Elmer F. Coulston Collection

Scope and Content Note
The collection consists of only a handful of documents – correspondence,
diploma, newspaper clippings – regarding the medical missionary work that Dr. Elmer
F. Coulston and his wife Leatha in Kalgan, China, where they worked until Elmer’s
untimely death at the age of 29 in 1934. Although only working there for three years,
Dr. Coulston made quite an impact in the lives of the Chinese people.
The material dates from 1930 to 1936. To add background information,
department staff have pulled together biographical information and obituaries and
added such to the collection.
The collection is organized into the following four series:
I. Correspondence
II. Documents and Photographs
III. Newspaper Clippings
IV. Biographical Information
V. Funeral banners ‐ boxed separately

Abstract: Small collection of correspondence, newspaper clippings, documents, and
photographs related to the medical work of Elmer F. and Leatha Wenke Coulston at the
North China Sanitarium and Hospital, Kalgan, China, and to his death and funeral in
1934. Also included are two, blue silk banners from Dr. Coulston’s funeral. Elmer Floyd
Coulston graduated from the College of Medical Evangelists on June 22, 1930.