Wilson Plumer Mills (December 1, 1883–February 26, 1959, zh, 米尔士) was an American missionary and humanitarian known for his efforts to protect civilians during the

Nanjing Massacre The Nanjing Massacre, or the Rape of Nanjing (formerly Chinese postal romanization, romanized as ''Nanking'') was the mass murder of Chinese civilians, noncombatants, and surrendered prisoners of war by the Imperial Japanese Army in Nanji ...

(1937–1938) under Japanese occupation.

Biography

Early life and education

Born in 1883 to William Wilson Mills (1837–1905) and Sarah Edith Ann Smith Mills (1838–1911), Mills grew up in a family with three older brothers, one sister, and a younger sister who died in infancy. He earned his first bachelor's degree from

Davidson College Davidson College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina, United States. It was established in 1837 by the Concord Presbytery and named after American Revolutiona ...

in 1903, followed by a second degree at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

in 1910. In 1912, he graduated from Columbia Theological Seminary with a Bachelor of Divinity and soon joined the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

in China, serving until 1931. From 1933, he worked as a pastor under the Presbyterian Foreign Mission Board.

Nanjing and Shanghai

In November 1937, as Japanese forces advanced toward

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

, Mills became vice-chairman of the

International Committee for the Nanking Safety Zone The International Committee was established in 1937 to establish and manage the Nanking Safety Zone. Many Westerners were living in the city at that time, conducting trade or on missionary trips. As the Imperial Japanese Army began to approach N ...

, a civilian protection initiative led by German businessman John Rabe. On November 22, Mills and fellow missionary Miner Searle Bates met with U.S. Consul John M. Paxton aboard the USS Panay to relay a proposal to Japanese authorities a ceasefire, though the effort failed. After Nanjing fell on December 13, 1937, Mills actively documented Japanese atrocities. From January to March 1938, he sent harrowing accounts of massacres, rapes, and looting to his wife, Harriet Cornelia Seyle Mills, from his residence at 65 Mochou Road. He also protested directly to the Japanese Embassy, demanding restraint from military personnel. Following John Rabe's departure in February 1938, Mills assumed chairmanship of the reorganized Nanking International Relief Committee, advocating for humanitarian aid. On April 13, 1938, he petitioned Japanese Consul-General to allow farmers access to rice seeds to prevent famine. After the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941, Mills was interned by Japanese forces in a Shanghai prison camp until his repatriation in 1943. He returned to China in 1944, working in

Chongqing ChongqingPostal Romanization, Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the State Council of the People's Republi ...

and

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

before leaving permanently in 1949. He continued his work in New York City on the staff of the Missionary Research Library at Union Theological Seminary until 1955. He died 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 ...

on February 26, 1959, and was buried at Quaker Cemetery in Camden,

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

Family

Wilson Mills had a daughter, Harriet Cornelia Mills, who was a scholar and professor of Chinese language and literature.

References

{{Nanking Safety Zone People assisting Chinese during the Nanjing Massacre American missionary educators Davidson College alumni Columbia Theological Seminary alumni Alumni of the University of Oxford