Correspondence, 1928-1998

Extent:

15 boxes

Scope and content:

The Correspondence series consists of letters sent to and by the Pool family and their relatives, friends, and colleagues. It ranges from 1928-1998 with some undated materials, and with a gap in coverage from 1963-1968. Notable events and correspondence are detailed below, roughly divided by decade.

Correspondence from 1928 through the 1930s includes a number of letters between J.C. Pool and W.A. Criswell, as well as many between J.C. and Etta H. Pool and between Elizabeth and E.C. and Alice Routh. In 1934 both J.C. and Elizabeth corresponded regularly with Charles Maddry and his secretary Jessie Ford regarding their applications to the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention and their plans for travel to and service in Nigeria. The letters document their trip to Nigeria in September 1934, and their experience as missionaries, including such events as Elizabeth’s adoption of Gordon on October 27, 1934; J.C.’s breaking his engagement to Faye Winfree in early September, 1935; J.C. and Elizabeth’s courtship and engagement that same month, and their marriage on December 26, 1935; Frances’ birth on Jan. 17, 1937; the death of Lucille and another missionary, Frances Jones, from yellow fever in the summer of 1937; and the Pools’ first furlough in the United States from November 1937-October 1938. The seminary was moved to Oyo in 1937 upon the Pools’ departure, then moved back to Ogbomosho upon the Pool’s return. On June 27, 1938, E.C. Routh received a personal letter from J. Edgar Hoover regarding an article published in the Baptist Messenger, of which E.C. was the editor. Letters from the fall of 1939 and onward discuss WWII and the implications for Americans serving overseas, in both Nigeria and China.

Correspondence in the 1940s covers Carolyn’s birth on Jan. 24, 1940; the Pools’ furlough in the U.S. from 1941-1943 (the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor occurred the day the Pools arrived in America and the American entrance into WWII delayed their return by a year); J.C.’s return to Africa in 1943 while Elizabeth and the girls stayed in Oklahoma (the Pools wrote frequently to each other while separated); Elizabeth, Frances, and Carolyn’s return to Nigeria in 1944; the publication of The Hill Called Moon the same year; Jim’s birth on July 29, 1945; the Pools’ 1947-1948 furlough in the U.S.; and Elizabeth’s hospitalization and back surgery in Creek Hospital, Lagos, in 1949, as the African nurses’ and hospital workers’ strike took place. Letters from 1941 concern American missionaries in eastern and southern China in light of the withdrawal of U.S. Marines and letters from the late 1940s discuss the negotiations by which the Southern Baptist Convention and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary would eventually become affiliated with the Nigerian Baptist Theological Seminary (NBTS) for degree-granting purposes.

Correspondence from the 1950s covers a number of significant events for the Pool family. A great deal of correspondence from 1950-1951 concerns Copass Routh’s debts and his family’s efforts to make good on them. The Pools went on furlough in America from 1950-1951, at the end of which Frances stayed in America with relatives; after graduating high school in 1953, she enrolled at Baylor, having been granted a scholarship from the Women’s Missionary Union. Claribel Pool married Jonathan Ojeleye December 24, 1953, which caused some controversy due to Claribel and Jonathan’s desire to include Yoruba customs that J.C. and Elizabeth found inappropriate for a Christian ceremony; the two had a child, Funlayo Ojeleye, in Sept. 1954. Elizabeth published a biography of Lucille Reagan in 1954 and The Bead-Maker’s Son in 1957. The Pools again went on furlough in the U.S. from 1954-1955, at the end of which Carolyn stayed in America with relatives. Frances married Robert (Bob) H. Blinn in June 1955; they had Robert (Bobby) in March 1956. Carolyn moved in with Bob and Frances until her graduation from high school in 1958. During that period, Bob, who was in the Air Force, was deployed to Korea in 1957, and the couple had a second son, Keith, in March 1958. Alice Routh died Oct. 24, 1957; the collection includes a number of condolence letters around this time. Family friend and colleague Osad Imasogie married Yewande Akinwumi April 22, 1958 in Nigeria. When the Pools returned to the U.S. on furlough from 1958-1959, they held posts at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Carolyn completed her first year of college at the University of Louisville in order to be close to her parents while they served at SBTS, then transferred to Baylor when the Pools returned to Nigeria.

