Ganta United Methodist Mission School is located in Liberia

OUR HYMN OF GRATITUDE, CHALLENGE, AND A CALL TO CHRISTIAN SERVICE

1

We give our thanks to George Way and Winifred Harley,

For coming to Liberia to build Ganta Mission.

We also thank the people, who followed them to serve;

Liberians and Expatriates thanks for your servanthood.

2.

Our gratitude to donors whose gifts sustain our work.

May God support their efforts, and magnify their gifts.

Expect our faithful stewardship, as we avail their gifts;

And all provisions sent to, make Mission Possible.

3.

May God the Gracious Giver inspire us all to serve;

In multitude of labor help us to find our niche.

That we may also offer, our skills and talents too;

To people all around us, who stand in desprate needs.

4.

Are you, a nurse or doctor a teacher or preacher,

Whatever your vocation we welcome all your skills.

Proclaiming, healing, teaching, are Harleys' ways and will;

Whatever sacrifice will, enhance the Mission's goals.

5.

Send us, as God's anointed to do the tasks at hand

With Zeal and passion driven, lets contribute our share.

To efforts made before now, and those yet to unfold,

Let us make Ganta Mission,  a New Haven of God.

Words by Nya Kwiawon Taryor, Sr. Class of 1963 

The Original source of this map is from the book:  Hyla Doc in Africa  1950-1961

Edited by Elsie H. Landstrom page XII.

                          .

        Brief History of Ganta United Methodist Mission School
                                                     by 

                              Dr. Nya Kwiawon Taryor, Sr., 

       President of The Ganta United Methodist Mission School 

                               Alumni  Association, USA. 2018-
 
 Ganta United Methodist Mission School, known then as Ganta Mission School was established by Dr. George Way Harley and Winifred J. Harley in  1926. The Harleys were Methodist missionaries from America assigned by the  Methodist Episcopal Church Mission BoardTto open a new Methodist mission  station in the hinterland in Gompa, now (Ganta), formerly Central Province,  and now known as, Nimba County, Liberia.

Dr. Harley was a graduate of Harvard and Yale Universities Medical schools.  He and Winifred met at Yale when they were students there. They married and  took on the missionary assignment. The day they left the USA for Liberia, at  their farewell church service, they sang, Lead on O King Eternal, the day of  march has come.” That is one of the reasons why the tune of the Ganta  United Methodist Mission School's, School Ode has the same tune as   "Lead on O King Eternal, the Day of March has come." For them, the day  of march has come, when they shall be marching into an untested territory;  a territory where western civilization has not taken hold of the people. They  are marching into a country where western education has not reached many  people. A territory disturbed by tropical diseases such as YAWS (Frambesia),  Malaria, Hookworm, Trichuiasis, Leprosy, Leishmaniasis, Lymphatic filariasis,  Onchocerciasis, Shistosomiasis, Tuberculosis, and many more awaiting for  cure. The day of march has come when they shall build a mission that will  transform lives and physical landscapes.

Along with their pioneering tasks of medical mission building which included  the establishment of a dispensary, a hospital, a clinic, a laboratory, a leprosarium,  workshops [mechanical, electrical, saw-mill] farming and agricultural projects,  and a church, they also established the first Methodist school in the region.

In her mud hut in Ganta, Mrs. Harley started teaching a few children A. B. C.  until they moved to the new mission station. On the station, the first school  building was a “small square classroom with walls of split corkwood  [musanga Smithii] and upper portion open for light and air. The students lived  in a half-dozen native style houses, furnished with wooden beds, iron pots, and  lanterns. Boys furnished their own sleeping mats and clothes. They cooked their  own food.” Mr. Henry Miller, one of the missionaries that followed the Harleys  to Liberia, was the first instructor at the school. In the morning Mr. Miller taught  the classes and in the afternoon, the students worked at the carpentry or did other  tasks with Dr. Harley. Religious education was a part of the education.

In 1928, Henry and Kate Miller were assigned by the Board to head the Nana Kru  Mission station. Rev. R. L. Embree, a representative of the overseas Mission to  Liberia, who was also the president of CWA, (The College of West Africa) had  promised the Harleys that he was going to find a replacement for Henry Miller  but the search was very difficult especially since he was hoping to get a Liberian  teacher. Because of the difficulty in finding a Liberian teacher, Mrs. Harley took  on the teaching responsibilities. She would leave her two babies for a few hours  each day to teach at the school and spend additional few hours to help with the  patients. 

