Mason, Sarah Margaret Refo.

• 1930 Nov 3: Sarah Margaret Refo was born in Memphis, Tennessee, second daughter of Henry Barron Refo (1898-1993) and Sarah Alice Flaniken (1895-1956). Her parents were educational missionaries in China who were on furlough in the U.S. at the time of Sarah's birth.
• 1931: Refos returned to Guangzhou, where Henry was head of the science department of the secondary school of Lingnan University and instructor in the university's education department and Sarah Alice served as a counselor to graduates of the True Light Middle School attending Lingnan University.
• 1937: Refos returned to Tennesee where Henry was teacher and administrator in public schools
• 1939: Refos went to Hong Kong, serving at True Light Middle School under auspices of Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. True Light Middle School had relocated from Guangzhou to Hong Kong during the Sino-Japanese war. Sarah and her three sisters attended British Diocesan School in Hong Kong.
• 1942: During the occupation of Hong Kong by the Japanese, the Refo family was placed in Stanley Prison with other American missionaries, business persons, etc. Later in 1942, they were repatriated to the U.S. on the Swedish ship Gripsholm and settled in Kentucky where Henry taught chemistry at Berea College.
• 1946: Refos returned to China to teach at True Light Middle School, which had reopened in Guangzhou. Sarah attended Shanghai American School
• 1948: Sarah graduated from Shanghai American School and entered College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio.
• 1952: Sarah graduated from College of Wooster and married James Mason. The Masons worked at Camp Reinberg, near Chicago, during the summer and then settled in New York City, where Jim attended Union Theological Seminary.
• 1954 - 1975 : Mason family based in Illinois as Jim Mason served in various positions. Children born: Rachel (1954); Joseph (1957); Roald (1960); Sarah Alice (1966).
• 1964: Sarah began graduate studies in history at Northern Illinois University and taught at McHenry County College.
• 1970: Sarah received M.A. in history from Northern Illinois University and began studies for doctorate in history at NIU.
• 1975: Mason family moved to Minnesota.
• 1976 - 1978 : Sarah employed as oral history interviewer for Midwest China Center at Luther Theological Seminary, St. Paul, MN.
• 1978: Sarah received Ph.D. from Northern Illinois University
• 1978 - 1981 : Sarah employed as researcher and writer in Ethnic History Project of Minnesota Historical Society, including interviews and research in Asian communities throughout the state. Contributed four chapters on Chinese, Filipinos, Koreans, and Southeast Asians in Minnesota to the book, They Chose Minnesota: A Survey of Minnesota's Ethnic Groups, edited by June D. Holmquist (St. Paul, 1981).
• 1981 - 1987 : Sarah assisted the Women's Association of Hmong and Lao, St. Paul as coordinator of the English language project for elderly Hmong women, and as consultant and proposal writer.
• 1982: Sarah traveled to China and contacted students of her parents at True Light School, former colleagues at Lingnan University, and former staff members of the Canton YMCA.
• 1982 - 1985 : Sarah worked as researcher, interviewer, and writer for the Southeast Asian Refugee Studies Project of the University of Minnesota.
• 1984 - 1985 : Sarah received grant from Rockefeller Foundation for a national survey of employment training programs for Southeast Asian women in the United State. Results of this survey published in the book Training Southeast Asian Women for Employment: Public Policies and Community Programs, 1975-1985, by Sarah R. Mason (Minneapolis, 1986).
• 1986 - 1987 : Sarah served as professor of U.S. history, comparative cultures, and advanced writing (English) in the Department of Foreign Languages, Zhongshan University, Guangzhou, China.
• 1987: Sarah traveled in southwest China, visiting and conducting preliminary research in Miao communities.
• 1989 - 1990 : Sarah served as assistant professor of history at the University of Minnesota, Morris.
• 1990 - 1995 : Sarah conducted independent research, primarily in the field of China missions history, with a focus on the Miao people, True Light School for Women and other mission schools for women, and the Canton YMCA.
• 1994: Sarah's paper on the Presbyterian Mission Home, Cameron House, in San Francisco, published in Women and Chinese Patriarchy, Jaschok and Miers, eds. (Hong Kong, 1994).
• 1995: Sarah's paper on a former resident of Cameron House, San Francisco, published in Minnesota History (Spring, 1995). Sarah treated for breast cancer.
• 1996: Sarah presented paper at Association for Asian Studies conference in Honolulu. Diagnosed with signs of early Alzheimer's disease.
• 1997 - 2002 : Sarah's illness progressed. She died on June 27, 2002. For full chronology and list of positions and publications, see Biographical Documentation in Box 40, Folder 444.

From the guide to the Sarah Refo Mason Papers, 1866-1999, (Yale University Divinity School Library)