Billy Graham Center
Archives

Papers of Raymond A. & Lillian Braun - Collection 552


[Note: What follows is a description of the documents in this collection which are available for use at BGC Archives in Wheaton, Illinois, USA. The actual documents are not, in most cases, available online, only this description of them. Nor are they available for sale or rent.]

Table of Contents

Brief Description of This Collection

Title Page and Restrictions

Biographies of Raymond and Lillian Braun

An Essay on the Contents of the Collection (Scope and Content)

List of Photographs in This Collection (Location Records)

List of the Contents of Boxes of Paper Records in This Collection (Container List)


 Brief Description.
Correspondence and other papers of the Brauns, missionaries with Baptist Mid-Missions in the Central African Republic between 1926 and 1972; also includes photographs, manuscripts, reports, etc., a few papers of Lillian's brother Paul Young, letters from fellow missionaries in Africa and a friend in India, and some material on missions in South America, particularly Ecuador, where Paul worked. Correspondence predominates, much of it describing the Brauns' everyday life and work.

Collection 552 [June 21, 2001]
Braun, Raymond Albert; 1894-1962
Braun, Lillian Isabelle (Young); 1901-1975
Papers; 1923-1975
 3 DC (1.1 cubic feet), Photographs

Restrictions: None

Biographies
Full name: Raymond Albert Braun
Birth date: January 26, 1894
Death date: June 18, 1962
Family:

Conversion: As a child, between the ages of five and seven.
Education:
Career:
Other significant information: Raymond's older brother, Milton with his wife Mary (Lillian's sister) were missionaries in China.

Full name: Lillian Isabelle (Young) Braun
Birth date: November 16, 1901 Death date: November 1975
Family:

Conversion: At Union Gospel Church, Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, January 5, 1913
Education:
Career:
Other significant information: Lillian's brothers William, Tom and Paul were also ministers, and Paul served as a missionary in Ecuador and Peru.

Full Name: Paul Young
Birth Date: ---
Death Date: 1983
Family:

Conversion: ---
Education: ---
Career: Went to Ecuador in 1918; also worked in Peru and Puerto Rico
Other significant information: Paul was Lillian Braun's brother

Scope & Content

Arrangement: Alphabetical by form of document. Although some material when received was foldered with some description of the contents, there was no discernable established order to the papers when they were received and the processor provided the order and folder titles.
Date range: 1926-1975
Volume: 1.1 cubic feet)
Boxes: 3 (30 folders)
Geographic coverage: United States, France, Congo, Central African Republic, Chad, Ecuador, Peru, Puerto Rico
Type of documents: Personal letters, unpublished sermons, meeting minutes, poems and articles, annual reports, booklets, printed materials
Correspondents: Raymond and Lillian Braun, Milton and Mary Young, Paul Young (Lillian Braun's brother), other family members, fellow missionaries
Subjects: Missionary work in Africa and South America, and life and culture of the people of Central Africa
Notes: The bulk of the collection consists of letters written by Raymond and Lillian Braun to their families (primarily to Milton and Mary Braun), friends, and the individuals and churches who supported their ministry; also included are letters they received from others. These letters were written as early as their departure for and while traveling into Africa. It appears that Raymond made several copies of the letters for circulation back home, as well as for his own files. Some duplicates were removed from the collection by the processor. In the letters the Brauns described in detail their life and ministry in French Equatorial Africa, the customs and activities of the Africans, the surrounding vegetation and insect life, and recounted anecdotes relating to their work and living conditions. Often their letters decry the difficult mail situation, and they always thank their friends and supporters for their prayers and gifts. As might be expected, these letters among family members are more candid than those designed for public consumption. The volume and frequency of correspondence is greatly reduced during the World War II years; even during the war, the letters make little if any reference to world affairs or current events. Included in the collection is a small gathering of reports and papers written by Paul Young, Lillian Braun's brother.
Exceptional items: Folder 1-12 includes a copy of a mission financial report, and a set of the first year of letters that Raymond wrote from Pembe (Congo), including samples of some of his French letters to show his brother. Folder 2-1 contains letters to Mil and Mary while Raymond and Lillian were on furlough, later in France, and then in Chad and finally Fort Sibut (Central African Republic), dating from 1930 to 1939; copies of support letters are also included. Folder 2-2, covering 1940 to 1973, contains letters and copies written from Fort Sibut, and then later, letters from Lillian as she returned to Bangui after the 1962 death of Raymond. Folder 2-4 contains letters from Milton and Mary to Raymond and Lillian, in which among other things Milton discusses Mary's health. These letters were all written from the US during furloughs between 1927 and 1947. Folder 2-7 contains letters to Lillian's mother Rosa written from Pembe. The letters from other missionaries in folder 2-3 of special interest are from those who also were serving in the Central African Republic, including letters from the co-workers in Pembe updating them on happenings at the mission during the Braun's furlough, and other friends in Chad, Central African Republic, and India. The series of articles in folder 1-1 written by Raymond were possibly for submission to mission publications; there are several copies of the articles, which might indicate that he sent them to several recipients. They generally describe life in central Africa. The poems (folder 2-12) by Raymond span several years during the 1920s. Among the medical records in folder 2-9, while incomplete, is Raymond's death certificate from Orlando, Florida, . Folder 2-11 contains obituaries of both Lillian and Raymond, as well as letters of condolence. Folder 2-10 contains miscellaneous clippings, certificates and other things pertaining to the Braun's life and mission work, such as articles about their pet monkey, pages from Raymond's passport, and documents pertaining to their marriage. Folder 1-2 consists of printed bulletins and minutes from Baptist Mid-Missions, as well as Raymond's and Lillian's commissions to the mission field. Paul Young's papers (folders 2-14,15,16) pertain to his work in South America, particularly Ecuador, but touch on missions more generally in South America and especially Puerto Rico. Folder 2-16 contains annual reports from the North Andean Agency of the United Bible Society (Peru and Equador) of 1957 and 1963. The duplicated material in folders 3-1 and 3-2 relate to two African conferences held in 1966 and 1973; typescripts of messages at the first are African leaders and expatriate missionaries (including Ken Downing and Clyde Taylor), while those for the second include recommendations and reports, especially on the possibility of an African Christian education publishing house, and a typescript of S. Odunaike's address to the 1973 General Assembly of the Association of Evangelicals of Africa and Madagascar, of which the Christian Education Strategy Conference was a part.

