On the Edge of the Civilized World: Cyrus Hamlin and the American Missionary Work in Turkey

Year 2004, Volume: 68 Issue: 253, 671 - 686, 01.12.2004

Himmet Umunç

https://doi.org/10.37879/belleten.2004.671

Abstract

When the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions appointed Cyrus Hamlin to Istanbul as a missionary, his immediate reaction was one of enthusiasm and joy but his rooted perception of the city was that it was a place "on the borders of civilization." However, the main concern of this paper is to decribe Hamlin's philanthropic achievements as a missionary educator both with reference to the modern theory of philanthropy and within the historical context of the American missionary work in Turkey in the nineteenth century.

Keywords

Cyrus Hamlin, American Missionary, Istanbul, Turkey

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