Ninde Gamewell - Views Taken in China 1909-1911

Photograph of
Tomb of Confucius.
1909–1911.

Photograph of Upper
Yangtse junk.
1909–1911.

Photograph of Water
Works of Chengtu.
1909–1911.

Photograph of villagers
lined up along the road.
1909–1911.

Photograph of our parlor.
1909–1911.

Wall and stairs leading
to the Bund at Kiukiang.
1909–1911.

About the Collection

Holding library: Bridwell Library

View more collections owned by Bridwell Library

Mary Ninde Gamewell (1858–1947) married Frank D. Gamewell (1857–1950) in 1909 and the couple worked as missionaries in China for many years thereafter. This collection is comprised of photographs included in the photograph album titled, “Views Taken in China 1909–1911”.

Mary was the daughter of William X. Ninde (1832–1901) and Elizabeth S. Falley (d. 1903). Reverend William X. Ninde taught practical theology at Garrett Biblical Institute in Evanston, Illinois from 1873 to 1876 and also served as the school’s president from 1879 until 1884, when he was elected Bishop. As bishop, Ninde traveled widely and was a member of the 1881 and 1891 pan-Methodist ecumenical conferences.

Mary Ninde Gamewell devoted much of her life to missionary work. She wrote a biography of her father, William Xavier Ninde: a Memorial (1902), and three books on her experiences as a missionary: Gateway to China (1916), New Life Currents in China (1919), and Ming-Kwong: City of the Morning Light (1924). Frank D. Gamewell (1857-1950), a civil engineer and educator, was active in Methodist mission work from 1881 to 1930 serving as professor, principal, and acting president of Peking University; superintendent of education for the Methodist Church in all of China; executive of the China Educational Association; and associate secretary of the Methodist Episcopal Church Board of Missions. Frank Gamewell received world acclaim for organizing the defense of the Methodist Mission in Peking (Beijing) during the Boxer Rebellion of 1900. His first wife, Mary Porter Gamewell (1848-1906), was the fourth appointee of the Methodist Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society and the first to go to China.

The photograph album titled "Views Taken in China 1909–1911" was digitized in 2017. A finding aid is available at Texas Archival Resources Online titled "F.D. Leete Collection on William Xavier Ninde Family". For more information about the collection, please contact Bridwell Library Special Collections.