Enhancing the Online International Mission Photography Archive

FAIN: PW-51148-12

University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA 90089-0012)
Jon Miller (Project Director: July 2011 to June 2015)

Cataloging and digitization leading to posting on the Web of up to 25,000 photographs taken by Christian missionary organizations in Asia, Africa, and other parts of the world during the first half of the 20th century.

The International Mission Photography Archive (IMPA) is a searchable, online repository of historical photographs from the collections of a large number of international missionary organizations. Because these groups have been active in various parts of the world for well over a century and a half, their collections represent a significant resource for the humanities and social sciences, with particular promise for the kinds of comparative inquiries that contribute to the understanding of cultural diversity. The IMPA "collection of collections" is freely available to scholars, students, and the general public. The proposed NEH funding will sustain the continuing effort to expand the size, the geographic scope, and the cultural and denominational diversity of the images. It will also support the design and conduct of a practical workshop on visual methods in religious history, aimed at an international group of scholars and archivists who have access to photo collections.