- Playing
- Barry Alter: In the Midst
- From
- Cathy Corman
Barry Alter married her husband in 1942, just after she graduated from college. As soon as World War II ended, the two Americans traveled to North India, where they became fluent in Hindi, Urdu, and Hindustani and spent 35 years working as missionaries. Alter explains in this piece that she comes from a long line of left-leaning Christians committed to the social gospel. She carried that commitment with her to India. Her goal was to serve a Christian church that worshipped Jesus in an Indian way. The mission board that sent her and her husband to work in India advised them to "live in the midst" of Christian Indians, not to make converts. She and her husband founded and ran the Christian Retreat and Study Centre in Rajpur, Dehradun, in an area known for its many ashrams. Alter punctuates her storytelling by singing some of her favorite -- and least favorite -- hymns, bhajans, and zaburs. She includes a rousing rendition in Urdu of "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing."
Related Pieces
Piece Description
Barry Alter married her husband in 1942, just after she graduated from college. As soon as World War II ended, the two Americans traveled to North India, where they became fluent in Hindi, Urdu, and Hindustani and spent 35 years working as missionaries. Alter explains in this piece that she comes from a long line of left-leaning Christians committed to the social gospel. She carried that commitment with her to India. Her goal was to serve a Christian church that worshipped Jesus in an Indian way. The mission board that sent her and her husband to work in India advised them to "live in the midst" of Christian Indians, not to make converts. She and her husband founded and ran the Christian Retreat and Study Centre in Rajpur, Dehradun, in an area known for its many ashrams. Alter punctuates her storytelling by singing some of her favorite -- and least favorite -- hymns, bhajans, and zaburs. She includes a rousing rendition in Urdu of "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing."
Transcript
TRANSCRIPT: Barry Alter PRX
Cathy Corman
cathy@catherinecorman.com
0:04 – 00:11
[hymn sing: Dear Lord and Father of Mankind]
then under
00:11 – 00:15
My name is Barry Alter. Really Barbara Beach Alter.
00:15 – 00:20
hymn back up, under
00:19 – 00:23
I was born in 1920. I was born in Madison, Connecticut
00:19 –
hymn back up, under
0:25 – 00:41
My father came from a long line of clergymen. My father was a socialist and a pacifist.
So, the socialism was the social gospel. It was very strong at that time. You weren’t for communism. You were for social justice.
00:43 – 00:53
hymn/under:
There’s one more verse, but it’s not coming. I wore myself out singing that. I came to understand the Christian faith through these hymns, there’s no question.
[page turning, under]
00:55 -
This is by William Sherman in 1880.
1:00 -
[hymn up, under: Galillee, Bright Galilee…]
1:06 – 1:33
Jim...
Read the full transcript
Timing and Cues
The piece starts at :04. It has a long, musical tail that runs from 7:34 to 8:35. There are a few words from 8:36 to 8:40.
Intro and Outro
INTRO:Barry Alter is 91 years old. These days, she lives in an assisted living facility outside of Boston. She’s been speaking with reporter Cathy Corman about where she used to live – Northern India. Alter and her husband Jim were at the forefront of a movement that promoted pacifism and worked against religious fundamentalism. They spent 35 years as missionaries in India and never converted anyone – on purpose.
OUTRO:Barry Alter is a former missionary who moved to India in 1945, before Indian independence. She spent 35 years there and now lives outside of Boston. She’s been talking with reporter Cathy Corman about politics and faith. Corman is working on a larger project about Alter and Alter’s friends and family. That project is called “In the Midst.”
Additional Files
- Barry Alter, photo courtesy Ellen Morgan (Barry_Headshot.jpg)
- Barry Alter in Her Apartment, Photo Courtesy Ellen Morgan (Barry_Apartment.jpg)
- Barry and Jim Alter, Christian Retreat and Study Centre, Rajpur, India, 1954 (1954_BarryJim_StudyCentre.jpg)
- Barry and Jim Alter, Engaged, 1941 (1941_JimBarry_engaged.jpg)
- Barry and Jim Alter, Engaged, 1941 (1941_JimBarry_engaged.jpg)
