Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Title
Date(s)
- 1942-1945 (Creation)
Extent
.25 cu.ft. (1 box)
Name of creator
Biographical history
Elizabeth Griffin was born on January 23, 1890 in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. Prior to becoming a missionary, she attended Atlantic Collegiate Institute, graduating with a business degree in 1907, and worked as a secretary and bookkeeper.
From 1931 to 1955, she served as the treasurer of the Missionary Diocese of the Philippines. In 1942, she was captured and placed in a Japanese-run internment camp at Los Baños Agricultural College where she remained until her rescue in 1945. After a year’s rest in New Bern, North Carolina, she returned to the Philippines and continued her missionary duties, which lasted another twenty-five years.
Ms. Griffin retired on August 1, 1955 and returned to New Bern, where she was active in the Episcopal Church Women (ECW) at Christ Church.
Elizabeth Griffin died on September 25, 1968.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
The Papers of Elizabeth Griffin contains two items: a bound manuscript volume titled “A Catalogue of the Lands, Buildings, Memorials and Institutions of the Missionary District of the Philippine Islands.”; and a small notebook of her expenditures and receipts for the communion wafers she made for various mission churches and missionaries.
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions governing access
Access to Episcopal Church records is governed by the Archives Public Access Policy. Research requests must be submitted in writing.
Technical access
Conditions governing reproduction
The Archives is able to respond to limited requests for reproductions subject to copyright restrictions, internal policy, and the condition of the source documents.
Languages of the material
- English
Scripts of the material
Language and script notes
Finding aids
Acquisition and appraisal elements
Custodial history
Accruals
Related materials elements
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related archival materials
Overseas Department. Philippines Missionary Personnel Records
East Carolina University also holds records related to Griffin’s internment, including letters from the National Council trying to secure her release; Griffin’s account of her capture and release [Elizabeth Gordan Griffin Papers (#416), Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC].
Related descriptions
Alternative identifier(s)
Description control element
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Griffin, Elizabeth Gordon (Subject)