Protestants Abroad: How Missionaries Tried to Change the World but Changed America

They sought to transform the globe and ended up transforming modern America

Between the 1890s and the Vietnam era, many thousands of American Protestant missionaries were sent to live throughout the non-European world. Their experience abroad made many of these missionaries and their children critical of racism, imperialism, and religious orthodoxy. When they returned home, they brought new liberal values back to their own society. David Hollinger reveals the untold story of how these missionary-connected individuals left an enduring mark on American public life as writers, diplomats, academics, church officials, publishers, foundation executives, and social activists. Protestants Abroad reveals the crucial role they played in the development of modern American liberalism, and shows how they helped other Americans reimagine their nation’s place in the world.