Fonds consists of the journals of various missionaries of the Moravian Brethren including that of John Christian Ehrhardt. Also included are mission diaries, correspondence, accounts of voyages and other records tied to the London Headquarters and the Labrador Missions papers which include documents referring to missions in Labrador. Microfilmed material is located on microfilm reels A-548 to A-572 and M-484 to M-535. Textual records have been divided into the following series: Journals; London Headquarters papers; and Labrador Missions papers. Also included in fonds are travelogues and documentary films divided into a separate series entitled Moving images.
Moravian Brethren. Labrador Missions : The Moravian Church is a small protestant communion which, because of its strong ecumenical commitment, has had an influence out of all proportion to its numbers on protestant worship, evangelism, missions and theology. It traces its origins to the fifteenth century Hussite Unitas Fratrum (Unity of Brethren) in Bohemia and Moravia, but the original Brethren almost suffered extinction during the following centuries of religious persecution. The modern church derives chiefly from a group of the Brethren, under the leadership of Kristian David (1690-1751), which in 1722 obtained asylum on the estate in Saxony of the Lutheran Pietist Nikolaus Ludwig, Graf von Zinzendorf (1700-1760). There they established the present centre of their communion at Herrnhut, from which they derive their popular appellation of Herrnhuters. The emphasis of the Moravians on mission work among Indigenous peoples first brought the Brethren to North America in 1734. Their earliest settlement was at Savannah, Georgia, followed in 1740 by the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, mission which became the centre of their present Northern Province. In 1752, they extended their efforts to Labrador. The pioneer expedition, led by John Christian Ehrhardt, disappeared soon after landing, but the first of several successful missions was established at Nain in 1771. This was followed by others at Okak in 1776 and at Hopedale in 1782. Later missions were opened at Nelson, 1828; Hebron, 1829; Zoar, 1864; Ramah, 1871; Makkovik, 1896; and Killinek, 1905. Although most of the missionaries were German, finances and supplies were provided by the English Brethren through the Society for the Futherance of the Gospel.
