The Shields Family Papers consist of correspondence, legal papers, and photographs created by three generations of a missionary family. The correspondence documents the experiences of a missionary family in Angola (Luanda and Malange) and Zimbabwe (including the Umtali region) in the early twentieth century. In 1903, Louise Shields brought her children to live in London and gave birth to Helen there; much of the correspondence is between Louise and Robert during this period of separation. Leaving her children in England to return to Angola, Louise received additional correspondence from the woman who took care of the children in her absence. Also included in the correspondence is a series of letters written by Greta Gazeley to her mother Wilhelmina Taylor Shields Gazeley in the 1950s. The legal papers in the collection consist of marriage certificates, copies of birth certificates, an immigration visa for Robert Shields, and US Army discharge papers for Robert Dodson Shields. In addition, the collection includes a handwritten memoir by Robert Shields, a biographical account of Louise Raven Shield's life compiled by her daughter, Irene Withey Shields, and various writings by Irene Withey Shields and Wilhelmina Taylor Shields on their experiences in Africa. Also included are Irene's and Wilhelmina's diplomas from the University of Cape Town.
The extensive collection of photographs, dating from the early 1900s to the 1960s, provide a portrait of the lives of missionaries in Africa. The majority are portraits and snapshots of the Shields family and other groups both European, American, and African, as well as photographs of groups of schoolchildren, mission buildings, and various scenes of African life and landscapes. Several of the family portraits were taken during the family's time in England. The collection contains one photograph of Bishop William Taylor and a young African boy. Also included are a number of picture postcards. With the exception of three photograph albums, the photographs are unsorted and the majority are undated.
Acquired as part of the John Hope Franklin Research Center for African and African American History and Culture at Duke University.
Reverend Robert Shields, his wife Louise Shields, and members of their family were Methodist missionaries in Angola between the 1890s and the 1960s. Members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Robert and Louise Shields went to Africa from Ireland and the United States, respectively, in the 1880s and 1890s as part of Bishop William Taylor's self-supporting missions. They worked as missionaries in Angola until 1936, and their children and grandchildren remained in Angola and Zimbabwe. Robert Shields, born in Ireland in 1866, moved to Angola as a missionary in 1887. There he married Lizzie Whiteside of Newry, Ireland in 1891. Lizzie died in 1895, and their son Wesley died at a young age. Shields remarried in 1895, to Louise Raven, who had moved from Chicago to join the mission in Angola. They worked in Quessua, Angola until 1902, when they moved to Luanda, Angola. Robert and Louise had five living children: Robert Dodson (born 1896), Irene Withey (born 1899), Margaret Louise (born 1902), Helen Augusta (born 1903), and Wilhelmina Taylor (born 1905). They also had a daughter, Suzanna, who died at three months from malaria.
Chronology List
| Date |
Event |
| May 21, 1866 | Robert Shields is born in Ireland. |
| 1887 | Robert Shields goes to Angola as a missionary. |
| 1891 | Robert Shields marries Lizzie Whiteside, of Newry, Ireland, in Angola. |
| 1895 | Lizzie Whiteside dies. |
| November 10, 1895 | Robert Shields marries fellow missionary Louise Raven (from Chicago) |
| September 24, 1896 | Robert Dodson Shields born. |
| October 5, 1899 | Irene Withey Shields born. |
| 1902 | Shields family moves to Luanda, Angola |
| 1902 | Margaret Louise Shields born. |
| 1902/1903 | Louise, Robert Dodson, Irene and Margaret travel to England. |
| September 3, 1903 | Helen Augusta Shields born. |
| October 1903 | Louise returns to Angola. |
| September 15, 1905 | Wilhelmina Taylor Shields born. |
| 1906 | Robert and Louise travel to England and Ireland on furlough. |
| 1912 | Robert and Louise visit their children in England on furlough. |
| 1919 | Robert and Louise visit their children in England and the United States on furlough. |
| 1920 | Robert and Louise return to Angola with Irene and Wilhelmina. Margaret and Helen remain in the United States at DePauw University. |
| 1927 | Robert and Louise travel to England on furlough. |
| 1929 | Wilhelmina Taylor Shields begins work as a teacher in Zimbabwe. |
| 1935 | Robert and Louise retire from missionary work, travel to South Africa and England. |
| April 17, 1936 | Robert dies in London after an operation for an abscessed appendix. |
| December 15, 1936 | Louise dies in Bermuda, where she had moved to live with her daughter Margaret. |
| July 15, 1938 | Wilhelmina Taylor Shields marries George Gazeley. |
