mnsss522 Ethel Smith Newman Papers, 1915-2005 Finding Aid Sophia Smith Collection
Smith College Northampton, MA
2012

Sophia Smith Collection. All rights reserved.

 Finding aid exported into EAD from InMagic DB/Textworks 13.0. Encoded by Margaret Jessup. February 20, 2012 Finding aid written in English. Collection Overview Newman, Ethel Smith Ethel Smith Newman Papers1915-20051915-25 MS 678 2 (.75 linear ft.) English Sophia Smith Collection
Smith College Northampton, MA
Missionary teacher. Papers consist of correspondence from Ethel Smith Newman while serving as a missionary in China to her family, 1915 to 1925, as well as a published volume of the transcribed letters. Photographs are attached to some letters. Biographical Note

Ethel Marion Smith was born to Jeanette (Waitt) and Robert Bradford Smith in Malden, Massachusetts on February 15, 1888. She earned a degree from Salem Normal School in 1908 and taught at high schools in Augusta, Maine and Everett and Barre, Massachusetts. In 1915 she accepted a teaching position with the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society, fulfilling her ambition to become a missionary. Initially stationed in the Ungkung mission in the Kwangtung (Guangdong) province of southeast China, she met a missionary physician, Henry Newman. The two married in 1916. Robert staffed hospitals while Ethel taught at girls' schools. The Newmans had four children: Robert, Henry, James, and William. Ethel continued to teach as she raised the children. In 1918 and 1919, Henry, Sr. worked in Siberia to aid with a typhus outbreak while Ethel and the children spent time in the United States. The family returned to mission in 1920, taking posts in China's Jiangsu province. They resettled in the United States permanently in 1925. Ethel Smith Newman died in January 1956, Henry Newman, Sr., in December 1962.

 Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Ethel Smith Newman papers consist of original correspondence from Ethel Smith Newman to her family in the United States between 1915 and 1925 as well as a published volume of the transcribed letters. Photographs are attached to some letters. The correspondence recounts day-to-day events of missionary life, detailing travels, work, civil unrest, the missionary household, and culture clash in an era of world war and growing anti-imperialism. Mary Shaw Newman, Ethel's daughter-in-law, transcribed and edited the letters, which were published in the volume Dear Folks at Home (2005). The book's preface contains an overview of Ethel Smith Newman's missionary career.

[NOTE: The contents list for this collection is not online. Contact the Sophia Smith Collection if you would like one sent to you.]

The papers are open to research according to the regulations of the Sophia Smith Collection with the following caveats: This collection has not been fully processed and therefore may be difficult to use. Collection is stored offsite; researchers must give 48 hours advance notice.

The Sophia Smith Collection owns copyright to the unpublished works in this collection created by Ethel Smith Newman. Copyright to materials authored by others may be owned by those individuals or their heirs or assigns. Permission must be obtained to publish reproductions or quotations beyond "fair use." It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights.

 Preferred Citation

Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:

Ethel Smith Newman Papers, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College, Northampton, Mass.

Periodic additions to collection are expected and may not be reflected in this record.

The Ethel Smith Newman Papers were donated to the Sophia Smith Collection by Mary Shaw Newman in 2011

Accessioned by Amanda Izzo, April 2011

China -- Description and travel -- Sources China -- Social conditions -- 1912-1937 -- Sources China -- Social life and customs -- 1912-1937 -- Sources Missionaries -- China -- History -- Sources Missionaries, Medical -- China -- History -- 20th century -- Sources Women -- Education -- History -- Sources Women and religion -- History--20th century -- Sources Women educators -- Biography -- Sources American Baptist Foreign Mission Society -- China Newman, Ethel Smith Newman, Mary S.