Jean Kenyon Mackenzie Explained

Jean Kenyon Mackenzie
Other Names:Jean K. Mackenzie
Birth Date:January 6, 1874
Birth Place:Elgin, Illinois
Death Date:September 2, 1936
Death Place:New York City
Occupation:Writer, Presbyterian missionary

Jean Kenyon Mackenzie (January 6, 1874 – September 2, 1936) was an American writer and Presbyterian missionary in West Africa.

Early life

Jean Kenyon Mackenzie was born in Elgin, Illinois, the daughter of Robert Mackenzie and Lydia Ann McLeod Mackenzie.[1] Her father was born in Scotland and was a Presbyterian clergyman.[2] She went to school at Van Ness Seminary in San Francisco, the Sorbonne, and the University of California at Berkeley, graduating from the last in 1896.[3] She was on the editorial staff on the college newspaper, The Occident, and wrote poems published there.[4] She also earned a graduate degree at Smith College.[5]

Career

Mackenzie was a missionary teacher in West Africa from 1904 to 1914,[6] under the auspices of the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church (USA). She was based in Lolodorf and Efoulan in German-occupied Kamerun, and at Baraka Station in French-occupied Gabon. She retired from the mission field for health reasons in 1914, but returned to Cameroon during World War I, as a diplomat working with missionaries, the Bulu people, and the French government.

Mackenzie wrote short stories, poems, and articles, published in American periodicals including the Atlantic Monthly[7] [8] Overland Monthly,[9] and The Perry Magazine.[10] [11] [12] [13] After her missionary years, she also wrote books,[14] many of them intended for young readers or church study groups,[15] [16] including Black Sheep: Adventures in West Africa (1916),[17] An African Trail (1917),[18] African Adventurers (1917),[19] The Story of a Fortunate Youth (1920),[20] African Lanterns (1920),[21] African Clearings (1924),[22] The Black Pioneer (1924; she wrote the introduction),[23] The Venture (1925, a collection of poems), A Lucky Lad (1926),[24] Friends of Africa (1928), and The Trader's Wife (1930, a novel).[25]

In 1923, Mackenzie was appointed to the Board of Foreign Missions, and represented the board at a mission conference in Belgium. She was also a popular lecturer to church and women's groups.[26]

Personal life

Mackenzie died in 1936, aged 62 years, at her sister's home in New York City. Her papers are in the collection of the Presbyterian Historical Society. A short biography of Mackenzie appeared as a daily devotional in A Year with American Saints (2006).[27]

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: 1936-09-03. Jean K. Mackenzie, Author, Dies at 62; Writer on Africa, Where She was Missionary. 20. Times Union. 2021-01-02. Newspapers.com.
  2. News: 1918-09-21. Famous Missionary and Writer to Talk. 16. Democrat and Chronicle. 2021-01-02. Newspapers.com.
  3. Horner, Norman A. "Mackenzie, Jean Kenyon" in Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, ed. Gerald H. Anderson (New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 1998), 425.
  4. Mackenzie. Jean Kenyon. March 12, 1896. At Dawn and The Latent (two poems). Occident. 30. 87.
  5. Web site: March 11, 2013. Jean Kenyon Mackenzie and the "Tribe of God". 2021-01-01. Presbyterian Historical Society.
  6. News: Piper. Jean. 1926-01-03. Woman Who Has Labored Among Real African Cannibals Describes Native Fashions. 74. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 2021-01-02. Newspapers.com.
  7. Mackenzie. Jean Kenyon. November 1922. The Silver Cup. The Atlantic Monthly. 130. 608–618.
  8. Mackenzie. Jean Kenyon. December 1922. The Empty House, The Trodden Ways, The Name, The White Man's Dream, The Dawn. The Atlantic Monthly. 130. 788–790.
  9. Mackenzie. Jean Kenyon. January 1899. Indian Pink. Overland Monthly. 33. 121.
  10. Mackenzie. Jean Kenyon. September 1899. A Camp of Long Ago. The Perry Magazine. 2. 28–29.
  11. Mackenzie. Jean Kenyon. March 1900. Goldsmiths and Painters. The Perry Magazine. 2. 320–321.
  12. Mackenzie. Jean Kenyon. October 1903. The Sack of Dinant. The Perry Magazine. 6. 54–57.
  13. Mackenzie. Jean Kenyon. December 1903. Saint Nicholas and the Cups. The Perry Magazine. 6. 151–152.
  14. Web site: Jean Kenyon Mackenzie (1874-1936). 2021-01-01. The Online Books Page.
  15. Millikin. B. Carter. August 1917. New United Study Books. Woman's Work. 32. 174–175.
  16. June 1917. Study Books on Africa. Missionary Review of the World. 30. 480.
  17. Book: Mackenzie, Jean Kenyon. Black sheep: Adventures in West Africa. 1916. Houghton Mifflin Company, Riverside Press Cambridge. 2027/nyp.33433068286016.
  18. Book: Mackenzie, Jean Kenyon. An African trail. The Central Committee on the United Study of Foreign Missions. 1917. West Medford, Mass.. 2027/hvd.ah5scc.
  19. Book: Mackenzie, Jean Kenyon. African adventurers. The Central Committee on the United Study of Foreign Missions. 1917. West Medford, Mass.. 2027/mdp.39015011416347.
  20. Book: Mackenzie, Jean Kenyon. The story of a fortunate youth;chapters from the biography of an elderly gentleman.. 1920. The Atlantic Monthly Press. Boston. 2027/uc2.ark:/13960/t59c73p4j.
  21. Book: Mackenzie, Jean Kenyon. African Lanterns: Sketches Written and Collected. 1920. Woman's Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.. en.
  22. Book: Mackenzie, Jean Kenyon. African clearings. 1924. Boston and New York. 2027/uc1.$b296300.
  23. Book: Mackenzie, Jean Kenyon. The black pioneer. 1924. The Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.. New York. 2027/nnc2.ark:/13960/t6b34bv6b.
  24. Book: Mackenzie, Jean Kenyon. A Lucky Lad. 1926. M. Hopkinson. en.
  25. News: 1930-03-16. 'The Trader's Wife' An Amazing Novel. 72. Hartford Courant. 2021-01-02. Newspapers.com.
  26. News: 1918-11-09. Miss Mackenzie Lecture. 6. The Montclair Times. 2021-01-02. Newspapers.com.
  27. Book: Cady. G. Scott. Year with American Saints. Webber. Christopher L.. Church Publishing, Inc.. 2006. 978-0-89869-798-8. 449. en.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Jean Kenyon Mackenzie".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.