Esther Biddle Rhoads (November 26, 1896 – February 4, 1979) was an American educator and Quaker relief worker. She was a teacher at the Friends Girls School in Tokyo from 1917 to 1940, and returned to Japan after World War II to rebuild the school as its principal; she was also tutor of Prince Akihito from 1950 to 1960.

Early life and education

Rhoads was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Edward Garrett Rhoads and Margaret Ely Paxson Rhoads. Her family were Quakers; her father was a physician. She attended

Germantown Friends School Germantown Friends School (GFS) is a coeducational independent PreK–12 school in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States under the supervision of Germantown Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Fri ...

Drexel Institute Drexel University is a private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a financier and philanthropist. Founded as Drexel Institute of Art, S ...

, and in 1921 completed a bachelor's degree at Earlham College in Indiana. In 1927 she earned a master's degree in religious education from Teachers College, Columbia University.

Career

Rhoads went to teach in Japan in 1917, at the Friends Girls School in Tokyo. At the school, she also coached sports, directed student theatrical productions, and oversaw a dormitory. She and her mother were in Tokyo for the

Great Kantō Earthquake Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

in 1923. She left Japan in 1940. During the war, she worked in California with the

American Friends Service Committee The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is a Religious Society of Friends (''Quaker'') founded organization working for peace and social justice in the United States and around the world. AFSC was founded in 1917 as a combined effort by Am ...

(AFSC) and used her Japanese language and cultural understanding to support Japanese-Americans incarcerated in internment camps. After the war, Rhoads returned to Japan, as commissioner of Licensed Agencies for Relief in Asia (LARA). In 1949, became principal of the Friends Girls School in Tokyo. She also tutored Crown Prince Akihito, from 1950 to 1960. She left her Japan posts in 1960. In retirement, Rhoads went to Tunisia, to work with the AFSC in to provide humanitarian relief to refugees of the

Algerian War The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence,( ar, الثورة الجزائرية '; '' ber, Tagrawla Tadzayrit''; french: Guerre d'Algérie or ') and sometimes in Algeria as the War of 1 November ...

. Rhoads received the Fourth Order of the Sacred Treasure in 1952, from Emperor Hirohito; she received the Third Order of the Sacred Treasure upon her retirement in 1960. She also held the highest decoration given by the Japanese Red Cross Society, and was presented with symbolic keys to the city of Tokyo. A biography, ''Footprints of a Quaker,'' was published in Japanese.

Personal life

Rhoads died in 1979, in Germantown, Pennsylvania, at the age of 82. A large collection of her papers is held in the

Haverford College Haverford College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Haverford, Pennsylvania. It was founded as a men's college in 1833 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), began accepting non-Quakers in 1849, and became coeducational ...

Libraries' Quaker & Special Collections.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhoads, Esther Biddle 1896 births 1979 deaths American Quakers American educators American expatriates in Japan Germantown Friends School alumni Earlham College alumni Drexel University alumni Teachers College, Columbia University alumni Biddle family