Clara Converse

Clara Adra Converse was born on 8 May 1857 in Grafton, Windham County, Vermont to Mary (née Stuart/Stewart) and Newton R. Converse.{{sfn|Vermont Vital Records|1857}}{{sfn|Vermont Vital Records|1842}}{{sfn|Chapman Bros.|1889|p=309}} She was one of nine children and grew up on her parents farm in Grafton, where her father had been born. Her paternal grandparents, Robert and Edna (née Hale) Converse had immigrated from Marlborough, New Hampshire to Vermont before the birth of their children. Her maternal grandfather Joseph Stuart was a miller and farmer from Andover, Vermont.{{sfn|Chapman Bros.|1889|p=309}} After completing her elementary education, Converse graduated from the Vermont State Normal School at the age of sixteen.{{sfn|Vermont Academy|n.d.}}{{sfn|Kodama|2004|p=3}}

Converse began working as a teacher in the public schools and in 1877, when the Vermont Academy opened, she enrolled in the preparatory courses, graduating in 1879, as one of the two women enrolled in her class.{{sfn|Vermont Academy|n.d.}} Continuing her studies Converse attended Smith College, graduating in the class of 1883.{{sfn|Smith College Monthly|1909|p=326}} Her mother died the following year.{{sfn|Chapman Bros.|1889|p=309}} Converse returned to Vermont Academy, after completion of her education and between 1884 and 1889, she taught German, Greek, mathematics and rhetoric. One of her students was Florence Sabin.{{sfn|Vermont Academy|n.d.}}{{sfn|Smith College Monthly|1909|p=326}} In 1885, she became the superintendent of schools in Grafton{{sfn|Weymouth|1885|p=30}} simultaneously with her teaching. When her father died in 1888, Converse felt led to become a missionary.{{sfn|Kodama|2004|p=5}}

Around this same time, the Woman's Baptist Foreign Missionary Society had published a plea for volunteers to go abroad. Converse applied to the society in Boston in May, 1889{{sfn|Kodama|2004|p=5}} and was appointed to teach in Yokohama, Japan at the Mary L. Colby Home.{{sfn|Smith College Monthly|1909|p=326}} She gave her notice to the Vermont Academy{{sfn|Vermont Phoenix|July 5, 1889|p=3}}{{sfn|Vermont Phoenix|September 27, 1889|p=2}} and made her way to San Francisco.{{sfn|Kodama|2004|p=6}} Arriving in Japan in January, 1890, she began working and by that autumn, was placed in charge of the school.{{sfn|Smith College Monthly|1909|p=326}} She was the second principal in the school's history, following the founder Charlotte Brown, wife of Nathan Brown. In 1891, a new school building was erected in Yamate and the following year, the name was changed to Soshin Jo-Gakko (ja), (Truth-Seeking Girls School), to reflect that the girls' education was to be based on a search for Christian ideals.{{sfn|Kodama|2004|p=6}}{{sfn|Vermont Academy|n.d.}}

In 1897, Converse received her first furlough and returned to the United States,{{sfn|Smith College Monthly|1909|p=327}} where she undertook several talks about her work abroad.{{sfn|The North Adams Transcript|1897|p=4}}{{sfn|The Burlington Free Press|1897|p=1}} She returned to Japan and worked to spread the cause of girls' education founding Bible study, Sunday schools and a kindergarten.{{sfn|Vermont Academy|n.d.}} In 1899, when the Meiji government implemented reforms to the educational system in Japan, Converse secured licensing for the school from the government for the school's operation.{{sfn|Kodama|2004|p=7}} She took a second vacation in 1907 and remained in the United States for a year, once again traveling and making presentations to increase support for her work abroad.{{sfn|Vermont Phoenix|September 6, 1907|p=5}}{{sfn|Vermont Phoenix|October 4, 1907|p=6}} During that time, a new site and expansion for the school was planned.{{sfn|Smith College Monthly|1909|p=327}}

