Leaving a Legacy
As leading figures in the native missionary movement, Samuel and Dandeson forged strong relationships with Henry Venn and other administrators in the Church Missionary Society in order to continue support for non-European missionaries. One of the outcomes of these friendships was the Missionary Leaves Association, founded by Mrs. Malaher, Miss. Lanfear, and R. C. Billing in 1868. The resulting publication, Missionary Leaves, became a platform through which native missionaries and their European counterparts could request lantern material. Between 1868 and 1882, Missionary Leaves would send ten lanterns to missionaries around the world; between 1883 and 1885, that number grew to sixteen. From 1885 onward, requests for lanterns and slides would grow exponentially, facilitated in part by the standardization of slide size and the increasing availability and reliability of photographic equipment. Though the lanterns went mostly to European missionaries, Missionary Leaves played a leading role in normalizing the lantern as part of the missionaries’ essential toolkit.