Justin Perkins (AC 1829), missionary, was born in 1805 near Holyoke, Massachusetts. He spent his childhood on his father's farm and at the age of eighteen responded to a revival that influenced him to enter the ministry. He attended Amherst College and upon graduating, taught for a year at Amherst Academy. He then spent two years at Andover Theological Seminary, tutored for a year at Amherst College, and then returned to Andover to finish his theological course.

In 1833, Perkins was married and the American Board of Missions commissioned him to work in Persia among the Nestorians. He traveled to Oroomiah, Persia and set up a mission there. He stayed with this mission for more than thirty years, with intermittent visits home, until he died in 1869.

The collection contains a body of correspondence to Perkins with letters from men well known in his field at the time. Letters are included from Edwin E. Bliss (AC 1837, 4 letters), Harrison Gray Otis Dwight (10), Fidelia Fiske (8), William Goodell (8), Cyrus Hamlin (4), Elias Riggs (AC 1829, 3), William G. Schauffler (10), Benjamin Schneider (AC 1830, 8), Horatio Southgate (7), and William S. Tyler (AC 1830, 8). It also contains eighteen manuscript sermons by Perkins, a few lectures and notes, some newspaper clippings and pamphlets, and some bound manuscripts - mostly letters and journals.

This collection is organized into four series:

• 1. Correspondence
• 2. Sermons, Lectures and Notes
• 3. Printed Materials
• 4. Bound Manuscripts