Dora E. Giffen papers

The focal point of the Dora E. Giffen collections centers around the family correspondence, written primarily by Dora, during the period from 1920 to 1926. The correspondence of those years provides an interesting and detailed study of the life of a young 23 year-old female missionary in British-held Egypt. This influential basis of Dora's early adult life is recognized in the ensuing years through Dora's connection and strong commitment to Leon and Anna Loofbourow, pastor and wife of the Richmond Co-Operative Parish, California; through all the church-related literature; and through Dora's love of travel. A 1958 church-sponsored "Round the World" seminar attested to the religious influence on her life. The correspondence is greatly enhanced and further explained by the extensive corresponding photograph collection of that time period, 1920-1926. The look and feel of Egypt was vividly captured in those photographs. Artifacts, such as a child's porcelain-head doll and Egyptian leather slippers, both belonging to Dora, give the collection a three-dimensional quality.

The notable thing about the Giffen collection is that it not only provides sufficient material on Dora to use her as a research subject, but also contains so many unique subdivisions. The large collection of photographs not only chronicles the Giffen-Martin families from three generations back, but also shows the history of photography from tintypes to snapshots. These photographs include a section devoted to Dora's mother, Frances (Franc) Martin Giffen, whose ideas and accomplishments had a strong impact on Dora. A second subdivision, dealing with the academic files of both Dora and Franc, dates back to 1877 and provides a look at academic requirements, diplomas, and certificates. The travel section of the collection provides information on all the aspects of travel and tourism; prices, maps, photographs, postcards, and changes from the 1920's to the 1970's. The influence of travel on Dora's life is predominantly recognized in her diaries, especially the latest one which attests to Dora's on-going interest in world affairs.

Important to the collection are the genealogical files which document the maternal side (Martin) of the family back six generations and are very helpful in keeping track of names in the collection, most of which, from the turn of the century, can be matched to a photograph. A very unique book worth mentioning is Flowers of the Holy Land, a wood-bound book containing pressed arrangements of the flowers of Jerusalem.

The spirit of the Giffen collection is the essence of womanhood. The total independence used by Dora in all of her actions and deeds makes her more a contemporary woman than one normally thought of in the early or mid 20th century. It is very apparent throughout this collection that the greatest influence comes from the female members of the family.

FAMILY CORRESPONDENCE; 1897-1907, 1919-1926, 1931-1933, 1940-1946, 1973; arranged chronologically. Family correspondence scattered throughout Dora's childhood; personal accounts of Dora crossing the Atlantic Ocean; her life as a young missionary in Egypt, and her family's responses to thos letters; various scattered letters to and from family members throughout Dora's later life. Most of the 1920's correspondence includes stamped and dated envelopes.

GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE; 1950-1951, 1973; arranged chronologically. Includes a letter of praise from the Superintendent of Akron Public Schools; a letter of sponsorship of an Alaskan schoolgirl; and a letter of inquiry to the Miami Christian University Library.

LOOFBOUROW CORRESPONDENCE; 1948-1968; arranged chronologically. Personal correspondence, primarily from Anna H. Loofbourow with some letters from her husband Rev. Leon L. Loofbourow. Rev. Loofbourow was the pastor of two churches in the Richmond California Co-Operative Parish of the Methodist Church. The letters emphasize Dora's on-going commitment to her religion.

GIFFEN GENEALOGY; 1886-1965 (scattered); Includes a history of the Erskine titled line; a general history of the Giffen coat-of-arms provided by Halberts of Bath, Ohio; an account of the Erskine Family as early settlers in Jefferson County, Ohio; an account, edited by Dora in 1946, of the Stevenson/Erskine/Martin family written by Dora's great-great uncle Josias Stevenson in 1886; genealogical charts of Dora Giffen's maternal line; and a history of the Logan Family compiled by Mabelle Logan Saviers (related to Dora's maternal uncle Samuel Erskine Martin, who married Margaret Logan). There are two address directories at the end of the file which provide more current locations of family members.

LIFE HISTORY; 1897-1976; Includes an almost day-to-day account of baby Dora's much travelled first two years of life, by Franc Martin; a year to year account of major life events up to 1976; a Baby's Record Book indicating written birth records of Dora and her four siblings (two of whom did not survive); height, weight, and teething records of the infants Dora, her siblings, and her cousins.

