- Creator
- Pinney, John Brooke, 1806-1882
- Call number
- Sc MG 266
- Physical description
- 0.42 linear feet (1 box)
- Language
- English
- Preferred Citation
- [Item], John Brooke Pinney journals, Sc MG 266, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library
- Sponsor
- Schomburg NEH Automated Access to Special Collections Project and Preservation of the Black Religious Heritage Project funded by the Lilly Endowment.
- Repository
- Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division
- Access to materials
- Request an in-person research appointment.Restrictions apply
John Brooke Pinney was an American born Presbyterian minister, serving as a missionary in Liberia on various occasions from 1833-1878. He graduated from the University of Georgia in 1828 where he studied law. In 1832, he graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary and was ordained by the Presbytery of Philadelphia that same year. The following year, Pinney became a missionary in Africa as an agent of the American Colonization Society, which constituted him ex-officio Acting Governor of the colony of Liberia. From 1848 to approximately 1872, he was Corresponding Secretary of the New York Colonization Society. Pinney was also one of the organizers of the College of Liberia, now known as the University of Liberia. The John Brooke Pinney journals consist of two journals that Pinney maintained as a missionary for the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church. Two separate trips to Liberia are discussed in his jounrals, one in 1868-1869, and the other in 1876-1877. The journals provide descriptions of Pinney's activities and trips to villages and churches in Liberia, people he worked with and knew, schools he visited and/or helped to establish in Liberia, other missionaries, teachers, students, and American freed slaves then living in Liberia. He also wrote about his journeys and described the production of various agricultural crops and aspects of world history. The 1876 journal contains minutes of the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees of the College of Liberia (now known as the University of Liberia) which he copied, with his comments on changes at the college. In addition, written into the journals are letters that Pinney wrote for others, which he later transferred for mailing. Transcriptions of both journals are available. Biographical information about Pinney is also available.
Administrative information
Source of acquisition
Gift of David V. and Virginia B. Erdman, 1989.
Revision History
Finding aid updated by Lauren Stark. (2021 August 23)
Processing information
Accessioned by Diana Lachatanere, February 1989.
Related Material
New York State Colonization Society records, Sc MG 347, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
Using the collection
Location
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division515 Malcolm X Boulevard, New York, NY 10037-1801
Second Floor
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.Access restrictions
Restricted to photocopies. Use of originals requires permission of curator.