Decolonising York St John University: An exploration of alumni colonial missionary work across three colonies from 1913 to 1928

As early as 1892, York St John alumni have travelled the world to continue their teaching careers — whether that be independently or as a member of a missionary group. In this presentation, I will focus on four missionaries from Ripon college and their descriptions of Christian teaching practices in Canada, India, and Japan in the Ripon College Association Magazine. Although the letters written by the missionaries for the magazine do not always discuss teaching in great depth, they do give an insight into the indigenous communities and the English missionaries who taught local students. By reviewing these letters and analysing their contents, this gives an insight into Britain’s role in colonialism and how York St John alumni are connected to it. York St John University’s archives contain evidence of alumni contributing to the erasure of indigenous cultures as a way of performing a ‘noble duty’ for Britain. By analysing the language used in these letters, and the sections of their trips the missionaries choose to document, I argue that the archival material reveals the colonial impact Church of England missionary schools had on local communities. The local community in each account is othered and all four missionaries also document the erasure of indigenous culture in favour of spreading British values and an English education. The discussion of York St John’s connections to colonial teaching practices is something that is currently absent from the University’s narrative. Diving into York St John’s archives not only provides details of our links to colonial practices but provides potential for further student projects, staff training, and revisions to current teaching policies across the university, which would contribute to the wider debate of decolonising the institution. Dataset available: https://doi.org/10.25421/yorksj.32408172

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