The Mary Jane Whorton Papers includes correspondence, photographs, slides, printed materials, videos, and audio recordings related to Whorton's missionary work. Included is a range of correspondence to and from Whorton, some of which pertains to Nigeria and the Republic of Biagra. Also included are photos and slides largely from Nigeria, including photos related to Whorton's years at Newton Memorial School, Oshogbo, Nigeria and slides from the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board.
The printed materials deal with all aspects of Whorton's missionary work, including an autobiography of Mary Jane Whorton, her biography for the Foreign Mission Board, her class exercise book and gradebook from her teaching, clippings about her life, convention ribbons and nametags, and her diaries. Also included are meeting minutes, programs, brochures, maps, pamphlets about Nigeria, newspaper clippings related to missionary work in Nigeria, a directory of missionaries, and materials related to the Promised Land, a village whose residents had Hansen's disease, or leprosy. The video recordings in the collection include videos of Mary Jane Whorton accepting a donation of a grinder at Promised Land, and a videorecording for "Mama Whorton" on her birthday. Lastly, the audio recordings include recordings of Yoruba Choral Music and a missionary recording entitled "The Challenge of Africa."
Mary Jane Whorton (1927-2018) was a Southern Baptist missionary who served in Nigeria from 1953 to 1990. Whorton was born in Gadsden, Alabama, on May 18, 1927, to George Seaborn and Mary Jane (Jennie) Griffin Whorton. She graduated from Hokes Bluff High School and attended Blue Mountain Women's College in Mississippi, where she decided she wanted to become a missionary.
Whorton was appointed missionary by the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1953. She taught in several schools in Nigeria, including Baptist Women's Training College, Abeokuta (1955), Elam Memorial School, Shaki (1956), Reagan Memorial School, Lagos (1957-58), Baptist Girls High School, Osogbo (1959-60), Newton Memorial School, a boarding school for missionary children, Osogbo (1961-69), and Nigerian Baptist Theological Seminary, Ogbomosho (1976). She also served in administrative positions, including as administrative secretary for the Nigerian Baptist Convention office, Ibadan (1969-75) and as office coordinator and secretary for Executive Secretary for Baptist Mission, 1989. Whorton was involved with the Promised Land (a village whose residents had Hansen's disease, or leprosy) and its church, Goldie Baptist Church.
Whorton retired from the International Mission Board, Southern Baptist Convention, in 1990. After retirement she continued to serve students at the International House, on the campus of Gadsden State College. Mary Jane Whorton died on December 13, 2018, at the age of 91.
