Ida C. Pruitt (1888–1985) was a China-born American social worker, author, speaker, interpreter and activist in Sino-American understanding. Her biographer called her "China's American Daughter." In the 1920s and 1930s she supervised social work in the

Peking Union Medical College Peking Union Medical College, also as Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, is a national public medical sciences research institution in Dongcheng, Beijing, Dongcheng, Beijing, China. Originally founded in 1906, it is affiliated with the Nationa ...

, then after the outbreak of the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

was a major actor in the Chinese Industrial Cooperatives. After the

Chinese Communist Revolution The Chinese Communist Revolution was a social revolution, social and political revolution in China that began in 1927 and culminated with the proclamation of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. The revolution was led by the Chinese C ...

of 1949, she retired to the United States but continued to advocate warmer relations with China. Ida Pruitt - Life and Accomplishments
/ref>

Early life

Ida Pruitt was the daughter of North

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 ...

Southern Baptist The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), alternatively the Great Commission Baptists (GCB), is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist organization, the largest Protestantism in the United States, Pr ...

missionaries Anna Seward Pruitt and C.W. Pruitt. Born in 1888 in the coastal town of Penglai on the

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 ...

peninsula, her childhood was spent in the small inland village of Songjia, Shandong, where for many years the Pruitts were the only Western family. After attending Cox College in College Park,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

(1906–1909), Ida Pruitt received a B.S. from Columbia University Teachers' College in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

(1910). When her brother John died, Ida returned to China to be with her family and became a teacher and principal of Wai Ling School for Girls in Chefoo (1912–1918). In 1918, she came back to the United States and studied social work in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

and

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

until hired by the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...

in New York as head of the Department of Social Services at the

(PUMC) where she remained until 1938.

Japanese occupation

During the

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese occupation of China (1937–1945), Ida assisted Rewi Alley as he organized the Chinese Industrial Cooperatives. New York Times website, ''Ida Pruitt, 96, who fostered Friendship with the Chinese''
/ref> The CIC was formed to organize cooperative factories throughout the countryside to support China's industry. Schools were built to train the Chinese (often crippled or orphaned) to work in and manage the factories. Indusco, the fundraising arm of the CIC in the United States, was formed, and Pruitt served as its executive secretary from 1939 to 1951.

Author

Pruitt wrote books, stories, and articles, including several autobiographies and biographies including; ''A China Childhood''GoodReads website, ''Ida Pruitt''
/ref> (1978), ''The Years Between'', and ''Days in Old Peking: May 1921 - October 1938''. Her "as told to" autobiography - '' Daughter of Han: The Autobiography of a Chinese Working Woman (1945)'' became widely read when it was republished in paperback by Stanford University Press in 1967. This book was followed by ''Old Madame Yin: A Memoir of Peking Life, 1926–1938'' (1979), and ''Tales of Old China''. She also translated and edited many works, including ''Yellow Storm'' (better known as ''Four Generations Under One Roof'') by Lao She (1951), ''The Flight of an Empress'' by Wu Yung (1936), ''Little Bride'' by Wang Yung, and ''Beyond China's City Walls'' by George A. Hogg, ''et al.''

Personal life

In 1946, she rented an apartment with Maud Russell on West 93rd Street in New York City and remained there until 1961 when she retired and moved to Philadelphia near the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

where she remained for the rest of her life. While living in Beijing Ida adopted two girls, one Chinese, Kueiching wei-ching the other a Russian refugee, Tania Manooiloff. They were educated in English schools in China, then sent to the United States. Kueiching married Tommy Ho, a radiologist from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, in 1940; they settled in

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

, Canada, and had two children: Timmy and Nancy. Her other daughter, Tania Manooiloff, taught Russian at

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the e ...

. She married Cornelius "Cornie" Cosman, a

metallurgist Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the ...

who worked for the

US Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal lands and natural resources. It also administers programs relating t ...

. They had four children: Catherine Helen, Anna Ida, Michaela and Hugh. After Cosman's death, she married Mr. Wahl. Ida Pruitt died on July 24, 1985, in Philadelphia.International Mission Board website, ''C. W. Pruitt''
/ref> ''Unreferenced text mostly taken from the Radcliff Finding Aid. See link below.''

Notes

References

External links

Ida Pruitt Papers.
http://www.radcliffe.edu/schles Schlesinger Library] , Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.
Papers of Ida Pruitt and Marjorie King, 1891–1994.Schlesinger Library
Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University. *World Catalog Entry fo
Flight of an empress
told by Wu Yung, whose other name is Yu-ch'uan; transcribed by Liu K'un; translated and edited by Ida Pruitt; introduction by Kenneth Scott Latourette. *World Catalog Entry fo
A Daughter of Han: The Autobiography of a Chinese Working Woman
*World Catalog entry fo
Yellow storm by Lau Shaw pseud. of S. Y. Shu
translated from the Chinese by Ida Pruitt.(1951) *World Catalog Entry fo
World Ida Pruitt: A China Childhood
(1978) *World Catalog entry fo
Old Madam Yin: A Memoir of Peking Life
(1979)
Pruitt family tree
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pruitt, Ida 1888 births 1985 deaths American expatriates in China Baptists from the United States Writers from Yantai Cox College (Georgia) alumni Teachers College, Columbia University alumni American autobiographers American women autobiographers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American women writers Children of American missionaries in China American women non-fiction writers