Cora E. Simpson Explained

Cora E. Simpson
Birth Name:Cora Eliza Simpson
Birth Date:February 13, 1880
Birth Place:Oberlin, Kansas
Death Place:Chelsea, Michigan
Nationality:American
Occupation:nurse, nursing educator, medical missionary
Notable Works:A Joy Ride Through China for the N. A. C. (1926)

Cora Eliza Simpson (February 13, 1880 – May 14, 1960) was an American nurse and nursing educator. She was a missionary in China from 1907 to 1945, and founded and ran the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing in Fuzhou. She was also a founder of the Nurses' Association of China.

Early life

Cora Simpson was born near Oberlin, Kansas, the daughter of George Mathew Simpson and Rhoda Rosina Simpson.[1] She trained as a nurse at the Nebraska Deaconess Hospital in Omaha,[2] with further training in Chicago, and courses in public health nursing at Simmons College in Boston.[3]

Her youngest sister, Mabel Ellen Simpson, followed her into nursing and missionary work in Asia. Mabel Simpson spent thirteen years as a Methodist nurse in India before she married in 1939.[4]

Career

Simpson joined the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church,[5] and was a missionary in China from 1907 until 1944.[6] She founded and ran the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing in Fuzhou.[7] and was superintendent at the Magaw Memorial Hospital and Nurses' Home.[8] [9] "When I came to China I was told that China did not need and was not ready for nurses," she wrote in 1913. "After a day in the hospital and a few visits out into the homes, I decided there were few things that China did need as much as nurses."[10] In 1911, 1917-1918 and 1926-1927, she spent time on furlough, speaking about her work at churches and to other community groups.[11] [12] [13] [14]

Simpson was a co-founder[15] [16] and, later, general secretary of the Nurses' Association of China (N. A. C.).[17] [18] She represented the association at international nursing conferences in Finland in 1925[19] and in France in 1933. She wrote about her early experiences in China in a memoir, A Joy Ride Through China for the N. A. C. (1926).[20] In 1947, she was named N. A. C.'s general secretary emeritus, in honor of her lifetime of service.

Personal life

Simpson returned to the United States in 1945, and settled in Michigan.[21] She lectured about her time in China in her later years,[22] and died in 1960, in Chelsea, Michigan, aged 80 years. She is remembered by nursing historians as "a key contributor to modern nursing in China".

Notes and References

  1. News: Guide Rock. November 21, 1907. Omaha Daily Bee. November 2, 2019. 3. Newspapers.com.
  2. July 1906. Omaha, Neb.. The Trained Nurse and Hospital Review. 37. 45–46.
  3. Book: Sasaki, Motoe. Redemption and Revolution: American and Chinese New Women in the Early Twentieth Century. 2016-10-18. Cornell University Press. 9781501706813. 73–77.
  4. News: Methodist Mission Convention Opens. October 13, 1933. The Lincoln Star. November 2, 2019. 15. Newspapers.com.
  5. Book: Vautrin, Minnie. Terror in Minnie Vautrin's Nanjing: Diaries and Correspondence, 1937-38. 2008. University of Illinois Press. 9780252033322. 253, note 11.
  6. Web site: Cora Simpson: Missionary Nurse in China. Hanink. Elizabeth. Working Nurse. 2019-11-02.
  7. Jamme. Anna C.. May 1923. Nursing Education in China. The American Journal of Nursing. 23. 8. 666–675. 10.2307/3406837. 3406837.
  8. News: God Has Us On His Heart. Simpson. Cora E.. October 1923. Woman's Missionary Friend. November 2, 2019. 353–354.
  9. Yuhong. Jiang. 2017-01-10. Shaping modern nursing development in China before 1949. International Journal of Nursing Sciences. Development and Inheritance. 4. 1. 19–23. 10.1016/j.ijnss.2016.12.009. 2352-0132. 6626073. 31406712.
  10. Simpson. Cora E.. December 1913. Does China Need Nurses?. The American Journal of Nursing. 14. 191–194.
  11. News: Untitled news item. May 11, 1911. The Red Cloud Chief. November 2, 2019. 1. Newspapers.com.
  12. News: Missionary. April 11, 1917. The Bedford Daily Democrat. November 2, 2019. 2. Newspapers.com.
  13. News: Missionary Speaks. February 22, 1918. The South Bend Tribune. November 2, 2019. 16. Newspapers.com.
  14. News: Nurses to Hear Noted Speakers at Conference. October 2, 1926. The Capital Times. November 2, 2019. 9. Newspapers.com.
  15. Watt. John. 2004. Breaking into Public Service: The Development of Nursing in Modern China, 1870-1949. Nursing History Review. 12. 69–71. 10.1891/1062-8061.12.1.67. 9780826114655. 28773716.
  16. Book: Goodnow, Minnie. Outlines of Nursing History. Simpson nurses China.. 1916. Saunders. 258. en.
  17. Book: Grypma, Sonya. Healing Henan: Canadian Nurses at the North China Mission, 1888-1947. 2008. UBC Press. 9780774858212. 113–114.
  18. Lin. Evelyn. January 1938. Nursing in China. The American Journal of Nursing. 38. 1. 1–8. 10.2307/3413602. 3413602.
  19. May 1924. Personal Mention. Woman's Missionary Friend. 38. 168.
  20. Book: Simpson, Cora E. A joy ride through China for the N.A.C.. 1926. Kwang Hsueh Pub. House. Shanghai. en. 34951971.
  21. News: Miss Simpson Will Address Religion Rally. April 21, 1945. Detroit Free Press. November 2, 2019. 7. Newspapers.com.
  22. News: Lecture on China. May 19, 1945. The Escanaba Daily Press. November 2, 2019. 9. Newspapers.com.

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