Edna Bruner Bulkley
{{short description|American missionary}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Edna Bruner Bulkley
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1883|7|14}}
| birth_place = Sacramento, California, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1962|3|25|1883|7|14}}
| death_place = Claremont, California, U.S.
| other_names = Ednah Bruner Bulkley
| occupation = Educator, Presbyterian missionary
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| relatives = Lucius Duncan Bulkley (father-in-law)
Henry Harrington Janeway (brother-in-law)
}}
Edna Bruner Bulkley (July 14, 1883 – March 25, 1962) was an American missionary in Thailand (Siam) from 1903 to 1934.
Early life
Bruner was born on July 14, 1873, in Sacramento, California, the daughter of Elwood Bruner and Lillian J. Flint Bruner. Her father was an attorney and a pastor.{{Cite news |date=1962-03-26 |title=Edna Bulkley Funeral Will be Wednesday |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sacramento-bee-edna-bulkley-funeral/162739093/ |access-date=2025-01-10 |work=The Sacramento Bee |pages=22 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |date=1934-02-28 |title=Officers Reelected, Reports Given at Missionary Session |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/enterprise-record-officers-reelected-re/162741420/ |access-date=2025-01-10 |work=Enterprise-Record |pages=4 |via=Newspapers.com}}
Career
Bruner became a Presbyterian teaching missionary in Siam in 1903,{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Samuel J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ZxEAQAAMAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=Edna%20Bruner%20Bulkley&pg=PA28#v=onepage&q=Edna%20Bruner%20Bulkley&f=false |title=Brief Sketches of Siam from 1833 to 1909 |date=1909 |publisher=Printed at the Bangkolem Press |page=28 |language=en}} working at the Wang Lang Girls' School (Kullastri Wanglang) in Bangkok, with principal Edna Sarah Cole and other American women.{{Cite web |last=Tan |first=Wen Xuan |date=December 30, 2024 |title=Bridging the Distance: Female American missionaries in Thailand, 1851-1910 |url=https://www.iseas.edu.sg/library/blog/highlights-happenings/bridging-the-distance/ |access-date=2025-01-10 |website=ISEAS Library |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |date=1904-05-19 |title=Returned Missionary Brings Tidings of Sacramento Girl in the Far-Off Realm of Siam |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sacramento-bee-returned-missionary-b/114282055/ |access-date=2025-01-10 |work=The Sacramento Bee |pages=7 |via=Newspapers.com}} After she married, she helped to establish a hospital in Trang.{{Cite news |date=1962-03-27 |title=Edna Bruner Bulkley |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sacramento-union-edna-bruner-bulkley/162738560/ |access-date=2025-01-10 |work=The Sacramento Union |pages=16 |via=Newspapers.com}} On furloughs in the United States in 1909–1910{{Cite news |date=June 17, 1909 |title=Back from Siam after Long Stay; Miss Edna Bruner Returns from Missionary Fields |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SDU19090617.2.40&srpos=2&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-Edna+Bruner-------Sa |work=Sacramento Daily Union |pages=3 |via=California Digital Newspaper Collection}} and 1930,{{Cite news |date=1930-11-20 |title=MIssionary Society Entertained at Church |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/progress-bulletin-missionary-society-ent/162744544/ |access-date=2025-01-11 |work=Progress-Bulletin |pages=6 |via=Newspapers.com}} she spoke to church and women's groups about her work.{{Cite news |date=1910-01-12 |title=MIssionary Meeting |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-marysville-appeal-missionary-meeting/162742430/ |access-date=2025-01-10 |work=The Marysville Appeal |pages=8 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |date=December 2, 1909 |title=Mrs. Hatfield and Miss Edna Bruner |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=DCS19091202.2.17&srpos=3&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-Edna+Bruner------- |work=Colusa Daily Sun |pages=3 |via=California Digital Newspaper Collection}}
Personal life and legacy
Bruner married medical missionary Lucius Constant Bulkley in 1911, in Thailand.{{Cite book |last=Wells |first=Kenneth Elmer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NsPYAAAAMAAJ&q=Edna+Bruner+Bulkley&dq=Edna+Bruner+Bulkley&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjzj6PxneyKAxWQLEQIHSYzCekQ6AF6BAgGEAI |title=History of Protestant Work in Thailand, 1828-1958 |date=1958 |publisher=Church of Christ in Thailand |page=118 |language=en}}{{Cite news |date=1911-04-11 |title=Social Notes of Local Interest |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sacramento-bee-social-notes-of-local/162742898/ |access-date=2025-01-11 |work=The Sacramento Bee |pages=16 |via=Newspapers.com}} His father was noted physician Lucius Duncan Bulkley,{{Cite journal |date=1928-11-01 |title=Lucius Duncan Bulkley, M.D. 1845-1928 |url=http://archderm.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?doi=10.1001/archderm.1928.02380170111011 |journal=Archives of Dermatology |language=en |volume=18 |issue=5 |pages=755 |doi=10.1001/archderm.1928.02380170111011 |issn=0003-987X}} and his sister was married to another notable physician, Henry Harrington Janeway. They had seven children born between 1912 and 1924. Her husband died in 1949,{{Cite news |date=1949-01-21 |title=Lucius C. Bulkley, Noted Missionary, Dies in Niland |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/progress-bulletin-obituary-for-lucius-co/62443977/ |access-date=2025-01-10 |work=Progress-Bulletin |pages=8 |via=Newspapers.com}} and she died on March 25, 1962, at the age of 78, in Claremont, California. In 2003, her daughter Mary Bulkley Stanton published Siam Was Our Home, a memoir of the Bulkley family's time in Thailand.{{Cite book |last=Stanton |first=Mary Bulkley |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/Siam_was_Our_Home.html?id=tXQHAAAACAAJ |title=Siam was Our Home: A Narrative Memoir of Edna Bruner Bulkley's Years in Thailand in the 1900s, with Added Memories from Her Children |date=2003 |publisher=Hara Pub. |isbn=978-1-887542-14-2 |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=McMichael |first=Barbara |date=2004-03-07 |title=Authors' passion shines through |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-olympian-authors-passion-shines-thr/162738932/ |access-date=2025-01-10 |work=The Olympian |pages=25 |via=Newspapers.com}} The school where Bruner taught in Bangkok was the precursor to the present-day Wattana Wittaya Girls Academy.{{Cite news |last=McDonald |first=Edwin R. |date=1975-02-09 |title=Edna Cole Still Fondly Remembered in Thailand |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-joseph-news-press-edna-cole-still-fo/114299535/ |access-date=2025-01-11 |work=St. Joseph News-Press |pages=13 |via=Newspapers.com}}
References
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Category:American missionaries in Thailand
Category:American women educators