Gladys Oberlin papers , 1943-1980

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Oberlin, Gladys, 1908-1996
Title
Gladys Oberlin papers
Dates
1943-1980 (inclusive)
Quantity
2.5 linear feet, (5 containers, 1 package)
Collection Number
Coll 050
Summary
Gladys Oberlin (1908-1996) was a Christian missionary who taught school and developed nutritional programs in Brazil from 1943 to 1981. The collection includes correspondence, diaries, publications, and photographs that reflect her work as a missionary.
Repository
University of Oregon Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives
UO Libraries--SCUA
1299 University of Oregon
Eugene OR
97403-1299
Telephone: 5413463068
spcarref@uoregon.edu
Access Restrictions

Collection is open to the public. Collection must be used in Special Collections and University Archives Reading Room. Collection or parts of collection may be stored offsite. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives in advance of your visit to allow for transportation time.

Additional Reference Guides

See the Current Collection Guide for detailed description and requesting options.

Languages
Multiple languages
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Historical NoteReturn to Top

Gladys Oberlin (1908-1996) grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland. In 1943, Oberlin traveled to Brazil as a Methodist Missionary where she taught home economics at Bennett College in Rio de Janeiro. Seeing more challenges in her work, Oberlin decided to leave Bennett College in 1948. She moved to the Rural Institute in Itapina, Espirito Santo, Brazil. There, she experimented with the available vegetation in an effort to increase the nutritional value of local foods. She continued with this work until her missionary furlough in 1954.

Following a year-long furlough in the United States, Oberlin accepted a new position as the director of the Instituto Ana Gonzago, an orphanage in Rio de Janeiro. As director of 175 children, Oberlin taught religious classes. She remained there until 1959 when she began teaching at the Instituto Central de Povo.

In 1960, Oberlin became involved in field work in Rio Grande do Sul. She returned to nutritional experiments and was instrumental in establishing a nutritional program at the Redife community center that provided multi-purpose food (MPF) in the form of a high-protein dietary supplement to the region's poor and undernourished. As educational counselor, she developed and implemented educational nutrition and hygiene projects. She and her assistants compiled several pamphlets and presentations, including a filmstrip, on nutrition. She remained in Recife and the surrounding area until her retirement in 1976. Within a year, however, she was called back to the Recife suburbs because of a need for nutritional and hygiene programs there. She remained there until her final retirement in 1981 when she returned to the United States.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The collection consists of correspondence and material documenting her missionary work in Brazil. The correspondence contains both in-coming and out-going letters and is arranged chronologically from 1943 to 1979. This makes up the majority of this collection. Oberlin's correspondence includes letters from other missionaries, Peace Corps workers, Methodist missionary circles in the United States, and friends. Her own letters describe the problems and difficulties she faced as well as the living conditions and needs of local Brazilians.

The remainder of the collection contains materials that relate either directly or indirectly to Brazil. Included are loose diary pages, addresses, lecture materials, bibliographic sources for Latin America, a filmstrip on nutrition, educational material on nutrition and printed matter concerning the multi-purpose food program sponsored by Meals for Millions. Much of the material is written in Portuguese and many therefore present difficulties for the researcher. In spite of this and the fact that the material itself is not extensive, it does give the researcher an idea of the work undertaken by Oberlin while in Brazil. Posters that had been used for educational purposes are stored at the end of the collection, and the filmstrip has been separated from this collection into Special Collections Photographs collections.

There are approximately 50 photographic prints that primarily document the nutritional problems of Oberlin's Brazil clientele, and the children of the orphanage.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Missions, American--Brazil
  • Nutrition--Brazil
  • Public health--Brazil
  • Women Christian educators--Brazil
  • Women missionaries--Brazil

Geographical Names

  • Brazil--Photographs
  • Brazil--Social conditions--1945-1964

Form or Genre Terms

  • Motion pictures
  • Photographic prints