Mary Porter Gamewell | |
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 Mary Porter Gamewell | |
| Born | October 20, 1848 Alleghany City, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Died | November 27, 1906 (aged 58) Summit, New Jersey, United States |
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Mary Porter Gamewell (née, Mary Porter; missionary pseudonym until marriage, Mary Q. Porter; Chinese name: 贾博慕贞, pinyin: Jiǎ Bó Mùzhēn; October 20, 1848 – November 27, 1906) was an American missionary, teacher, speaker, and writer who founded a school for girls in Beijing, China. She was the first missionary sent out by the Western Branch of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society, and the first missionary that the organization sent to China.[1] At that time, the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church had but five missionaries in the world, and she was one of them. She traveled from Davenport, Iowa to Beijing, China in 1871 and started a school for girls, the institution opening with only one girl. It grew very slowly, more so because it was the first school in China to unbind the feet of the girl, an act that engendered great prejudice. By the time of the Boxer Rebellion, the school for girls, which Porter (now Gamewell) referred to as the "Davenport school", had 150 pupils enrolled.[2][3]
- ^ Anderson 1999, p. 235.
- ^ "Mrs. Mary Porter Gamewell Gives a Highly Interesting Talk at St. John's Church". Quad-City Times. May 7, 1906. p. 5. Retrieved April 6, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Death of Mrs. Gamewell". Evening Star. Washington, D.C. November 28, 1906. p. 2. Retrieved April 6, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.