*****

Provenance

The materials in this collection were given to the Archives of the Billy Graham Center by Carolyn (niece of the Brauns and daughter of Paul Young) and John Gillies in 1986

June 21, 2001
Accession: 86-33
Susan Hanes
P. Ericksen
R. Shuster

LOCATION RECORD
Accession: 86-33
Type of Material: Photographs
The following are located in the PHOTO FILE; request by Folder Titles (in bold) at the beginning of each entry below.

BRAUN, RAYMOND AND LILLIAN. Photos of Raymond and Lillian in Central African Republic and in the US, both with their pet monkey Burt, of Raymond showing the effects of Guinea Worm, their home, and Lillian later in life (1970s?). Also includes a large portrait photo, possibly Lillian's mother, Rosa, and several of Lillian's sister Mary, possibly with her husband Milton. 12 b&w.

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC. Photos of native African people, some showing deformities, others showing native customs. 8 b&w, 1929.

MISSIONS--CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC. Photos of boat taking missionaries on the river in Skelemba. 1 b&w.

CONTAINER LIST
Box Folder Description
1 1 Articles; 1926-1932, n.d.
1 2 Baptist Mid-Missions; 1931-1971
1 3 Biographical information; 1925?, 1962-1972
3 1 Conference: Africa Evangelical Conference, 1966
3 2 Conference: A.E.A.M Christian Education Strategy Conference; 1973
Correspondence to Family and Supporters
1 4 1926
1 5 1927
1 6 1928-1930
1 7 1931-1932
1 8 1933-1934
1 9 1935-1939
1 10 1940-1945
1 11 1946-1973
Correspondence to Milton and Mary Braun
1 12 1926-1929
2 1 1930-1939
2 2 1940-1973
2 3 Correspondence from Other Missionaries; 1929-1975
2 4 Correspondence from Milton and Mary Braun; 1927-1947
2 5 Correspondence to Paul and Berenice Young; 1928-1965
2 6 Correspondence from Paul and Berenice Young; 1962
2 7 Correspondence to Rosa B. Young; 1927-1943
2 8 Correspondence to Tom Young; 1927-1962
2 9 Medical Records; 1958-1971
2 10 Miscellaneous; 1914-1962
2 11 Obituaries; 1962, 1975
2 12 Poetry; 1922-1924
2 13 Sermons; 1938-1948, n.d.
Young, Paul
2 14 Missions, Puerto Rico; 1945-1946
15 Missions, South America; 1931-1961, n.d.
16 United Bible Society Annual Reports; 1957, 1963


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Last Revised: 6/21/01
Expiration: indefinite