Monona L. Cheney was born in Madison, Wisconsin on December 28, 1890. She was educated at Lawrence College in Appleton, Wisconsin, receiving a B.A. in 1914; she went on to receive an M.A. in education at Teachers' College, Columbia University in 1918. In 1918 she traveled to the newly-formed Republic of China to spread the word of her church, serving as a missionary teacher for the Methodist Episcopal sect of the Christian religion. She initially taught at the Keen School in Tientsin until 1920, when she started teaching at the Gamewell School. She taught history, English, and Bible studies, and engaged in rural evangelicalism in the Peking area. After a short break in the United States she returned to China and taught at Yenching University from 1926 until 1930. The letters she wroted during her mission were addressed to her family, and she also was fond of taking photographs of Chinese life.
From the description of Monona Cheney papers [microform], 1918-1932. (Harvard University, Divinity School Library). WorldCat record id: 229668295
From the description of Monona Cheney papers, 1918-1932. (University of Oregon Libraries). WorldCat record id: 62392022