In 1930 when Rev. Embree returned from furlough, he saw a lot of changes that  have taken place on the mission station. When the Harleys were preparing to go  on their furlough, Rev. Embree brought in Cyril Henry, a young West Indian, to  head the school. Cyril Henry, previously, was in charge of the school at White  Plains, but the White Plains school was closed down. Mr. Henry was very reluctant  to take charge of the Ganta Mission School. He declined Dr. Harley’s offer, so the  Harleys had to stay for one more year until the next Methodist Conference before  leaving for their furlough. The Harley’s replacement was a teacher from Garraway  by the name of Miss Hattie Hooks. Miss Hooks was asked to come to Ganta,  leaving her school in Garraway, on the Kru Coast, which was being closed because  the Board was trying to consolidate its work in Liberia. Mrs. Harley said this about  Miss Hattie Hooks: “She proved a sincere, conscientious teacher who served Ganta  Mission well during its need.”

In 1932 when the Harleys returned from their furlough, they reported that Miss  Hattie took very good care of the mission station. The Harleys had returned with  some of their friends who expressed interest in the work at Ganta. Mrs. Harley  wrote: “There was much work to be done! Miss Hooks had responsibility for the  school and each of us took on weekly class. Alfred took the schoolboys in the  late afternoon for drill and soccer. He was to spend half the day on mission work;  and the other half he was free to go off with his paints and easel.”

By 1935, it was time for Miss Hooks to leave, but because there was no one  immediately in line to take her place, she had to remain for another year until  Elmo and Mary Taylor Tabb arrived. The Tabbs were former missionaries who  have served in the Congo. Elmo Tabb was to take over the responsibilities of the  school and the Sunday school. His service at the school was short lived after  whipping one of the students for climbing an orange tree belonging to the Mission.  Momo Massaquoi, an assistant, took charge of the school after Elmo Tabb left.  There were much difficulties during the first ten years. The Harleys needed  someone to organize the work of the school.

In 1938, on their furlough, while speaking at one of their home churches in  New Haven, Connecticut, they met Mildred Black and “B. B.” Cofield. After  hearing the Ganta Mission story, both of them wanted to join the Harleys in  the mission work.

“B.B. Cofield had come from Alabama to attend Yale Divinity School. He decided  to interrupt his training to come to work at Ganta. He went home and married  Martha Hanes, thus more than doubling his usefulness.” The Mission Board asked  them to stop first at Kakata to take charge of B.W.I. until the Phelps Stokes people  could find a permanent principal. Mildred Black sailed with the Harleys to Ganta.  Upon her arrival, and with the assistance of Momo Massaquoi, Mildred Black,  affectionately known as “Kau Black”, “organized four grades with subjects  corresponding to American standards, plus a preliminary class for beginners.” 

Mildred "Kau" Black  The Harleys and others thought that the school should stop to grade 4. This was  1938. Therefore the stone house, Hartzell Building, was built to accommodate only  four classes, a library, the principal’s office and an assembly hall upstairs. The  school operated for a few years with only 5 classes, beginner class, 1st, 2nd, 3rd  and 4th grade class. By 1950, it was decided that the standard of the  school should be elevated from 4th grade to 8th grade.  When girls started coming to the school in later years, a hostel was built  for the girls. Students, boys and girls were coming from every county and Province,  to attend Ganta mission school because news was spreading all over the country  that there was a very good school in Ganta. Alice Blegay was the first girl to be admitted on Ganta Mission. She was a daughter Mr. Blegay, one of Dr. Harley's cooks.  

Most of the Government officials were  finding ways to send their children to Ganta Mission School.  The girls’ hostel was funded by the Women’s Division of the Mission Board.  That Board had been responsible previously for sending nurses to the hospital.  The women's board was referred to as Women Society of Christian Service. But now,  they call it United Methodist Women. They built the girls' hostel in Ganta. 

The  other routines of Mission Building.MMore missionaries and nationals were teaching  at the school by the mid 1950’s. When Martha Cofield took over the school in 1952,  Jackie J. Wrotto became her assistant principal in later years. Ruth Longstaff,  Charles Britts, and others took on the responsibilities of the school during those years.

