हिन्दू at 23:50, 12 December 2025

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{{Short description|American educator and writer (1893–1966)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Charlotte C. Wyckoff
| image = CharlotteCWyckoff1915.png
| alt = A young white woman with dark hair, in an oval frame
| caption = Charlotte C. Wyckoff, from a 1915 publication
| birth_name =
| birth_date = April 30, 1893
| birth_place = Kodaikanal, India
| death_date = July 22, 1966 (age 73)
| death_place = New York City, U.S.
| other_names =
| occupation = Missionary, educator, writer
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse(s) =
| relatives =
}}

'''Charlotte Chandler Wyckoff''' (April 30, 1893 – July 22, 1966) was an American writer and missionary educator, based in India.

==Early life and education==
Wyckoff was born in [[Kodaikanal]], Tamil Nadu, the daughter of John Henry Wyckoff<ref>{{Cite news |date=1915-04-29 |title=Dr. John Wyckoff Dies in India |pages=2 |work=The Central New Jersey Home News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-central-new-jersey-home-news-dr-joh/18904439/ |access-date=2023-11-04 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite news |date=1939-03-06 |title=Wyckoff Family Holds Reunion |pages=7 |work=The Central New Jersey Home News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-central-new-jersey-home-news-wyckoff/134604429/ |access-date=2023-11-04 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> and Gertrude Abigail Chandler Wyckoff. Her parents were American missionaries from the [[Dutch Reformed Church]] tradition.<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 1, 1915 |title=Dr.Wyckoff Dies in India; A Missionary of Dutch Reformed Church for More Than 40 Years |language=en |pages=13 |work=The New York Times |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.comhttp//timesmachine.content-tagging.us-east-1-01.prd.dvsp.nyt.net/timesmachine/1915/05/01/104646472.html?pageNumber=13 |access-date=2023-11-04}}</ref> Her mother was also born in India, the sister of missionary John Scudder Chandler.<ref>{{Cite news |last= |first= |date=1934-06-21 |title=Dr. J. S. Chandler, Missionary, Dies; Linguist, 55 Years in India, Was Translator of English Works Into Native Tongue |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/06/21/archives/dr-j-s-chandler-missionary-dies-linguist-55-years-in-india-was.html |access-date=2023-11-04 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Wyckoff graduated from her mother's ''alma mater'', [[Wellesley College]], in 1915,<ref>Wellesley College, ''[https://archive.org/details/wellesleylegenda1915bost/page/180/mode/2up?q=Wyckoff Legenda]'' (1915 yearbook): 181. via Internet Archive.</ref> and pursued further studies at [[Columbia University]].<ref name=":0">[https://books.google.com/books?id=06VAYwCAJaEC&dq=%22Charlotte%20Chandler%20Wyckoff%22&pg=RA9-PA11 "Miss Charlotte C. Wyckoff"] ''The Mission Gleaner'' 32(10)(October 1915): 11.</ref> Her older brother, John Henry Wyckoff Jr., was a cardiology professor, and dean of the medical school at [[New York University]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=John Henry Wyckoff, Jr. |url=https://archives.med.nyu.edu/taxonomy/term/2232 |access-date=2023-11-04 |website=The Lillian & Clarence de la Chapelle Medical Archives, New York University}}</ref>