When she returned, Converse set out to revise the school curriculum, taking the elementary school to six-year program and the girls' high school to a five-year plan with the last three dedicated to their field of expertise.{{sfn|Kodama|2004|p=8}} The school continued to change and expand. In 1918, when Tokyo University allowed women to enter, Converse was appointed as a director of studies for women. She terminated the English courses at Soshin since girls could study them in the university, but within the year, she brought them back. Beginning in 1921, she asked for a replacement as principal and began preparing for her retirement, though it would take four years for a new principal, Annabel Pawley to be hired, and for Converse to tender her resignation.{{sfn|Kodama|2004|pp=8-9}} Though she retired from the school, Converse continued her missionary works and remained as an emeritus principal, helping with the school.{{sfn|Kodama|2004|pp=8-9}} Between 1925 and 1935, she established four kindergartens and assisted with their development.{{sfn|Hill|1929|p=427}} In 1929, Emperor Showa Hirohito conferred on Converse the Medal of Honor with Blue Ribbon, in recognition of her contributions to women's education and the Japanese nation.{{sfn|Vermont Academy|n.d.}}{{sfn|Hill|1929|p=427}}

Converse died on January 24, 1935{{sfn|The Japan Baptist Annual|1935|p=2}} in Yokohama and was buried in the Mitsuzawa Cemetery.{{sfn|Kodama|2004|p=10}} In 1959, the son of Converse's first Japanese graduate came to the United States to pay tribute to the teacher's memory. He had become an educator largely because of Converse's influence on his mother. The school she worked to build was still thriving at that time.{{sfn|Hutton|1959|p=16}}