By 1955 students were now graduating from the 8th grade instead of the 4th grade.  Teachers at Ganta mission were now all high school graduates and above.  By the 1960s, much improvement has taken place. Mrs. Harley had this to say   about Ganta Mission School. She wrote: “The School at Ganta Mission has such  an excellent reputation that it could easily be filled with students from the sophisticated parts of the country. But we have given preference to boys and girls   from our own "tribe" and neighborhood. The village Christians have been particularly anxious to put their children in school under the influence of a Christian institution.  However, in about 1938 when Mildred Black headed the school, Hartzel buildidng  was being constructed. Before the building was completed, they realized the need  to expand because the demand for education and the number of student population was  expanding. It was this time that the main school building was constructed and named  Hartzell Building because the “building funds had come from sale of a discontinued  school on the Kru Coast, which had been named for Bishop Joseph C. Hartzell who  made notable efforts in Liberia at the end of the last century.”  At this time five small dormitories were constructed behind the Hartzell buinding  for boys.   [Washington house, Carver house, Aggry house, Harris house, and King house and  a Kitchen-dining room were built closed by for the boys.] 

The first few years of the  school at Ganta, there were only boys because the prevailing beliefs among the local  people at the time was that girls are not fitted for school, only boys need western  education.  There were 2 sessions of classes from Monday to Friday. Biginners, 1st, 2nd, & 3rd  graders attended the afternoon sessions and the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th graders  attended the morning sessions. Due to the fact that there were 5 classes in the  morning, one of the classes met in Manchester building located across  the street from the church. Manchester building was the previous residence  for Teacher Joma Massaquoi and his family. In 1960, the Massaquois moved to live  in one of the newly constructed faculty homes behind the boys'  dormitory. That provided opportunity to renovate Manchester building by  adding 3 additional classrooms in the building. By, 1962, Manchester  was able to accommodate 3 classes. Grades 6, 7 and 8 met in the morning in the  Manchester building. From 1961 to 1963, I had all my classes in the Manchester  building. I had my 6th, 7th and 8th grade classes in the Manchester building.

  Local boys and girls who have studied at Ganta Mission School have gone on to other institutions of higher learning and have acquired advanced learning.  Some have earned degrees of all kinds, Ph. D’s, M. Div., D. Min., B. Sc. M.A.,  M. Th., B.D. etc., in many fields including Theology, Education, the sciences  and the humanities. Others have earned their medical degrees such as M. D.,  some R.N, and Masters in Public Health and other medical fields. Still,  there are those who have earned the Bachelors degrees and Masters degrees and  others have learned many professions and skills in different fields around the  world. A few have come back to serve the institution and the country. Many  graduates from Ganta Mission are making tremendous impact around the world. 

 
 Martha Yah Kpala Suah, who now goes by the name Martha Autry was the first girl in all of Nimba County to graduate from High School (CWA) The College of  West Africa, a United Methodist College Preparatory High School in Monrovia,  Liberia. She was the first female from the Mah ethnic community to finish high  school. She has been a role model for both boys and girls that came after her. Mrs.  Martha Autry graduated from Ganta Mission School in 1955 and also from CWA  in  1959. She is our Pride and Trailblazer--the first of the Harvest. After she  graduated  from Ganta Mission School, she came back at some point and taught classes at  Ganta Mission School. I was one of her 3rd grade students in 1958. I was in her  Afternoon class in the Hartzell Building. We all love you Mom Autry-- Affectionately known as "Sis. Martha".
 

After the Cofields retired, the school was handed to J. J.  Wrotto for his supervision. For many years, Jackie Wrotto was a Beginner teacher. He was a real talented man. He  knew very many children's songs and game children enjoyed. In the mornings, he  worked at the Ganta Mission Hospital Laboratory with Saye Didi, Doe and other Lab  technicians. He taugth afternoon school. Some people have referred to him as a self- educated man. He had a special and profound teaching technique all his students  enjoyed. From 1961 to 1971 he held the position as principal of the school. While at  the same time, he was serving as a Lay Leader of Miller McAllister United Methodist  Church on the Mission Station. In the picture above he is seen with his right hand  lifted up giving the Benediction. Eventually, he studied the Liberian statue and the law  and became a Justice of the Peace and Magistrate in Ganta. His tenure from 1961- 1971was also very remarkable. In later years in the 1970, much work at the school was  expanded. New principals came and served.   A gymnasium was built for indoor  sports. The standard was raised from elementary school to a junior high school and  then to a high school. Additional school buildings were constructed. During church  services, he interpreted for the large Mah speaking congregation that did not  understand the English language.  He interpreted from the English to the Mah language and from the Mah language to the English language, but mostly from English to Mah.   

