Collection is open for research.
Donated to the Whitman College and Northwest Archives by Genevieve Mayberry on April 14, 1981. The accession number associated with this donation is retro-0490.
James Maupin Cornelison was born on November 8, 1876 to Howard and Jane Cornelison in Kentucky. James graduated from Central University, went on to the San Francisco Seminary as a graduate student, and later received an honorary doctorate from Danville Kentucky Theological Seminary in 1941. James was a missionary to the Umatilla Native Americans in Pendleton, Oregon beginning in 1899. He translated and transcribed grammar of the Umatilla tribes and eventually wrote a dictionary with over 20,000 words included. He enlisted during World War One, where he served with the Young Men's Christian Association for 18 months in Belgium and France. He was also a founding member of the Boy Scouts. James was married to Celestine Moorhouse and they had two children, Purdy Cornelison and Mary Jane Buffum.
The the James Maupin Cornelison Papers span from 1910 through 1958. It contains a published pamphlet, "Weyekin Stories," and a typed manuscript of "The Seed of the Martyrs." It also includes photocopies of Cornelison together with other graduate students at the San Francisco Theological Seminary. This collection gives an insight into the life of a missionary, and the perceptions of Umatilla tribes and their extensive language.