PRIMARY SCHOOL FILES; 1877-1911; arranged chronologically. Includes an 1877 final "Pupil's Report" card for 12 year old Franc Martin; a Royal Primer, circa 1903, used by Dora as a child in Egypt; a 1907-1908 New Concord School report card for 10 year old Dora; and a 1910-1911 final Scholar's Monthly Report of Dora Giffen.

COLLEGE SCHOOL FILES; 1880-1885, 1914-1945, 1958, 1969; arranged chronologically. Includes Muskingum College grade transcripts of Franc Martin covering her first term in 1880 at age 15 to her last term in 1885 at age 20; a 1914-1915 school year Muskingum College statement of tuition for 17 year old Dora Giffen; a 1919 copy of the weekly Muskingum College newspaper, the Black and Magenta; two folders of art material from Dora's Muskingum College German class; three graded short-story assignments, circa 1930; grade transcripts produced in 1945 and 1958 of Dora's classes at Muskingum College for 1915-1920, 1926-1928, and 1938, Columbia University, New York City, 1939, and Ohio State University, 1941 and 1942; and a copy of the 50th Reunion program of Muskingum College Class of 1919.

TEACHING SCHOOL FILES; 1930-1964; arranged chronologically. Includes personal and form letters to Dora Giffen; various handbooks for teachers; 1958-1964 group photographs of pupils and colleagues of Dora's in the Akron, Ohio Public School System.

MASTER'S DEGREE THESIS; 1932; Complete copy of Dora Giffen's master's thesis presented at Ohio State University.

SCHOOL DIPLOMAS AND CERTIFICATES; 1880-1964; arranged chronologically. Includes a Guernsey County, Ohio teacher's certificate of Franc Martin (1880); Dora Giffen's diploma's from Muskingum College (1919); Dora's teaching certificates from Ohio and Pennsylvania; and various inservice training certificates. Encapsulated certificates located in oversize MS drawers.

GIFT BOOKS; 1886-1921; Includes gift books/presentations to Franc Martin and Dora Giffen from students, family, and friends.

AUTOGRAPH ALBUM/CALLING CARDS; 1883-1885, undated; Includes an pictorial autograph album belonging to Franc Martin and signed by friends and relatives; calling cards belonging to both Franc Martin and Dora Giffen.

DIARIES; 1924, 1938, 1958, 1979-1981; arranged chronologically. Dora Giffen's diaries. Diary of 1924 from Dora's fourth year of mission work in Egypt; 1938 volume from period of time she spent at Columbia University; 1958 diary describes around-the-world tour; and 1979-1981 volume is a collective day-to-day description of her routine-oriented later years.

LEGAL DOCUMENTS - EGYPT; 1892, 1920-1926, 1949; arranged chronologically. Includes an 1892 Soldiers' Christian Association membership card of Franc Giffen; Dora's 1920 British missionary permit; a petition of U.S. citizenship and Consular Certificate of Registration from 1921; Dora's cancelled passport of 1926; and a 1949 Board of Foreign Missions declaration of U.S. citizenship.

LEGAL DOCUMENTS - CENTRAL/SOUTH AMERICA; 1939-1958; arranged chronologically. Includes 1939 Panamanian identification card; cancelled passport of 1939 (Western Hemisphere only); a 1939 health survey of Dora; a 1941 Panama Canal employment application; a variety of immunization records; miscellaneous correspondence with the U.S. and Brazilian consulate and the U.S. State Department; and cancelled passport, issued in 1957 (which includes visa stamps from the Round-the-World tour).

NEWSCLIPPINGS; 1904-1905, 1922, 1936-1937, 1982; Mostly obituaries, providing excellent character descriptions of Martin/Giffen family members, including an article recounting a current Giffen family member's brush with death. A few church related articles.

TRAVEL AND TOURISM; 1926, 1940, 1949-1959, 1971; arranged chronologically. Tour information, itineries, photographs, postcards, handbooks, and cost sheets. Includes material from the return trip from Egypt in 1926 via France, England, and Scotland; a Costa Rican tour during her 1939-1941 employment by the Pan-American Institute in Panama; miscellaneous files of domestic and foreign trips; and specific files on the 1958 Round-the-World tour of 11 countries in 40 days.

NEWSLETTERS; 1939-1963; arranged chronologically. Includes the Union Parsonage Newsletter, Balboa, Canal Zone; Loofbourow Newsletter, Berkeley, California; Richmond Co-Operative Parish Newsletter, Richmond, California; and Tanta Tattlings, Tanta, Egypt.

