Missionary’s typewriter documented BIC history

Deep in the Archives of Messiah College, which houses the Archives of the Brethren in Christ Church, is a typewriter. The portable Blickensderfer No. 6 typewriter belonged to Brethren in Christ missionary Sarah Bert. Born near Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, in 1860, she moved to Chicago as an adult to share the gospel and minister to the poor.

In Morris E. Sider’s book “Nine Portraits,” Bert’s appointment as a mission superintendent in 1905 is noted as “a significant illustration of the history of the Brethren in Christ missionary activities.” Previously, only men had been appointed as superintendents, but Bert had significant experience in city missions. Her appointment, while unusual at the time, became “illustrative of the opportunities that the new mission program … would soon open to women in the denomination.”

As part of her duties, Bert typed up The Evangelical Visitor, the mission’s report of its financial and spiritual success that was read across the U.S. She wrote of “great praise for the donors of the gifts, as well as assurance that all was used for the salvation of souls.”

The newsletter traveled as far as Central Pennsylvania, where Messiah Bible School and Missionary Training Home, which later became Messiah College, would be encouraged by the efforts of its brothers and sisters.

— Sarah Fertsch ’19