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Charlotte C. Wyckoff

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Charlotte C. Wyckoff
A young white woman with dark hair, in an oval frame
Charlotte C. Wyckoff, from a 1915 publication
BornApril 30, 1893
Kodaikanal, India
DiedJuly 22, 1966 (age 73)
New York City, U.S.
Occupation(s)Missionary, educator, writer

Charlotte Chandler Wyckoff (April 30, 1893 – July 22, 1966) was an American writer and missionary educator, based in India.

Early life and education

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Wyckoff was born in Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu, the daughter of John Henry Wyckoff[1][2] and Gertrude Abigail Chandler Wyckoff. Her parents were American missionaries from the Dutch Reformed Church tradition.[3] Her mother was also born in India, the sister of missionary John Scudder Chandler.[4]

Wyckoff graduated from her mother's alma mater, Wellesley College, in 1915,[5] and pursued further studies at Columbia University.[6] Her older brother, John Henry Wyckoff Jr., was a cardiology professor, and dean of the medical school at New York University.[7]

Career

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Wyckoff used her language and cultural skills (she was a fluent Tamil speaker) to join her widowed mother's mission work in Arcot, India.[6][8] She also taught at Women's Christian College in Madras (Chennai).[9][10] In the 1940s, she organized and ran a rural center in Mattathur, supported by donations from American church groups.[11] Her program included a school, a day nursery, evening classes, and a dispensary.[12][13]

Wyckoff spoke to American audiences about her missionary work on furlough visits in 1939[2] and 1948.[14]

Publications

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Wyckoff wrote novels, stories, and non-fiction with Indian themes. She wrote several pamphlets for church distribution, about her work in India. "Charlotte C. Wyckoff, who knows her subject well, has succeeded in turning out another of those sugar-coated pills of knowledge that is 'good stuff' for school children to absorb," wrote one reviewer in 1933.[15]

  • "Mr. Eddy in Vellore" (1916, article about Sherwood Eddy)[16]
  • "Teaching high school in India" (1916, pamphlet)[17]
  • "The Call for Leaders" (1918, pamphlet)[18]
  • "The Jungle Child" (1923, story)[19]
  • "Out of the Chysalis" (1930, pamphlet)[20]
  • "Vadakku-Pattrai: Conditions in the front-line trenches" (1930, pamphlet)[21]
  • Jothy, a Story of the South Indian Jungle (1933, novel, illustrated by Kurt Wiese)[22]
  • "Up the School Steps" (1938)[23]
  • One Fold and One Shepherd (1939)
  • "Good out of Nazareth?": A program on village work (1939)[24]
  • Kodaikanal 1845-1945 (1945)[25]
  • American Arcot Mission (1953)
  • Kumar (1965, novel, illustrated by Robin Jacques)[26]

Personal life

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Wyckoff retired and moved to the United States in 1960, and lived in Bound Brook, New Jersey.[27] In retirement she remained active, speaking to church groups about her life in India.[8] She died in 1966, at the age of 73.[28] A restaurant in Kodaikanal is named Wyckoff's Dining Room by Chef Shadab who discovered about Wyckoff via many archives available online & other information gathered from oldest residents of Kodaikanal, the hotel villa retreat was home to Wyckoff's family until 1960, in reference to Charlotte C. Wyckoff.[29]