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• {{cite journal|editor1-last=Hill|editor1-first=Edith Naomi|title=Clara A. Converse is Honored by Japan|journal=The Smith Alumnae Quarterly|date=July 1929|volume=20|issue=4|pages=427|url=https://archive.org/stream/smithalumn2829alum#page/427/mode/1up/search/converse|access-date=16 January 2017|publisher=The Alumnae Association of Smith College|location=Northampton, Massachusetts}}
• {{cite news|last=Hutton|first=E. F.|title=Think a Moment|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/us/texas/amarillo/amarillo-globe-times/clippings/Celebrity/167514/|access-date=16 January 2017|publisher=The Amarillo Globe-Times|date=November 10, 1959|location=Amarillo, Texas|via = Newspaperarchive.com}} {{open access}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Kodama|first1=Satoko|title=捜 真 女 学 校 小 玉 敏 子 は じ め に|journal=Historical English Studies in Japan|date=2004|volume=2003|issue=36|pages=1–12|doi=10.5024/jeigakushi.2004.1|url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jeigakushi1969/2004/36/2004_36_1/_pdf|access-date=16 January 2017|trans-title=Toshiko Odama at School of Female Studies|publisher=Historical Society of English Studies in Japan|location=Tokyo, Japan|language=Japanese|issn=0386-9490|doi-access=free}}
• {{cite book|last1=Weymouth|first1=Caroline B.|title=The Normal Register: A History of the First Vermont State Normal School, Its Instructors and Alumni|date=1885|publisher=Argus and Patriot Steam Job Printing|location=Montpelier, Vermont|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044096985734;view=1up;seq=32|oclc=903912767}}
• {{cite news|ref={{harvid|Vermont Phoenix|September 27, 1889}}|author=|title=Baptist State Convention|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8378708/baptist_state_convention_vermont/|access-date=16 January 2017|publisher=Vermont Phoenix|date=September 27, 1889|location=Brattleboro, Vermont|via = Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}
• {{cite news|ref={{harvid|The Burlington Free Press|1897}}|author=|title=Baptists at Chester|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8391503/baptists_at_chester_the_burlington/|access-date=16 January 2017|publisher=The Burlington Free Press|date=September 22, 1897|location=Burlington, Vermont|via = Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}
• {{cite journal|ref={{harvid|Smith College Monthly|1909}}|author=|title=Clara Converse|url=https://archive.org/stream/smith0809smit#page/n351/mode/1up|journal=Smith College Monthly|date=June 1909|volume=16|pages=326–327|access-date=16 January 2017|publisher=Smith College Alumnae Association|location=Northampton, Massachusetts}}
• {{cite web|ref={{harvid|Vermont Academy|n.d.}}|author=|title=Clara Converse, 1879|url=http://www.vermontacademy.org/page/list-detail?pk=95463|website=Vermont Academy|access-date=16 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116012358/http://www.vermontacademy.org/page/list-detail?pk=95463|archive-date=16 January 2017|location=Saxtons River, Vermont|date=n.d.|url-status=dead}}
• {{cite web|ref={{harvid|Vermont Vital Records|1857}}|author=|title=Converse, Clara|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9398-QY7W-F?mode=g&i=2184&cc=1784223|website=Family Search|publisher=Vermont Vital Records, 1760-1954|access-date=15 January 2017|location=Montpelier, Vermont|date=8 May 1857|id=Film #27516, image #2185}}
• {{cite journal|ref={{harvid|The Japan Baptist Annual|1935}}|author=|title=In Memorium: Miss Clara A. Converse|journal=Baptists in Japan: The Japan Baptist Annual-1935|date=1935|url=http://images.library.yale.edu/divinitycontent/dayrep/American%20Baptist%20Foreign%20Mission%20Society.%20Japan%20Mission%20%201934-1935.pdf|access-date=15 January 2017|publisher=East Japan Baptist Missionary Group|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170115231252/http://images.library.yale.edu/divinitycontent/dayrep/American%20Baptist%20Foreign%20Mission%20Society.%20Japan%20Mission%20%201934-1935.pdf|archive-date=15 January 2017|location=Tokyo, Japan|url-status=dead}}
• {{cite web|ref={{harvid|Vermont Vital Records|1842}}|author=|title=Name of Bride: Miss Mary Stewart|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939K-Y8SS-R3|website=Family Search|publisher=Vermont Vital Records, 1760-1954|access-date=15 January 2017|location=Montpelier, Vermont|date=4 July 1842|id=Film #27699, image #2067}}
• {{cite book|ref={{harvid|Chapman Bros.|1889}}|author=|title=Portrait and biographical album of Woodford County, Illinois: containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county, together with portraits and biographies of all the governors of the state and of the presidents of the United States|date=1889|publisher=Chapman Bros.|location=Chicago, Illinois|url=https://archive.org/stream/woodfordcounty00chic#page/309/mode/1up/search/converse}}
• {{cite news|ref={{harvid|The North Adams Transcript|1897}}|author=|title=Pownal|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8391380/pownal_the_north_adams_transcript/|access-date=16 January 2017|publisher=North Adams Transcript|date=August 26, 1897|location=North Adams, Massachusetts|via = Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}
• {{cite news|ref={{harvid|Vermont Phoenix|July 5, 1889}}|author=|title=Vermont Academy Commencement|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8378759/vermont_academy_commencement_vermont/|access-date=16 January 2017|publisher=Vermont Phoenix|date=July 5, 1889|location=Brattleboro, Vermont|via = Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}
• {{cite news|ref={{harvid|Vermont Phoenix|September 6, 1907}}|author=|title=(untitled)|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8378680/untitled_vermont_phoenix/|access-date=16 January 2017|publisher=Vermont Phoenix|date=September 6, 1907|location=Brattleboro, Vermont|via = Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}
• {{cite news|ref={{harvid|Vermont Phoenix|October 4, 1907}}|author=|title=(untitled)|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8378790/untitled_vermont_phoenix/|access-date=16 January 2017|publisher=Vermont Phoenix|date=October 4, 1907|location=Brattleboro, Vermont|via = Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}

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Category:1857 births

Category:1935 deaths

Category:People from Grafton, Vermont

Category:Smith College alumni

Category:American women educators

Category:Baptist missionaries in Japan

Category:American missionaries in Japan

Category:Baptist missionaries from the United States

Category:Female Christian missionaries

Category:Vermont Academy alumni