Anna (Seward) Pruitt (1862–1948), was a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

in Northern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. She belonged to the so-called "missionary generation" of Americans born between the years 1860-1885. She was born in Tallmadge,

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, on May 16, 1862, the daughter of John Woodhouse and Urania (Ashley) Seward. She traveled west in the early 1880s to teach school in

Ojai Ojai ( ; Chumash: ''’Awhaỳ'') is a city in Ventura County, California. Located in the Ojai Valley, it is northwest of Los Angeles and east of Santa Barbara. The valley is part of the east–west trending Western Transverse Ranges and is ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

; her letters about the trip were later published in the California Historical Quarterly (1937–1938).

Early years and children

To honor the example of a beloved cousin who had died in mission work in China, Anna Seward decided to travel there as a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

missionary and settled in Huang Xian,

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

province in North China, where she met Cicero Washington Pruitt. They married on February 16, 1888, and had five children: Ida (1888–1985), John (1890–1912), Ashley (1892–1898), Virginia (died in infancy, 1894), Robert (1897–1961), and Dudley McConnell "Mac" (1902–1967). The death of Ashley and Virginia inspired Southern Baptists to send money to start a hospital in Huang Xian.International Mission Board website, ''Missionaries You Should Know: Cicero Washington Pruitt''
/ref>Christian Index website, ''Southern Baptist international medical missions trace beginnings back to Georgia'', article by Charles Jones dated December 12, 2022
/ref> The famous missionary

Lottie Moon Charlotte Digges "Lottie" Moon (December 12, 1840 – December 24, 1912) was an American Southern Baptist missionary to China with the Foreign Mission Board who spent nearly 40 years (1873–1912) living and working in China. As a teacher and ev ...

apparently babysat the children on some occasions. Ida Pruitt was one of the few Westerners that remained influential in Chinese aid and development throughout much of the century even after the

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

take over. While stationed in Huangxian, the children attended school at the

Chefoo School The Chefoo School ( zh, first=t, t=芝罘學校, s=芝罘学校, p=Zhīfú Xuéxiào, w=Chih-fu Hsüeh-hsiao), also known as Protestant Collegiate School or China Inland Mission School, was a Christian boarding school established in 1881 by t ...

operated by the

China Inland Mission OMF International (formerly Overseas Missionary Fellowship and before 1964 the China Inland Mission) is an international and interdenominational Evangelical Christianity, Christian missionary society with an international centre in Singapore. It ...

. Anna Seward began a missionary school for boys, and by 1904 C.W. Pruitt had organized the Baptist Theological Seminary for Central China.

Later years

After C.W. retired in 1936, they returned to the United States and settled in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

where he became the dean of the Baptist Foreign Missions of North America. Anna spent the last years of her life traveling and lecturing on China and mission work. Anna Seward died on June 20, 1948.International Mission Board website, ''C. W. Pruitt''
/ref>

Writings

Anna wrote two books about missionary life in China: *''The Day of Small Things'' (Foreign Mission Board, Southern Baptist Convention, 1929)GoodReads website, ''Ann Seward Pruitt''
/ref> *''Up from Zero: In North China'' (Broadman Press, 1939) She also wrote two children's books set in China: *''Whirligigs in China: Stories for Juniors'' (Broadman, 1948) *''The Chinese Boat Baby'' (Rice Press, 1938) ''Most of this article is taken from the Radcliffe Finding Aid. See link below.''

References

External links

World Catalog entry for Missionary mother and radical daughter: Anna and Ida Pruitt in China, 1887-1939 - Marjorie King's thesis on Anna Seward, her daughter Ida and their different approaches to life and living with the Chinese people.
*World Catalog entry fo
The day of small things
Clic
here
to read the PDF. *World Catalog entry fo
Up from Zero
*World Catalog entry fo
The Chinese boat baby
*World Catalog entry fo
Whirligigs in China: stories for juniors
*World Catalog entry fo
California in the eighties. As pictured in the letters of Anna Seward.
* - 2006 book on Ida Pruitt with possible insight into her mother's outlook on life and the different point of view that Ida her daughter took. by Marjorie King
Pruitt family tree

The finding aid
for Ida Pruitt's papers located at Radcliffe College. The papers contain many items related to C.W. *History of th
Lottie Moon Christmas Offering
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pruitt, Anna Seward 1862 births 1948 deaths American Presbyterian missionaries Presbyterian missionaries in China American missionary educators Female Christian missionaries People from Tallmadge, Ohio People from Ojai, California American expatriates in China 19th-century American educators 19th-century American women educators

Early years and children

Later years

Writings

See also

References

External links