Wheeler, Laura Maude, 1874-1966.

American Laura Maude Wheeler (1874-1966) was a Methodist missionary in Tientsin (Tianjin), northern China, primarily at the Keen School, from 1903 to 1948. From 1943 to 1945, she and other missionaries were interned as prisoners of war by the Japanese in China. Wheeler was a writer and traveler who was acutely aware of China's cultural and physical landscape. She wrote widely on topics relating to Christianity in China and published an autobiography, Recollection of my Chinese days.

From the description of Laura Maude Wheeler papers [microform], 1903-1966. (Harvard University, Divinity School Library). WorldCat record id: 229668194

From the description of Laura Maude Wheeler papers, 1903-1966. (University of Oregon Libraries). WorldCat record id: 67840496

Laura Maude Wheeler, known as "Maude," was born in Manitowoc, Wisconsin in 1874. Her father was a minister and had been a Methodist missionary to China. He took her and the rest of the family to China during his missionary service when Laura was six years old. She returned to the United States for high school and college, graduating from Lawrence College in Appleton, Wisconsin. She taught for a few years before becoming a Methodist missionary in China in 1903. During her first term she was located in Peking at the Gamewell School. During her next term and throughout the rest of her missionary career, which ended in 1948, Wheeler worked in Tientsin in Northern China at the Keen School, first as a teacher and later as an administrator. She was a writer and a traveler, a collector of photos and pictures, and a person acutely aware of China's foreign, cultural and physical landscape. From 1943 to 1945, Wheeler was held in an internment camp, with around two thousand other foreigners, during the Japanese military campaign in China. After her retirement in 1948, she resided in Pasadena, California and continued to be an active evangelist, evident in her writings and correspondence from this time period. She died in July of 1966.

From the guide to the Laura Maude Wheeler papers, 1903-1966, (Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries)