Intimate Relationships: Church and State in the U.S. and Liberia

This book traces the history of what the author calls theLiberia EducationProject from the time it was first proposed in1917 until it quietly ended in 1947. The project was highlyconfidential during its existence, because of issues involvingnational security, corporate security, and concerns about thepropriety of cooperation between Church and State. At its height,the project involved seven organizations: the Methodist, Episcopal,and Lutheran churches; three of the so-called ColonizationSocieties; and a private charitable organization, the Phelps-StokesFund. The U.S. government and American businesses, especially theFirestone Rubber Company, also supported the Liberia EducationProject. Protestant churches wanted to block the advance of Islamin West Africa; the Colonization Societies and the Phelps-StokesFund saw an opportunity for social uplift; the Firestones needed adocile, moderately well-educated workforce; and the U.S. governmentwanted a base of operations in West Africa thatcould beself-supporting but friendly to U.S. interests. Leaders of theLiberian government and churches cooperated in this project becauseit advanced their own interests.