==Career==
Wyckoff used her language and cultural skills (she was a fluent Tamil speaker) to join her widowed mother's mission work in [[Arcot, Tamil Nadu|Arcot]], India.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=1962-03-22 |title=Miss Wyckoff Speaks |pages=17 |work=The News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-miss-wyckoff-speaks/134604278/ |access-date=2023-11-04 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> She also taught at [[Women's Christian College, Chennai|Women's Christian College]] in Madras (Chennai).<ref>{{Cite journal |date=April 1917 |title=Alumnae Notes: 1915 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XMkgAAAAMAAJ&dq=Charlotte+Wyckoff+Wellesley&pg=PA224 |journal=The Wellesley Alumnae Quarterly |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=224}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |date=June 1917 |title=Madras Union College for Women |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XMkgAAAAMAAJ&dq=Charlotte+Wyckoff+Wellesley&pg=PA224 |journal=Life and Light for Heathen Women |volume=47 |pages=251–252}}</ref> In the 1940s, she organized and ran a rural center in [[Mattathur]], supported by donations from American church groups.<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 6, 1948 |title=Congregation to Hear Woman Missionary |language=en |pages=14 |work=The New York Times |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.comhttp//timesmachine.content-tagging.us-east-1-01.prd.dvsp.nyt.net/timesmachine/1948/03/06/86895308.html?pageNumber=14 |access-date=2023-11-04}}</ref> Her program included a school, a day nursery, evening classes, and a dispensary.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1944-06-08 |title=Wyckoff Church School to Support Day Nursery in South India |pages=4 |work=The News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-wyckoff-church-school-to-suppor/134604536/ |access-date=2023-11-04 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1942-07-17 |title=Mud Hut is Good Style in India; Missionary Doesn't Miss Chance to Help Them 24 Hours a Day |pages=10 |work=Tulsa Herald All-Church Press |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/tulsa-herald-all-church-press-mud-hut-is/134604617/ |access-date=2023-11-04 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

Wyckoff spoke to American audiences about her missionary work on furlough visits in 1939<ref name=":2" /> and 1948.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1948-02-14 |title=Missionary from India at Old First; Lord's Prayer Theme of World Prayer Day Observance Here |pages=3 |work=The Herald-News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-herald-news-missionary-from-india-at/134604825/ |access-date=2023-11-04 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

