Charlotte Viall Wiser

Charlotte Melina Viall was born in Chicago, Illinois, and was educated at the University of Chicago. She was sent as a Presbyterian missionary to India in 1916. She married William H. Wiser, another Presbyterian missionary in India, at Allahabad in 1916. They had three sons – Arthur, Alfred, and Edward. ==Missionary work==

Her first term of missionary work was spent doing social work in Kanpur and teaching courses at the Allahabad Agricultural Institute. During their second missionary term (1925–1930), they worked in Mainpuri, and lived in village Karimpur, near Agra, to get to know the village people and village life. She and her husband spent most of their time researching in North India villages. Initially, they did survey of a farming community to better understand the agriculture conditions. Later, they conducted extensive studies on the social, economic, and religious life of peasants between 1925 and 1930. Based on their survey, research, and experience in Indian Anthropology, Wister published several books, such as Behind Mud Walls, in collaboration with her husband William Wiser. Their research books have become influential sources about North Indian village life, and were used to teach in colleges and universities across the United States, especially in Iowa. She returned to the United States in 1970 and died in December 1981, aged 89. ==Works==

• For All of Life a Presbyterian Mission study book, in 1943. • Four families of Karimpur, in 1978. • Behind Mud Walls, in 1930–1960, 1970–1980. • The Foods of a Hindu Village of North India, in 1936. ==References==