Martha Jane Cunningham Explained
| Martha Jane Cunningham |
| Birth Date: | 3 June 1856 |
| Birth Place: | Halifax, Nova Scotia |
| Death Date: | 22 April 1916 (age 59) |
| Death Place: | Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario |
| Occupation: | Missionary, educator, school principal |
Martha Jane Cunningham (3 June 1856 – 22 April 1916) was a Canadian missionary educator in Japan. She was first principal of Shizuoka Eiwa Girls' School in Shizuoka, which was founded in 1887.
Early life and education
Cunningham was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the daughter of William Cunningham and Matilda Ellen Burns Cunningham. Her father was a clothier. Both of her parents were born in Ireland.
Career
Cunningham was a teacher with the Women's Missionary Society of the Methodist Church of Canada.[1] She went to Japan in 1887.[2] She worked with a Japanese Methodist minister and a local official, and became the first principal of the first girls' school in Shizuoka that year.[3] [4] She traveled in Japan, often with other Western women teachers.[5] While in Canada on furloughs, she taught and spoke to Canadian audiences about Japan and her work,[6] [7] [8] with illustrations.[9] She left Japan after her third term of service, during the 1906–1907 academic year.[10]
Beginning in 1913, Cunningham was a mission teacher in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, working mainly with European immigrant women and children. She was a member of the Daughters of the Empire and of the Red Cross Society.[11]
Personal life and legacy
Cunningham died in 1916, at the age of 59, in Sault Ste. Marie. In Shizuoka, the alumnae of Shizuoka Eiwa Jogakko, the Methodist Church, and local officials held a memorial service in June 1916, and the school placed a portrait of Cunningham in the students' library, along with books donated in tribute.[12] At the centennial of the school in 1987, a memorial marker was placed for Cunningham on the school's grounds. The school is still operating as of 2023, as is the women's college it launched in 1966, now a university.[13]
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: Miss Jane Cunningham and pupils, Japan . 2023-08-31 . United Church of Canada Archives.
- News: 1887-08-09 . Going to Japan! The First Through Passenger from Halifax; Miss Cunningham Leaves To-Day for the Kingdom of the Rising Sun via Canadian Pacific Railway and Steamer. 3 . The Halifax Herald . Newspapers.com . 2023-08-31.
- Dugal, Alexandria. "Martha Jane Cunningham: A Women's Missionary Society Pioneer" International Bulletin of Mission Research 42(1)(January 2018): 76-84.
- Book: Gagan, Rosemary R. . A sensitive independence : Canadian Methodist women missionaries in Canada and the Orient, 1881-1925 . 1992 . Montreal [Que.] : McGill-Queen's University Press . Internet Archive . 978-0-7735-6330-8 . 78, 88–90, 99 . Internet Archive.
- Book: Shannon, Anne Park . Finding Japan: Early Canadian Encounters with Asia . 2012 . Heritage House Publishing Co . 978-1-927051-55-9 . 66. en.
- News: 1909-01-26 . Miss Cunningham Gives Address on Japan . 6 . The Evening Mail . 2023-08-31 . Newspapers.com.
- News: 1907-07-30 . Summer School for S. S. Workers; The Gathering Will Take Place at Berwick Beginning Next Week . 7 . The Evening Mail . Newspapers.com. 2023-08-31.
- News: 1907-09-28 . Woman's Missionary Convention . 5 . The Montreal Star . Newspapers.com. 2023-08-31.
- News: 1914-03-05 . Miss Cunningham's Illustrated Address . 4 . The Sault Star . 2023-08-31 . Newspapers.com.
- Book: Platt, Harriet Louise . The story of the years : a history of the Woman's Missionary Society of the Methodist Church, Canada, from 1881 to 1906 . 1917 . Toronto . Emmanuel - University of Toronto . 92–94, 117–119 . Internet Archive.
- News: April 24, 1916 . Untitled death notice . 2 . The Sault Star . August 31, 2023 . Newspapers.com.
- News: 1916-10-06 . Memorial Service in Japan for Late Miss Cunningham . 5 . The Sault Star . Newspapers.com . 2023-08-31.
- https://www.shizuoka-eiwa.ed.jp/englishpamphlet/english_pamphlet.pdf Shizuoka Eiwa Jogakuin Junior and Senior High School