Many principals have come and gone.   Many students have also come and gone. The  Liberian Civil War had a devastating affect on the school. But under the leadership of  Herbert and Mary Zigbuo as mission superintendent, and John Gbilia as principal of  the  school,  lots of reconstruction work went on. Additional facilities were
 built to meet the demands.
 __________________________________________________________________ John Gbelia was the school principal when Rev. Zigbuo was the Station  Superintendent. It was Mr. John Gbelia, the school teachers and students, along with Superintendent Zigbuo that approved the School Ode in 2006  and adapted by the Ganta United Methodist Mission School Alumni Association (GUMMSAA).
____________________________________________________________________The School Principal that took over the school after Mr. John Gbelia was  Rev. Pricilla Legay-Jaiah. She was the first Liberian Woman to serve as Principal  of Ganta Mission School and the first female ever to serve as Superintendent for the Ganta Mission Station. 

Superintendent for the Ganta Mission station.   She holds a Masters' degree in Social Work (MSW) and another Masters degree (M.Div.) in Religion andthe Christian Ministry. ___________________________________________________________________
Many of the graduates from Ganta Mission School went to high school and graduated. Some even graduated from colleges and universities. Others went to professional schools, medical schools, school of nursing, education, theology, political science and other professions. Some even came back and worked at Ganta Mission Hospital, Gbarnga School of Theology, J. J. Roberts Elementary School, CWA, and other places. I would like to document their activities with the church, but this brief history is devoted to only Ganta Mission School. We wish to express our thanks to those Ganta Mission graduates who came back to pay their tributes to the Methodist Church with their service. This site is devoted to the work at the school; Ganta United Methodist Mission School.
Nevertheless, we acknowledge all the Ganta United Methodist
Mission School Alumni who returned from studying and
contributed their quota to the Liberia Annual Conference,
no matter where in Liberia and in whatever the  profession or capacity
they served the church. We say, thank you.
____________________________________________________________

Sources:

        Winifred J. Harley, A Third of a Century with George Way Harley in Liberia. (Newark, Delaware: Liberian Studies Association in America, Inc. 1973) Liberian Studies Monograph Series Number 2.

                      Click on the title of the book below.  Tribes of the Liberian Hinterland.

        George Schwab and George Way Harley, Tribes of the Liberian Hin Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Vol. XXXI. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Peabody Museum. 1945).

         Nya Kwiawon Taryor, Impact of the African Tradition on African Christianity, (Chicago: Strugglers’ Community Press, 1985 second printing.) pp. 105-109.
 

__________________________________________________________________
 

Dr. Nya Kwiawon Taryor, Sr.,  Former Dean and President, Gbarnga School of Theology, Liberia  Retired Clergyman from Northern Illinois Conference  Originally from the Liberia Annual Conference  8th grade class of  1963,  Ganta United Methodist Mission School, Liberia

President, GUMMSAA-USA

  yunvakwoi3@yahoo  401-545-9073  cell  

  home/business   Ganta Mission's First Website, Please click here: Ganta United Methodist School

 Ganta Mission's Second Website, Please click here:  Ganta Mission School
 
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           VITAL INFORMATION SOURCES ABOUT THE FOUNDERS OF
 

GANTA UNITED METHODIST MISSION STATION
 
       DR. GEORGE WAY & MRS. WINIFRED JEWELL HARLEY
 

  1. Letters from 1922-1980
 2. Notable and Quotable:  George Way Harley (1894-1966)
 3. William and Mary Collection
 4. Guide to the George Way Harley Papers, 1911-1975
 

For the electronic copy of Tribes of the Liberian Hinterland,
 please click on the following:  George Way Harley
 
 

George Way Harley