References

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  1. ^ "Dr. John Wyckoff Dies in India". The Central New Jersey Home News. 1915-04-29. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-11-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b "Wyckoff Family Holds Reunion". The Central New Jersey Home News. 1939-03-06. p. 7. Retrieved 2023-11-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Dr.Wyckoff Dies in India; A Missionary of Dutch Reformed Church for More Than 40 Years". The New York Times. May 1, 1915. p. 13. Retrieved 2023-11-04.
  4. ^ "Dr. J. S. Chandler, Missionary, Dies; Linguist, 55 Years in India, Was Translator of English Works Into Native Tongue". The New York Times. 1934-06-21. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-11-04.
  5. ^ Wellesley College, Legenda (1915 yearbook): 181. via Internet Archive.
  6. ^ a b "Miss Charlotte C. Wyckoff" The Mission Gleaner 32(10)(October 1915): 11.
  7. ^ "John Henry Wyckoff, Jr". The Lillian & Clarence de la Chapelle Medical Archives, New York University. Retrieved 2023-11-04.
  8. ^ a b "Miss Wyckoff Speaks". The News. 1962-03-22. p. 17. Retrieved 2023-11-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Alumnae Notes: 1915". The Wellesley Alumnae Quarterly. 1 (3): 224. April 1917.
  10. ^ "Madras Union College for Women". Life and Light for Heathen Women. 47: 251–252. June 1917.
  11. ^ "Congregation to Hear Woman Missionary". The New York Times. March 6, 1948. p. 14. Retrieved 2023-11-04.
  12. ^ "Wyckoff Church School to Support Day Nursery in South India". The News. 1944-06-08. p. 4. Retrieved 2023-11-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Mud Hut is Good Style in India; Missionary Doesn't Miss Chance to Help Them 24 Hours a Day". Tulsa Herald All-Church Press. 1942-07-17. p. 10. Retrieved 2023-11-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Missionary from India at Old First; Lord's Prayer Theme of World Prayer Day Observance Here". The Herald-News. 1948-02-14. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-11-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Review of Jothy by Charlotte C. Wyckoff". The Minneapolis Star. 1933-12-02. p. 18. Retrieved 2023-11-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ Wyckoff, Charlotte Chandler. "Mr. Eddy in Vellore" The Mission Gleaner 33(2)(February 1916): 1-5.
  17. ^ Wyckoff, Charlotte Chandler (1916). Teaching high school in India. Columbia University Libraries. New York : Woman's Board of Foreign Missions, Reformed Church of America.
  18. ^ Wyckoff, Charlotte Chandler. The call for leaders. Columbia University Libraries; Reformed Church in America; Women's Board of Foreign Missions. New York : Woman's Board of Foreign Missions, R.C.A.
  19. ^ Wyckoff, Charlotte Chandler (1923-04-01). "The Jungle Child". The Atlantic. pp. 492–496. Retrieved 2023-11-04.
  20. ^ Wyckoff, Charlotte Chandler (1930). Out of the Chrysalis. Columbia University Libraries. [New York] : [Woman's Board of Foreign Missions].
  21. ^ Wyckoff, Charlotte Chandler (1930). Vadakku-Pattrai : conditions in the front-line trenches. Columbia University Libraries. New York : Woman's Board of Foreign Missions, Reformed Church in America.
  22. ^ "Review of Jothy: A Story of the South Indian Jungle by Charlotte Chandler Wyckoff, illustrated by Kurt Wiese". The New York Times. May 27, 1934. p. 44. Retrieved 2023-11-04.
  23. ^ Up the school steps. Columbia University Libraries. New York, N.Y. : Woman's Board of Foreign Missions, Reformed Church in America. 1938. pp. 4–9 – via Internet Archive.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  24. ^ Wyckoff, Charlotte Chandler (1939). "Good out of Nazareth?" : a program on village work. Columbia University Libraries. New York, N.Y. : Woman's Board of Foreign Missions, Reformed Church in America.
  25. ^ Wyckoff, Charlotte Chandler (1945). Kodaikanal, 1845-1945. London Mission Press.
  26. ^ Rama Rau, Santha (July 25, 1965). "Review of Kumar, by Charlotte Chandler Wyckoff, Illustrated by Robin Jacques". The New York Times. Retrieved 2023-11-04.
  27. ^ "Plan Talk on India". The Central New Jersey Home News. 1962-02-01. p. 15. Retrieved 2023-11-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. ^ "Charlotte Wyckoff". The New York Times. July 26, 1966. p. 32. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
  29. ^ "Wyckoff's Dining Room". Villa Retreat. Retrieved 2023-11-04.
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