Mary Agnes Hathaway

Mary Agnes Hathaway
Hathaway, from a 1905 newspaper
Born(1863-12-02)December 2, 1863
Bristol, New York, U.S.
DiedMarch 13, 1939(1939-03-13) (aged 75)
Tokyo, Japan
OccupationsEducator, missionary

Mary Agnes Hathaway (December 2, 1863 – March 13, 1939) was an American educator and a missionary teacher in Japan beginning in 1905.

Early life and education

Hathaway was born in Bristol, New York,[1] the daughter of Abiel Chandler Hathaway and Hannah Augusta Cornell Hathaway. She graduated from Genesee Wesleyan Seminary in 1888.[2] She attended classes at Lebanon Normal School, but did not finish the course. She completed a degree at the University of Chicago in 1902.[3]

Career

After college, Hathaway taught school in Lima, New York, Newark, New York, and Chester, Illinois. She was Dean of Women at Lombard College from 1900 to 1903.[4] She was an American missionary teacher based in Tokyo beginning in 1905, under the auspices of the Women's Missionary Association of the Universalist Church of America.[5][6][7] She and Catherine M. Osborn[8] ran the Blackmer Home for Girls,[9][10] a Universalist residence for female college students in Tokyo.[11][12] She spent Christmas 1908 in Shizuoka with Osborn.[13]

Hathaway was in Tokyo for the Great Kantō Earthquake in 1923.[14] "We had a letter from Miss Hathaway today in which she states that she was pretty badly shaken up nervously and was in constant fear of further damage from the continuous shakes which had not stopped when she wrote Monday," reported a fellow missionary soon afterward.[15]

During furloughs in 1910[12] and 1911[16][17] and from 1925 to 1927,[18][14] Hathaway spoke about her work to church groups and other audiences.[19] In 1927, Hathaway was the guest preacher at the First Unitarian Church in Providence, Rhode Island.[20] Her successor as director of the Blackmer Home was Georgene E. Bowen.[21][22]

Publications

  • The Blackmer House Girls (1927)[23]

Personal life

Hathaway retired to a cottage in Zushi, Kanagawa, where her former colleague Tomo Murai and his family looked after her.[9][24] She died in March 1939, at the age of 75, in Tokyo.[25]

References

  1. ^ Milliken, Charles F. (1911). A History of Ontario County, New York and Its People. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 237.
  2. ^ "Genesee Wesleyan Seminary" The Christian Advocate (July 10, 1919): 887-888.
  3. ^ "President Judson's Trip Around the World". The University of Chicago Magazine. 7 (1): 11. November 1914.
  4. ^ "Our New Japan Missionary" Onward (January 17, 1905): 22.
  5. ^ "Japan" Universalist Register (1906): 33.
  6. ^ ""The W. N. M. A."". The Christian Leader: 1436. November 9, 1929.
  7. ^ "Goes as a Missionary to Japan". The Star Press. 1905-03-19. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-11-21 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Alexander, Scott W. (1994). Salted with Fire: Unitarian Universalist Strategies for Sharing Faith and Growing Congregations. Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations. p. 50. ISBN 978-1-55896-289-7.
  9. ^ a b "Deaths: Miss M. Agnes Hathaway". The Daily Messenger. 1939-03-14. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-11-21.
  10. ^ "Farewell Party for Doll Messengers". The Daily Messenger. 1926-11-12. p. 5. Retrieved 2025-11-21 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Williams, Theresa A. "Report of the Women's National Missionary Society" Universalist General Convention Annual Report (1912): 41.
  12. ^ a b "On the Blackmer Home". Commercial. 1910-11-05. p. 5. Retrieved 2025-11-21.
  13. ^ Osborne, Catherine M. (March 23, 1909). "A Letter from Japan". Onward: 91–92.
  14. ^ a b "Canton; Miss Agnes Hathaway, Missionary to Japan to Address Univ. Ladies". The Lewiston Daily Sun. 1926-03-24. p. 6. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  15. ^ "Letter Received from Rev. C. R. Stetson Tells of Tragic Earthquake in Island Empire". Springfield Reporter. 1923-10-25. p. 6. Retrieved 2025-11-21 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Suffrage Vote Rescinded". Springfield Evening Union. 1911-10-19. p. 6. Retrieved 2025-11-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Jap War Talk Foolish; Missionary in Address". The Star Press. 1911-04-03. p. 10. Retrieved 2025-11-21 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Annual Luncheon". Pasadena Star-News. 1925-02-03. p. 22. Retrieved 2025-11-21 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Missionary to Japan Gives a Fine Talk; Miss Agnes Hathaway Has Been 21 Years in That Country". Morning Sentinel. 1926-03-31. p. 2. Retrieved 2025-11-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "Rhode Island" The Christian Leader (December 24, 1927): 1660.
  21. ^ "Mission Circle Plans for Dinner Completed". Portland Press Herald. 1931-03-16. p. 6. Retrieved 2025-11-21 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ "Georgene Bowen Talks of Japan". Portland Press Herald. 1930-10-02. p. 6. Retrieved 2025-11-21 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ McKanan, Dan (2017). A Documentary History of Unitarian Universalism, Volume Two: From 1900 to the Present. Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations. p. 89. ISBN 978-1-55896-791-5.
  24. ^ Bowen, Georgene E. (1932-04-20). "How Japanese Are Treating American Friends". The Vermont Tribune. p. 4. Retrieved 2025-11-21 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ "Mary Agnes Hathaway" The Christian Leader (April 22, 1939): 399.
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