Laura D. Ward papers
Scope and Contents
The Laura D. Ward papers consist of diaries, correspondence, a biographical sketch and notes, press releases, a copy of her will and photographs. Most of the collection consists of diaries dating from 1914-1949 when Ward was a missionary in Foochow, China. The diaries contain brief, almost daily, entries about her travels, the activities of Ward family members (many of them involved in missionary work), Congregational missions in China, women's education, Chinese customs, and ongoing political events including civil war, Japanese occupation in China and the rise of Communism. A diary for 1905-1909 includes entries about her daily activities as a student at Mount Holyoke College. The collection also includes notes describing Ward's 1927 capture by Chinese pirates, her 1950 one-page summary of her life's work and resignation written in Chinese (with a translation), a 1967 letter from Peter Ngai describing the Chinese church in 1958, and forty-four letters or postcards exchanged between Laura and her brother William Earl Dodge Ward from 1965-1972 that chiefly concern family matters. In addition, the collection contains a biographical sketch of Ward, a copy of her will, and photographs (six of them of groups of Chinese people taken between 1913-1916).
Dates
- 1905-1972
Conditions Governing Access
Unrestricted.
Biographical Note
Laura Dwight Ward was born on April 12, 1887 in Newton Center, Massachusetts. Her father was Langdon Storer Ward, a Congregational missionary to Turkey, and her mother was Laura Bliss Ward, daughter of Edwin E. Bliss, also a missionary to Turkey. She was the youngest of seven children. She graduated from Amherst, Massachusetts, High School in 1904 and attended Mount Holyoke College from 1904-1908, where she received a B.A. with a major in mathematics. She also studied at Boston University Extension (1912), Hyannis Summer Normal School (1914), Columbia University Teacher's College (1921-1922), Yale Divinity School (1937-1938) and the Yale Institute of Far Eastern Languages (1945-1946). She taught school in Springfield, Massachusetts (1908-1910) and Medford, Massachusetts (1910-1914), and taught English to foreigners at a night school (October 1910-February 1911, also in Medford, Massachusetts). She spent most of remainder of her life as a missionary teacher in Foochow, China (1914-1950), where she was principal of a girls' school and a teacher of English and music. She also coordinated women's work in churches, focusing on training Chinese women. While in China she experienced revolution and civil war (1927-1932), the Japanese occupation (1941-1943), postwar political unrest, renewed civil war and the rise in Communist rule (1946-1950). She retired to the United States in 1951 and served briefly as a missionary in the Allston-Brighton area of Boston. She wrote one book entitled "Here and There Stories: How Precious Pearl Became a Teacher" (Boston, 1922). She died in Acton, Massachusetts on April 23, 1972 at the age of eighty-five.
Extent
3 boxes (1908)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Ward, Laura D. (Laura Dwight), 1887-1972; teacher and missionary. Mount Holyoke College graduate, 1908. Papers contain diaries, correspondence, biographical information and photographs documenting primarily her work as a missionary teacher in Foochow (Fuzhou Shi), China, 1914-1950. Material includes her diary of her Mount Holyoke College years; correspondence describing her 1927 capture by Chinese pirates; details of Chinese life, customs and Communist rule; and information on the Ward family. One item is in Chinese. The collection also includes correspondence with her brother William Earl Dodge Ward, a biographical sketch, and photographs of Chinese groups.
Arrangement
Arranged in 4 series: Series 1. Diaries. Series 2. Correspondence. Series 3. Biographical Information. Series 4. Photographs.
- China -- History -- Republic, 1912-1949 -- Sources Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Fuzhou Shi (Fujian Sheng, China) -- Description and travel Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Missionaries -- China Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Mount Holyoke College -- Student life -- 1905-1908 Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Mount Holyoke College -- Students Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Mount Holyoke College Manuscript Collections Subject Source: Local sources
- Pirates -- China Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Sino-Japanese Conflict, 1937-1945 -- China -- Fuzhou Shi (Fujian Sheng) -- Personal narratives Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Student activities -- Massachusetts -- South Hadley Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Women missionaries -- China -- Correspondence Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- correspondence Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- diaries Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- photographs Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Title
- Ward Papers, 1905-1972.
- Subtitle
- Finding Aid
- Status
- Edited Full Draft
- Date
- © 2003
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- English
- Sponsor
- Encoding funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Repository Details
Part of the Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections Repository
50 College Street
8 Dwight Hall
South Hadley MA 01075-6425 USA
413-538-3079
archives@mtholyoke.edu