==Publications==
Wyckoff wrote novels, stories, and non-fiction with Indian themes. She wrote several pamphlets for church distribution, about her work in India. "Charlotte C. Wyckoff, who knows her subject well, has succeeded in turning out another of those sugar-coated pills of knowledge that is 'good stuff' for school children to absorb," wrote one reviewer in 1933.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1933-12-02 |title=Review of ''Jothy'' by Charlotte C. Wyckoff |pages=18 |work=The Minneapolis Star |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-minneapolis-star-review-of-jothy/134604209/ |access-date=2023-11-04 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
* "Mr. Eddy in Vellore" (1916, article about [[Sherwood Eddy]])<ref>Wyckoff, Charlotte Chandler. [https://books.google.com/books?id=06VAYwCAJaEC&dq=%22Charlotte+Chandler+Wyckoff%22&pg=RA13-PA1 "Mr. Eddy in Vellore"] ''The Mission Gleaner'' 33(2)(February 1916): 1-5.</ref>
* "Teaching high school in India" (1916, pamphlet)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wyckoff |first=Charlotte Chandler |url=http://archive.org/details/teachinghighscho00wyck |title=Teaching high school in India |date=1916 |publisher=New York : Woman's Board of Foreign Missions, Reformed Church of America |others=Columbia University Libraries}}</ref>
* "The Call for Leaders''"'' (1918, pamphlet)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wyckoff |first=Charlotte Chandler |url=http://archive.org/details/callforleaders00wyck |title=The call for leaders |date= |publisher=New York : Woman's Board of Foreign Missions, R.C.A |others=Columbia University Libraries; Reformed Church in America; Women's Board of Foreign Missions}}</ref>
* "The Jungle Child" (1923, story)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wyckoff |first=Charlotte Chandler |date=1923-04-01 |title=The Jungle Child |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NlIRAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22Charlotte+Chandler+Wyckoff%22&pg=PA492 |access-date=2023-11-04 |website=The Atlantic |pages=492–496 |language=en}}</ref>
* "Out of the Chysalis" (1930, pamphlet)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wyckoff |first=Charlotte Chandler |url=http://archive.org/details/outofchrysalis00wyck |title=Out of the Chrysalis |date=1930 |publisher=[New York] : [Woman's Board of Foreign Missions] |others=Columbia University Libraries}}</ref>
* "Vadakku-Pattrai: Conditions in the front-line trenches" (1930, pamphlet)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wyckoff |first=Charlotte Chandler |url=http://archive.org/details/vadakkupattraico00wyck |title=Vadakku-Pattrai : conditions in the front-line trenches |date=1930 |publisher=New York : Woman's Board of Foreign Missions, Reformed Church in America |others=Columbia University Libraries}}</ref>
* ''Jothy, a Story of the South Indian Jungle'' (1933, novel, illustrated by [[Kurt Wiese]])<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 27, 1934 |title=Review of ''Jothy: A Story of the South Indian Jungle'' by Charlotte Chandler Wyckoff, illustrated by Kurt Wiese |language=en |pages=44 |work=The New York Times |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.comhttp//timesmachine.content-tagging.us-east-1-01.prd.dvsp.nyt.net/timesmachine/1934/05/27/94533181.html?pageNumber=44 |access-date=2023-11-04}}</ref>
* "Up the School Steps" (1938)<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/upschoolsteps00unse |title=Up the school steps |date=1938 |publisher=New York, N.Y. : Woman's Board of Foreign Missions, Reformed Church in America |others=Columbia University Libraries |pages=4–9 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>
* ''One Fold and One Shepherd'' (1939)
* ''"Good out of Nazareth?": A program on village work'' (1939)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wyckoff |first=Charlotte Chandler |url=http://archive.org/details/goodoutofnazaret00wyck |title="Good out of Nazareth?" : a program on village work |date=1939 |publisher=New York, N.Y. : Woman's Board of Foreign Missions, Reformed Church in America |others=Columbia University Libraries}}</ref>
* ''Kodaikanal 1845-1945'' (1945)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wyckoff |first=Charlotte Chandler |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PB6tSgAACAAJ |title=Kodaikanal, 1845-1945 |date=1945 |publisher=London Mission Press |language=en}}</ref>
* ''American Arcot Mission'' (1953)
* ''Kumar'' (1965, novel, illustrated by [[Robin Jacques]])<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rama Rau |first=Santha |date=July 25, 1965 |title=Review of ''Kumar'', by Charlotte Chandler Wyckoff, Illustrated by Robin Jacques. |language=en |work=The New York Times |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.comhttp//timesmachine.content-tagging.us-east-1-01.prd.dvsp.nyt.net/timesmachine/1965/07/25/96710479.html?pageNumber=99 |access-date=2023-11-04}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Wyckoff retired and moved to the United States in 1960, and lived in [[Bound Brook, New Jersey]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=1962-02-01 |title=Plan Talk on India |pages=15 |work=The Central New Jersey Home News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-central-new-jersey-home-news-plan-ta/134591616/ |access-date=2023-11-04 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> In retirement she remained active, speaking to church groups about her life in India.<ref name=":1" /> She died in 1966, at the age of 73.<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 26, 1966 |title=Charlotte Wyckoff |pages=32 |work=The New York Times |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1966/07/26/issue.html |access-date=November 3, 2023}}</ref> A restaurant in Kodaikanal is named Wyckoff's Dining Room by Chef Shadab who discovered about Wyckoff via many archives available online & other information gathered from oldest residents of Kodaikanal, the hotel villa retreat was home to Wyckoff's family until 1960, in reference to Charlotte C. Wyckoff.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wyckoff's Dining Room |url=https://villaretreat.com/wyckoffs-dining-room/ |access-date=2023-11-04 |website=Villa Retreat |language=en-US}}</ref>

==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wyckoff, Charlotte C.}}
[[Category:1893 births]]
[[Category:1966 deaths]]
[[Category:American missionaries in India]]
[[Category:Wellesley College alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century American women writers]]

Charlotte C. Wyckoff - Revision history

हिन्दू at 23:50, 12 December 2025