The Ayers Family Papers includes photographs and personal papers (1918-1949) from both Dr. Thomas Willburn Ayers and his son Dr. Sanford Emmett Ayers. The collection documents their time spent in Hwanghsien, China where they were medical missionaries. The papers provide an interesting insight into missionary thinking in the early phases of the Sino-Japanese war and in the immediate post-war period. The photographs enhance the picture of their time in China, often times depicting the hospital and the staff, and the students Dr. and Mrs. Ayers taught. The microfilm reel contains biographical information about the Ayers family by Frank Henning and writings of T.W Ayers and Sanford related to their mission and medical work.
Collection Arrangement
The collection is arranged into three main series: Photographs, Writings: Ayers, Sanford Emmett, and Writings: Ayers, Thomas Willburn. Two of these series, the writings, are on the same microfilm reel.
Administrative Information
- Publication Information
- Processed by Paige Horton, 2011
- Revision Description
- Revised by Stephanie Bennett, 2017 March
- Revision Description
- Revised by Stephanie Bennett; update to acquisition note info (JW) from relative, 2023
- Access Restrictions
- This collection is open for use.