Medical Missionary

Medical Missionary. Ed. John Harvey Kellogg. Battle Creek, MI: S. D. A. Medical Missionary and Benevolent Association, 1891-1914. 23 vols.

According to the Encyclopedia of Seventh-Day Adventists, "The Medical Missionary was a monthly periodical published for its first two years by the Good Health Publishing Company, Battle Creek, Michigan, under the auspices of the International Health and Temperance Association. In March 1893 the newly-organized Medical Missionary and Benevolent Association (MMBA) became its publisher. The publishing entities were established and operated under the direction of Dr. John Harvey Kellogg of the Battle Creek Sanitarium, editor of the periodical.

Esther Harris Whitney (1847-1936) was assistant editor beginning with the first issue in January 1891, and she continued in an editorial capacity for 20 years—most of the periodical’s history. ... Esther Whitney’s obituary states that she was “editor” from 1900 to 1911. However, her precise role and how it may have changed is unclear because the periodical ceased to identify its editors by name in 1897. Moreover, G. C. Tenney is listed as editor in the Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook for 1904, and the 1905 and 1906 Yearbooks identify both Tenney and E. J. Waggoner as editors.

The Medical Missionary was launched as a 24-page monthly with an annual subscription rate of 25 cents. Each issue was well illustrated with line drawings, with most also including photographs. The periodical featured articles about medical mission work sponsored by the MMBA both in the United States and in foreign countries. It also included articles on overseas lands and cultures to inform the work of missionaries. Sometimes the periodical featured a cluster of articles on a continent or center of civilization, such as China in the inaugural January 1891 issue and Africa in the April 1891 issue. ...  It also carried advertisements for Kellogg’s medical books, such as Home Hand-Book, and products from his Battle Creek Sanitarium Health Foods such as oatmeal crackers, gluten products, granola and infant food.

From the January 1900 through April 1903 issues, the periodical appeared as the Medical Missionary and Gospel of Health, then reverted to its original title. After 1906, the Medical Missionary no longer appeared in the Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook due to the separation of Dr. Kellogg and the Battle Creek Sanitarium from denominational work. Publication continued under Kellogg’s control through December 1914. An unsigned editorial in the last issue explained that the periodical’s publisher, the American Medical Missionary Association, had recently changed its name to the Race Betterment Foundation, a change that indicated 'the direction which our principal efforts are to take for the present.' The shift in priorities, regrettably, meant the demise of the Medical Missionary" (https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=39RW&highlight=missionary%7Cafrica).

 

 

 

Last updated on April 27th, 2024

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