Guest post by Liam C.
Part 1 of 2
Many readers of this blog who are interested in Bible Student History
and who like me spend too much time on the internet, may have come across a
series of photos related to the I.B.S.A. Foreign Mission Investigation and
World Tour. What is the story behind these photos? Below is my best attempt at
answering this question.
The photos are held at the Library of Congress in the George Grantham
Bain Collection. George Grantham Bain was a New York photographer who also
founded the first news photography service, Bain News, in 1898. He was:
“A visionary who saw the
potential of coupling photographs with words in newspapers and magazines, his
news photo service focused on people and events, from politics to sports,
disasters to celebrations. The Bain News Service accumulated photographs of
worldwide coverage, which were distributed to various newspapers and were
enhanced by receiving local pictures from its subscribers as part of their
reimbursement” (i).
The Library of Congress purchased the Bain collection in 1948 from D.J.
Culver and thankfully made them available with no known restrictions on
publication. Included in the Bain photographs are 39,744
glass negatives three of which are below:
Although exactly how the Russell photographs came to be acquired by Bain is unknown, the fact that they are included in such a prestigious collection is perhaps a testament to Russell's popularity at the time and the widespread appeal of the Bible Student message.
Photos in the Bain collection do not include much background
information. However a bit of detective work actually reveals when and where
the Russell photos were taken. In the margins of two of the above photos is the
date (shown as 9/25/11 in reverse). The significance of this date can be found
in the below extract from the January 1, 1912 Watch Tower, an issue
entirely dedicated to publicising the world tour. Speaking of events in the
year 1911 it says:
By further comparing details from these photos with pictures of the original Waldorf Astoria's famed rooftop garden, it is almost certain that this is where these photos were taken. I have written to the Waldorf Astoria archives and can update this post if any additional information turns up.
It’s kinda cool to envision that meeting, surrounded by the elegance of
the Waldorf Astoria’s rooftop, with Russell and company laying out the
blueprint for what would become an unforgettable four-month global expedition.
What else can be known about the background of this legendary
Round-the-World Tour? Read part 2.
Part 2 of 2
A deeper dive into Russell’s Round-the-World Tour should probably start
with a brief discussion of the Layman’s Missionary Movement and the Protestant
missionary fields in the last few decades of the nineteenth century which at
the time were filled with confidence and optimism.
The Evangelization of the World in this Generation by John R. Mott, page 1 & 2 describes how in 1886
a movement arose among students primarily in the United States, Canada, Great
Britain and Ireland that would eventually be attributed with adding 20,000
volunteers to the foreign missionary endeavour, therefore accelerating
missionary work around the world. This movement called the Student Volunteer
Movement (SVM) inspired Protestant leaders to create institutions to offer
financial support.
One of these institutions was the Layman’s Missionary Movement (LMM).
Between the years 1909-1910 The LMM arranged a series of three to four day
conventions held in more then 50 cities averaging well over 1,000 in
attendance. While the students of the SVM had adopted the slogan “The
Evangelization of the World in this Generation”, The LMM took this
further and advertised their conventions with the slogan “$30,000,000 to
Convert the World” (ii) & (iii)
This slogan caught Russell’s attention. Russell was somewhat sympathetic
to the missionary cause and even once recalled how as a boy of seven years of
age he told his mother that he wanted to be a missionary (iv). As he
developed the unique interpretation of scripture known to readers of this blog,
his missionary aspirations were adjusted to fit his overall understanding of
God’s plan as revealed in scripture. Part of this understanding was that the
mainstream Christianity of his day was not a model of Christ’s kingdom but had
been judged unworthy of it. Therefore converting people of non-Christian lands
to this form of Christianity would be counterproductive. He pointed out
that doctrines such as the “conviction that there
is no hope for any who die in ignorance of the only name whereby we must be
saved” (v). when thought through, were abhorrent to people of
non-Christian backgrounds, as they offered no hope for their ancestors or
family members that had not accepted Christ. He further saw in the Scriptures a
future age following Christ’s Advent, where all who died in ignorance of Christ
would be given another chance, without question a more hopeful view. Russell’s criticism of mission work included
the observation that missionary successes were often overstated and that
behavior of people in “Christian” lands was anything
but Christian while non-Christian peoples were more moral than supposed.
Russell’s response to the Layman’s Missionary Movement came in July 1911
with the article “$30,000,000 to Convert the World is the Proposition a Joke?”
(vi). In this article Russell references the LMM and lays out his criticism of
mission work, contrasting it with the early successes of his own missionaries
in India and Africa. But he didn't stop there. Several months later at the
annual Bible Students convention at Mountain Lake Park, Maryland, September
1-11, 1911 a committee was formed to “supply an unvarnished report of the
true condition of affairs in Oriental lands amongst the peoples usually termed “heathens”.(vii). This
was followed on September 25 by the committees first meeting at the Waldorf
Astoria as discussed in Part 1. This committee was named the I.B.S.A. Foreign
Mission Investigation Committee.
To be sure, one goal of this tour and subsequent report was to assess
the feasibility of the claim made by the LMM. Russell had other reasons for
travelling to foreign mission fields at this time though. One of the
conclusions drawn from the framework by which he saw the Bible’s message was
that during the unique time period him and like minded Bible students were
living through, they were tasked with gathering from the churches of nominal
Christianity any remaining saints, a responsibility which they worked
diligently to accomplish. But what of the growing number of Christians living
in traditionally non-Christian lands that due to distance or language barriers
had not heard the Bible Student message? Seeing conditions first hand would
help him decide whether directing further resources there was warranted.
The I.B.S.A. Foreign Mission Investigation Committee would
come to include chairman Charles Taze Russell, secretary Fredrick Homer Robison/Robinson (called
Professor). Doctor Leslie Whitney Jones (1872-1946), Adjunct General of the
United States Army, William Preble Hall (1848-1927), Washington D.C.,
grocery store chain owner John Donaldson Pyles (1857-1943) and two well known
Ohio businessmen Robert Bowie Maxwell (1840-1912) of
Mansfield and Ernest W.V. Kuehn (1863-1925) of Toledo, whose business dealings
earned him the moniker “great clover-seed merchant”. Also added were unofficial
members Ingram I. Margeson (1871-1935) who acted as director, George F. Wilson
(1857-1945) and wife Olivia E. Wilson (1864-1957) of Oklahoma City and George
Chester Driscoll, who for the first half of the trip traveled several weeks
ahead of the group to assist with press and any other arrangements that needed
to be made.
Foreign Mission Investigation Committee (minus G C Driscoll) pictured with a group of Japanese gentlemen associated with the Japan Y.M.C.A. including Kuninosuke Yamamoto (back row far right). Picture from 1912 Bible Students' Convention Souvenir Notes, page 22.
Further details about the tour can be found in the 1912 Bible Students’ Conventions Souvenir Notes and the Committee Report
published in the Watch Tower April 15, 1912.
End notes
i "George Grantham Bain," Legends of America, accessed January 28,
2025, https://www.legendsofamerica.com/george-grantham-bain/
[ii] A more detailed
discussion of the SVM and LMM can be found in Dawson, David. “Mission
and Money in the Early Twentieth Century.” The Journal of Presbyterian
History (1997-) 80, no. 1 (2002): 29–42.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/23336304.
[iii] An example can be found in the New York Times
December, 13, 1909
[iv] Zions Watch Tower, June 15, 1899 page 2489
[v] Zions Watch Tower August 15, 1901, page 264
[vi] The Watch Tower, July 1, 1911, page
202-204
[vii] Report on Foreign Mission Work, International Bible Students Association, April 15, 1912, page 123
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