PAMPHLETS - CHURCH RELATED; 1898-1961 (scattered); Includes pamphlets of church description, church service and witness, committee reports, mission duties, and NBC broadcasts.

PAMPHLETS - EGYPT; 1920-1926; Includes pamphlets on Egyptian people and places, African Christian organization and evangelism, academic requirements and programs, and a confidential survey, "The missionary occupation of Egypt".

PAMPHLETS - LOOFBOUROW; 1933-1959; Pamphlets written by Rev. Leon Loofbourow on various people, places, and events.

PAMPHLETS - PANAMA; 1939-1941; Pamphlets regarding academics, athletics, and Christian and social endeavors in Panama.

PROGRAMS; 1900-1964, undated; arranged chronologically. A wide and interesting variety of playbills and programs of classical music concerts, Muskingum College events, and stage production playbills.

BOOKS; 1950; In Search of God's Gold, by Leon L. Loofbourow. A history of the Methodist Church in northern California.

BOOKS; 1902, 1917, undated; Three books in Arabic, probably the Arabic Psalter and related books used by Dora in Egypt.

BOOKS; 1920; Tunes of the Arabic Psalter in staff notation. Music book used by Dora as she played the piano and organ; a companion to the Arabic Psalter and related books.

BOOKS; 1964; A Strange Detour, by Murden Woods. The story of Marion E. Childress, a missionary nurse.

BOOKS; 1898; The American Mission in Egypt, by Andrew Watson. Book handed down from Nancy J. Martin to J.W. Martin to Franc Martin Giffen to Dora E. Giffen.

BOOKS; circa 1906; Wild Flowers of the Holy Land, by Ferdinand Vester. A book of pressed, dried flowers, bought in Egypt by Rev. & Mrs. E.M. Giffen sometime before March 1906.

BOOKS; 1923; Jerusalem, by J.B. Walker. A religious touring guidebook.

BOOKS; 1932; Two Words, by Margaret Slattery.

BOOKS; July 1897; Our Day, a religious women's magazine.

BOOKS; 1887?; Book in Arabic belonging to Franc Martin Giffen; possibly a religious text used as part of a study course in Islam.

BOOKS; 1890; Bible songs, consisting of selections from the Psalms set to music. Book belonging to Franc Martin Giffen.

BOOKS; 1905; Religions of mission fields, as viewed by Protestant missionaries.

BOOKS; circa 1840; Narratives of Little Henry and his bearer, by Mary Martha Sherwood. A religious children's book.

BOOKS; 1875; Holy Bible. Bible given to Franc Martin by her mother, passed down to Dora.

BOOKS; 1831; Helen and Her Cousin. A religious children's book.

BOOKS; 1860?; Intellectual arithmetic by induction and analysis, by Joseph Ray. School book belonging to Franc Martin. Book two of Ray's Arithmetic, Eclectic Educational series.

BOOKS; 1860?; Practical arithmetic by induction and analysis, by Joseph Ray. School book belonging to Franc Martin. Book three of Ray's Arithmetic, Eclectic Educational series.

BOOKS; 1913; Arabic-English dictionary, by William Thomson Wortabet. Dictionary belonging to Dora Giffen.

POSITIVE PRINTS - FAMILY; 1860's-1970's; A collection of eight complementary folders of quality photographs depicting and identifying the Martin and Giffen family lines. Photographs of home in New Concord, Ohio and friends are also included.

POSITIVE PRINTS - EGYPT; 1920-1926; Six folders of photographs showing Dora Giffen's ocean voyage to Egypt; the people, places and events of Egypt; and an accumulation of postcards depicting Cairo and the Middle East. Related to the correspondence of the 1920's. One oversize photograph of the Girls School in Fayoum, Egypt located in flat MS drawer with wrapped and encapsulated items.

POSITIVE PRINTS - PANAMA; 1939-1941; Unidentified photographs and postcards of Panama during Dora's two-year teaching position in that country.

DOLL; circa 1898; Doll with porcelain head and arms. Gift under Dora's first Christmas tree from Uncle John and Aunt Elizabeth. CAUTION: Doll broken, handle with care.

SHOES; circa 1905; One pair of "Shib-shibs", Egyptian leather slippers worn by Dora as a child.

DARNING EGG; Undated; Hollow wooden egg, with removable spools for thread and compartment in spindle for needles.