Guide to the Mary Margaret Moninger Papers

Descriptive Summary

Title

Mary Margaret Moninger Papers

Inclusive Dates

1915-1941

Call Number

RG 230

Creator(s)

Moninger, Mary Margaret, 1891-1950.

Quantity

1.50 cubic feet (2 boxes)

Language

Some materials in Chinese

Restrictions on Access

Collection open for research

Digital Content

To browse this collection's digital content visit Pearl.

Materials marked "Digital" in the Collection Inventory may not be available on Pearl or in their entirety.

Repository

Presbyterian Historical Society, 425 Lombard Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147-1516 USA

Biographical Note / Administrative History

Biographical Note

Mary Margaret Moninger was born in Marshaltown, Iowa in 1891. After graduating from Grinell College in 1913 she taught high school until her appointment to the PCUSA's Hainan mission in 1915. After spending a year in language studies, Moninger was appointed as teacher and later principal of the Kachek Daughters‚Äô School. In 1919 she was appointed for a year as acting principal of Pitkin School in Kiungchow. In 1922 she earned her Masters degree from Grinell College. Moninger then returned to Kachek and remained until 1926 when she was appointed business agent and treasurer for a year for the mission at Hoichow. During that period she and the other staff were refugees for six weeks at Haiphong and on the ship President Taft. By 1929 Moninger was transferred to Nodoa where she taught and evangelized. In 1930 she returned to Kachek and continued her evangelistic work until 1935 when she was once again transferred to teach at Pitkin School at Kiungchow. In 1939, Moninger was reappointed the Mission Business Agent and continued those duties until her retirement in 1942.

While serving in Hainan, Moninger also acted as correspondent for the Hongkong Daily Press, (1933-1935) edited the Hainan newsletter (1917-1921;1929-1935), wrote a dictionary of the Hainanese language and published several articles and monographs. She also acted as a member at large for the China Council in 1924 and 1926.

Collection Overview

The collection consists largely of correspondence written by Moninger to her family while she was in Hainan. There are also stories and verse by Moninger, clippings from Iowa newspapers and church periodicals (letters and articles of Moninger), publications she edited articles or that she and F. A. McClure published in scientific journals and pamphlets re Hainan. A small number of photographs which depict people and places in Hainan. Some broadsides are in Chinese. Six manuscripts of Moninger detail her experiences in China including the Japanese occupation and her repatriation.

Organization and Arrangement

SERIES I: Correspondence, 1915-1942 (Box 1, Folders 2-46b)

SERIES II: Photographs, circa 1915-1941 (Box 1, Folder 47)

SERIES III: Stories and Verse, 1916, 1923-1925, undated (Box 1, Folder 48)

SERIES IV: Clippings, 1916-1927, 1941 (Box 1, Folders 49-54)

SERIES V: Publications, 1919-1934, undated (Box 1, Folders 55-57)

SERIES VI: Chinese Broadsides, undated (Box 1, Folder 58)

SERIES VII: Manuscripts, 1940-1942, undated (Box 2, Folders 1-7)

Alternative Formats

To browse this collection's digitized content visit Pearl.

Materials marked "Digital" in the Collection Inventory may not have been digitized in their entirety.

Catalog Headings

The following headings have been used to index the description of this collection in the society’s electronic catalog.

Personal Name Subject

Moninger, Mary Margaret, 1891-1950.

Corporate Subject

Kachek Daughters' School (Qionghai Xian, China)

Pitkin School (Qiongzhou fu, China)

Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.--Hainan Mission.

Title Subject

Hongkong daily press (Hong Kong : Newspaper)

Topical Subject

Chinese language--Dictionaries.

Education--China--Dan Xian.

Education--China--Qionghai Xian.

Education--China--Qiongzhou fu.

Education--China--Hai-chou (Hainan Province)

English newspapers--China--Hong Kong.

Missions--China.

Newsletters--China.

Presbyterian Church--Missions--China.

Women missionaries--China.

Geographic Subject

China--Missions.

Genre-form

Clippings (information artifacts) aat

Photographs. aat

Newsletters. aat

Newspapers. aat

Poetry. aat

Stories (literature genre) aat

Collection Inventory

Box	Folder	Description

		SERIES I: CORRESPONDENCE, 1915-1942

1	2	M. M. Moninger, 1915 August-September
1	3	1915 October-December
1	4	1916 January-April
1	5	1916 May-August
1	6	1916 September-December
1	7	1917 January-May
1	8	1917 June-September
1	9	1917 October-December
1	10	1918 January-April
1	11	1918 May-August
1	12	1918 September-December
1	13	1919 January-June
1	14	1919 July-December
1	15	1920 January-April
1	16	1920 May-September
1	17	1920 October-December
1	18	1921 January-April
1	19	1921 May-December
1	20	1922
1	21	1923 January-April
1	22	1923 May-August
1	23	1923 September-December
1	24	1924 January-May
1	25	1924 June-August
1	26	1924 September-December
1	27	1925 January-April
1	28	1925 May-August
1	29	1925 September-December
1	30	1926 January-June
1	31	1926 July-December
1	32	1927
1	33	1929-1930
1	34	1932-1933 April
1	35	1933 May-December
1	36	1934 January-May
1	37	1934 June-December
1	38	1935
1	39	1937
1	40	1938 January-May
1	41	1938 June-December
1	42	1939
1	43	1940 January-April
1	44	1940 May-December
1	45	1941 January-May
1	46	1941 June-December
1	46a	1942
1	46b	John H. Moninger and BFM, 1939-1942

		SERIES II: PHOTOGRAPHS, CIRCA 1915-1941

1	47	Photographs, Hainan circa 1915-1941

		SERIES III: STORIES AND VERSE, 1916, 1923-1925, UNDATED

1	48	Stories and Verse, 1916, 1923-1925, undated
1	48a	"Hainan Alphabet for New Recruits," 1925

		SERIES IV: CLIPPINGS, 1916-1927, 1941

1	49	Clippings (letters to Iowa newspapers) 1916-1927, undated
1	50	Clippings (Hainan newsletter), undated
1	51	Clippings (Forward magazine), 1941
1	52	Clipping (Ivory Soap ad with Moninger letter), 1921
1	53	Clippings and Releases (murder of G.D. Beyers, a missionary), undated
1	54	Miscellaneous Clippings, 1922, 1933

		SERIES V: PUBLICATIONS, 1919-1934, UNDATED

1	55	The Isle of Palms (Moninger, editor), 1919
1	56	Pamphlets regarding Hainan, 1933, undated
1	57	Scientific Articles (Moninger and F. A. McClure), 1925, 1932-1934

		SERIES VI: BROADSIDES IN CHINESE, UNDATED

1	58	Broadsides in Chinese, undated

		SERIES VII: MANUSCRIPTS, 1940-1942, UNDATED

2	1	"Hainan Was My Home, 1915-1942," undated [1942?]	Digital
2	2	"The Training of a Chinese Nurse," undated	Digital
2	3	"Somewhere in Occupied Territory in China Before Pearl Harbor," undated	Digital
2	4	"A Record of Experiences in Nodoa in 1939," 1940	Digital
2	5	"Internment and Repatriation from the United States View," 1941-1942	Digital
2	6	"Twenty-three Thousand Miles of Miracle...," 1941-1942	Digital
2	7	"Twenty-three Thousand Miles of Miracle...," 1941-1942

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Guide to the Mary Margaret Moninger Papers

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