Margaret Nicholl Laird
Encyclopedia
Margaret Nicholl Laird (31 July 1897 – June 1983) was an American missionary of the Baptist
Mid-Missions who worked in the French
colony of Ubangi-Shari and independent Central African Republic
(CAR) from 1922 until the 1960s. She was one of the founders and longest serving missionaries of the Baptist Mid-Missions
in the CAR. In recognition of her service as a medical missionary and her many other activities in the CAR, Margaret was awarded the French Legion of Honor (1952), the Central African Republic Knight of the Order of Merit (1961), the Distinguished Alumni of the Year of the Women's College of Colorado (1962), and the Anna Eleanor Roosevelt
Memorial Award for the Daughters of Hadassah (1962).
to a Finnish Lutheran mother and an Irish
Episcopalian father, Margaret was baptized in the Lutheran Church three days after birth. She attended Colorado Women's College
in Denver, Colorado, where she joined the Bible class of one of her teachers, Miss Jessie Robbins. On 16 September 1917, she entered Moody Bible School, from which she graduated in on 7 August 1919. She then returned to Denver to study to be a nurse in order to qualify as a medical missionary. Although offered a salary by several evangelical missionary societies, she was inspired by the example of Hudson Taylor
, founder of the China Inland Mission
, to became a faith mission
ary, with no regular income. With the initial financial support of the Hoover family of her church in Englewood, Colorado
, Margaret decided to join Reverend William Haas who was organizing a Baptist Mid-Missions missionary group to start work in the French colony of Ubangi-Shari.
asked the Lairds to open a mission station among the Banda
people of central Ubangi-Shari at a town called Ippy in Ouaka
Region. The French wanted the Lairds to help gain the trust of the Banda in this region where diamonds and gold had been found and was beginning to be exploited. So the Lairds moved to Ippy where Margaret worked as a nurse until 1964. The dispensary she helped establish at Ippy became an important medical center for the whole region. She described her life as a missionary in the CAR in a book entitled They Called Me Mama (1975).
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
Mid-Missions who worked in the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
colony of Ubangi-Shari and independent Central African Republic
Central African Republic
The Central African Republic , is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It borders Chad in the north, Sudan in the north east, South Sudan in the east, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo in the south, and Cameroon in the west. The CAR covers a land area of about ,...
(CAR) from 1922 until the 1960s. She was one of the founders and longest serving missionaries of the Baptist Mid-Missions
Baptist Mid-Missions
Baptist Mid-Missions is an independent, Baptist, fundamentalist mission agency based in Cleveland, Ohio that supports over one thousand Baptist missionaries in fifty countries around the world, in all six inhabited continents. Originally named The General Council of Co-operating Baptist Missions...
in the CAR. In recognition of her service as a medical missionary and her many other activities in the CAR, Margaret was awarded the French Legion of Honor (1952), the Central African Republic Knight of the Order of Merit (1961), the Distinguished Alumni of the Year of the Women's College of Colorado (1962), and the Anna Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international...
Memorial Award for the Daughters of Hadassah (1962).
Childhood and early adulthood
Born Margaret Suzanne Nicholl in Englewood, ColoradoEnglewood, Colorado
The city of Englewood is a Home Rule Municipality located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, United States. As of 2007, the city is estimated to have a total population of 32,532. Englewood is part of the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Area. Englewood is located in the South Platte River Valley east of the...
to a Finnish Lutheran mother and an Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
Episcopalian father, Margaret was baptized in the Lutheran Church three days after birth. She attended Colorado Women's College
Colorado Women's College
Colorado Woman's College was a private woman's college located in Denver, Colorado. It was opened in 1909 and closed in 1982 when its assets were acquired by the University of Denver.-History:CWC was founded by the Rev...
in Denver, Colorado, where she joined the Bible class of one of her teachers, Miss Jessie Robbins. On 16 September 1917, she entered Moody Bible School, from which she graduated in on 7 August 1919. She then returned to Denver to study to be a nurse in order to qualify as a medical missionary. Although offered a salary by several evangelical missionary societies, she was inspired by the example of Hudson Taylor
Hudson Taylor
James Hudson Taylor , was a British Protestant Christian missionary to China, and founder of the China Inland Mission . Taylor spent 51 years in China...
, founder of the China Inland Mission
China Inland Mission
OMF International is an interdenominational Protestant Christian missionary society, founded in Britain by Hudson Taylor on 25 June 1865.-Overview:...
, to became a faith mission
Faith mission
Faith mission is a term used most frequently among evangelical Christians to refer to a missionary organization with an approach to evangelism that encourages its missionaries to "trust in God to provide the necessary resources" These missionaries are said to "live by faith."Most faith...
ary, with no regular income. With the initial financial support of the Hoover family of her church in Englewood, Colorado
Englewood, Colorado
The city of Englewood is a Home Rule Municipality located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, United States. As of 2007, the city is estimated to have a total population of 32,532. Englewood is part of the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Area. Englewood is located in the South Platte River Valley east of the...
, Margaret decided to join Reverend William Haas who was organizing a Baptist Mid-Missions missionary group to start work in the French colony of Ubangi-Shari.
First years in Ubangi-Shari
After briefly studying French in Paris, she traveled to Ubangi-Shari and arrived in the town of Fort-Sibut in 1922, where she joined Baptist Mid-Mission missionary Rosenau. After studying the Sango language at Fort-Sibut for only four months, she was asked by the director of the mission, Mr. Haas, to move to the town of Bangassou in southeastern CAR to run a French school which the French colonial administration wanted to have opened there. In Bonjanou she came to know another missionary named Guy Laird, a widower with a young son named Lawrence. Although initially reluctant to marry a man who had already had another wife, she soon overcame these reservations and married Guy Laird in 1924. In 1925 Margaret gave birth to Eleanor Louise, who died only four months later. In 1927, while on furlough in Englewood, Colorado, Margaret gave birth to her first daughter, Arlene, and in 1928, two weeks after returning to Fort-Sibut in Ubangi-Shari, she gave birth to a second daughter, Marian.Working as a nurse at Ippy
In 1928, Fort-Sibut’s local French administrator Félix ÉbouéFélix Éboué
Félix Adolphe Éboué was a Black French colonial administrator and Free French leader. He was the first black French man appointed to high post in the French colonies, when appointed as Governor of Guadeloupe in 1936...
asked the Lairds to open a mission station among the Banda
Banda people
Banda is an ethnic group of the Central African Republic, some of who also live in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, and South Sudan....
people of central Ubangi-Shari at a town called Ippy in Ouaka
Ouaka
Ouaka is one of the 14 prefectures of the Central African Republic. It covers an area of 49,900 km² and has a population of 224,076 , giving a population density of under 5 inhabitants/km². The capital is Bambari....
Region. The French wanted the Lairds to help gain the trust of the Banda in this region where diamonds and gold had been found and was beginning to be exploited. So the Lairds moved to Ippy where Margaret worked as a nurse until 1964. The dispensary she helped establish at Ippy became an important medical center for the whole region. She described her life as a missionary in the CAR in a book entitled They Called Me Mama (1975).