Book Reviews
A
Mission of Love: Aetna Emmel and Zenas Olson in India by
Elizabeth Ann Olson Hill
Pictures and letters recently discovered from two
Americans living under the Raj in India, 1919-1927
Evan took one look at the area and stared in surprise. “Oh,” he said and remained silent for awhile. Finally he asked, “What’s in all those boxes?” “We don’t really know,” I replied, “Just some old junk I suppose.” “Do you want me to bring some boxes in?” he asked. Of course I thought that was a good idea and we selected two large cardboard boxes to bring in. The only thing written on them in black ink was SAVE. SAVE. SAVE.
Evan carried the boxes into the family room and we eagerly tore open the cartons and stared at the content. I reached in and pulled out a bundle of letters and then another bundle and another bundle. The box was full of letters and other printed material. As I examined the letters I realized they were ones that my father and mother had written home to the United States during their stay as Methodist missionaries at Baldwin Boys’ School in Bangalore, India in the 1920s.
And this is the story of how these letters were found. Now in 2013, my grandson, Benjamin Winston Hill Roberson, and I are enjoying reading about our family and the life they lived as American missionaries under the Raj. --from the preface of A Mission of Love