Correspondence from the 1960s includes letters discussing the establishment of an Foreign Missions Board-funded “M.K” (missionary kids) home in Kentucky with missionaries Neville and Emma Claxon, which opened in Sept. 1960; Jim, who had traveled alone to the U.S. in July, would move into the home when it opened. Claribel and Jonathan had another child, Molara, that same fall, and Katherine Blinn was born to Frances and Bob in June 1961. Gordon married Mary in Dec. 1964. E.C. Routh died in May 1966. Letters from this period also discuss Nigerian independence, the political situation in Africa generally, and Africanization. There is a gap between Aug. 15, 1963 and Nov. 28, 1968, and coverage is generally sparse from Dec. 1961-April 1970.

Correspondence from the 1970s covers a wide range of events. The Pools went on furlough in the U.S. from 1970-1971, leaving Nigeria for good; Carl Whirley was inaugurated as principal of the NBTS in J.C.’s stead. Jim married Mary in 1970. The Pools returned to Africa in 1971, this time to Mount Nimba Baptist Church in Yekepa, Liberia, where J.C. was the pastor and Elizabeth was the bookkeeper and kept records. Frances had an operation in 1971. Carolyn married Richard Bullington, Jr. Dec. 3, 1971. J.C. Pool was injured in a serious fall early in 1972, prompting hospitalization and a number of letters of sympathy before they finally made the decision to retire in Texas that summer. Jim and Mary had James (Jimmy) in June 1972, and Richard and Carolyn had Richard II in Sept. of the same year. In 1972, Elizabeth was awarded the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the San Marcos Baptist Academy. Bob and Jim were deployed to Thailand in the early 1970s by the Air Force; their service in the Vietnam War had a deleterious effect on their marriages and both Bob and Frances and Jim and Mary began divorce proceedings in 1973. Frances married John Haaren and Jim married a woman named Judy (they would divorce in 1976) and relocated to Hawaii. Bobby Blinn left the Air Force Academy to enter the ministry and married Mary Beth Turkington in the summer of 1977. Carolyn adopted ten-year-old Susan in 1977. In January of 1978, J.C. Pool died. That August, Gordon and his five sons were killed in a car crash in Africa. Porter Routh retired from the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1979. That same year, Elizabeth traveled to Nigeria to witness the inauguration of longtime friend Osad Imasogie as the principal of NBTS. In addition to these family events, this period includes correspondence (personal letters and formal invitations) between the Pools and the Liberian president, William R. Tolbert, Jr., as well as a discussion of the Udogi policies in Nigeria and efforts to get SBTS to re-certify NBTS degrees after the Nigerian government declared they would no longer enable their recipients to teach.

Correspondence from the 1980s covers Elizabeth’s 1981 application to the Daughters of the American Revolution, notes from and correspondence regarding Ross Routh’s family genealogy book project in 1982, and Keith Blinn’s marriage to Laura. Several of Elizabeth’s relatives died during this period: Clinton Burnett in Oct. 1985, Copass Routh in Feb. 1987, Ross Routh in July 1987, and Porter Routh in Nov. 1987.

Correspondence from the 1990s covers Elizabeth’s selection as the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor’s Outstanding Alumna of the Year, Katherine’s marriage to Russ Allison, Gene and his family’s move to Germany, E.C. Routh’s induction into the Oklahoma Baptist Hall of Fame in Nov. 1994, and Carolyn’s participation in an “MK” (Missionary Kids) listserv in 1996, a number of printed emails from which are included in the collection and touch on a number of past and contemporary African issues, including the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa.

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