Carmelite Brewer Christie
Carmelite Brewer Christie | |
|---|---|
| Born | Sarah Carmelite Brewer April 25, 1852 Lee Center, Lee, Illinois |
| Died | October 17, 1931 (aged 79) Eagle Rock, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Missionary, educator |
| Years active | 1871-1920 |
| Known for | Assisting Armenians in 1895, 1909 and 1915-1919 in Tarsus Turkey |
| Notable work | Letters & diaries about her daily life in Turkey in both peace and troubled times |
Carmelite Brewer Christie was a Congregational missionary in the Ottoman Empire from 1877 to 1920 and served as the acting president of the St. Paul's College during World War I. She was the college's sole American caretaker, though her husband Thomas Davidson Christie was the named president.
Christie's letters and diaries are part of the Minnesota Historical Society Christie Collection and provide a first-hand account of the Armenian massacre of 1895, Ottoman Turkish politics in the pre- and post-World War I era, the Armenian genocide of 1915 and its aftermath. During the Adana massacre, she refused to abandon the school, students and refugees who had fled there, guarding up to 5,000 people under her protection and hoisting the American flag.