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Wayne Flynt Collection

 Record Group
Identifier: RG.23
Taking Christianity to China: Alabama Missionaries in the Middle Kingdom, 1850-1950
Taking Christianity to China: Alabama Missionaries in the Middle Kingdom, 1850-1950

Scope and Contents

The collection mainly consists of research materials collected by Professor Gerald Berkley and Professor Wayne Flynt, and the drafts and proofs of their book entitled Taking Christianity to China: Alabama Missionaries in the Middle Kingdom, 1850-1950.

Prof. Berkley started to collect the materials when he first had the idea in the early 1980s of writing a book on Alabama missionaries who served in China. Before he went to pursue a law degree in 1986, Prof. Berkley turned them over to Prof. Flynt to continue the research. After a vast amount of research work, Prof. Flynt completed the project and published the book in 1997.

This collection mainly consists of research materials on the featured missionaries and their related churches. There are articles, book chapters, clippings, correspondences, transcripts of interviews and archival records, etc. Drafts and proofs in the publishing process and the index cards for preparing the appendices are also included.

Geographic coverage
China and the United States
Types of documents
Articles, an audio record of interview (Cassette tape), book chapters, clippings, correspondence, manuscripts, photographs, and reports

Dates

  • 1843-1996, undated

Creator

Language of Materials

English, Chinese

Restriction

Anyone using this collection must sign an Agreement to use the Wayne Flynt Collection. Photocopying of unpublished material is prohibited.

Biography

Professor Wayne Flynt was a Distinguished University Professor Emeritus in the Department of History at Auburn University in Alabama before his retirement. He has been recognized with numerous awards and honors. He was a visiting scholar at Hong Kong Baptist University in 1992.

Full name
Flynt, James Wayne
Birthdate
October 4, 1940, in Pontotoc, Mississippi, the United States
Parents
James H. and Mae Moore Flynt
Marital Status
Married to Dorothy Ann (Smith) Flynt
Children
David (Wife: Kelly) and Sean (Wife: Shannon)
Grandchildren
Dallas and Harper

Education

1961
B.A. Howard College
1962
M.S. Florida State University
1965
Ph.D. Florida State University

Career

1965-1977
Taught at Samford University
1977-2005
Head of History Department, Auburn University
2003
President of the Southern Historical Association

Awards and Honors

1972
Rembert Patrick Award, Best book on Florida by the Florida Historical Society
1983
Alabama Academy of Distinguished Authors
1990
Lillian Smith Award [non-fiction]
1991
Alabama's Professor of the Year by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education
1991-1992
Distinguished Graduate Faculty Lecture, Auburn University
1991, 1995, 2005
James F. Sulzby Award
1991, 2000
Alabama Author Award [non-fiction]
1995, 1997, 2003
Anne B. & James B. McMillan Prize by The University of Alabama Press
2006
Alabama Academy of Honor

Major publications

  1. Flynt, W. (1971). Duncan Upshaw Fletcher: Dixie's reluctant progressive. Tallahassee: Florida State University Press.
  2. Flynt, W. (1977). Cracker messiah, Governor Sidney J. Catts of Florida. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.
  3. Flynt, W. (1979). Dixie's forgotten people: The South's poor whites. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
  4. Flynt, W. (1989). Poor but proud: Alabama's poor whites. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press.
  5. Flynt, W., & Berkley, G. W. (1997). Taking Christianity to China: Alabama missionaries in the middle kingdom, 1850-1950. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press.
  6. Flynt, W. (1998). Alabama Baptists: Southern Baptists in the Heart of Dixie. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press.
  7. Flynt, W. (2004). Alabama in the twentieth century. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press.
  8. Flynt, W. (2017). Mockingbird Songs: My friendship with Harper Lee. London: William Heinemann.
  9. Rogers, W. W., Ward, R. D., Atkins, L. R., & Flynt, W. (2018). Alabama: The History of a Deep South state.

Extent

4.34 Linear Feet (9 document cases)

Arrangement

The collector arranged and marked the documents within folders with color codes, mainly according to the topic or background. The color codes on the original folders are photocopied in color and kept in their respective folders for reference.

The collection’s original arrangement is retained while some folder titles are provided by the archivist for better indication of the content. The folders are now arranged alphabetically by subject and document type.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The materials for this collection were received by the Special Collections & Archives in November 1996.

Related Materials

This collection is closely related to the book, Taking Christianity to China: Alabama Missionaries in the Middle Kingdom, 1850-1950 (Call number: [LC] 266.023761 F679T). Users are encouraged to check the book in the library for details.

Some research materials are copied from other archives. They are further processed and annotated by Prof. Flynt for his research. They are retained for the integrity of the collection.

Sources used

Alabama Academy of Honor. (n.d.). Current Members of the Academy. Retrieved October 6, 2021, from https://www.alabamaacademyofhonor.org/j-wayne-flynt

Alabama Library Association. (n.d.). Alabama Authors. Retrieved October 6, 2021, from https://www.lib.ua.edu/Alabama_Authors/

Alabama Library Association. (n.d.). Alabama Library Association Handbook: History: Alabama Author Awards. Retrieved October 6, 2021, from https://alla.memberclicks.net/assets/docs/AlabamaAuthorAwardsWinners.pdf

Auburn University. (2021). Distinguished Graduate Faculty Lecture. Retrieved October 6, 2021, from https://graduate.auburn.edu/distinguished-graduate-faculty-lecture/

Flynt, W., & Berkley, G. W. (1997). Taking Christianity to China: Alabama missionaries in the middle kingdom, 1850-1950. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press.

Jaques Cattell Press. (1978). Directory of American scholars (7th ed.). R.R. Bowker.

The University of Alabama Press. (n.d.). Awards Sponsored by The Faculty Editorial Board of The University of Alabama Press. Retrieved October 6, 2021, from http://www.uapress.ua.edu/pages/ManuscriptGuidelines.aspx

Processing Information

In this document, the notation “folder 4-2” means box 4, folder 2.

Date
October 6, 2021
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the HKBU Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Special Collections & Archives
AML 405, L4, Au Shue Hung Memorial Library,
Hong Kong Baptist University
34 Renfrew Road, Kowloon Tong
(852) 3411-5937