Some might say that Alice Browne Frame was destined for missionary work.  Born in Turkey in 1878 to two parents serving as missionaries in Harpoot, Frame was exposed at an early age to the life of a missionary.  She graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 1900 and sailed to Tungchou, China in 1905.  There she met her husband, Murray Scott Frame, also a missionary, and the two were married in 1913 in Kyoto, Japan.  They had a child, Rosamond, who eventually graduated in the Mount Holyoke class of 1938.  Alice Browne Frame finally returned to the United States in 1941 after being urged by the American Health Board, and died in Newton, Massachusetts five months later. (11)

Frame’s long presence in China (nearly 30 years) is evidence enough of her strong love and devotion to the country.  Even in the beginning, Frame was enamored by the people she was meeting and the experiences they were lending her.  This is seen in her first letter sent from Tungchou, in which she describes her “new name,”stating that “My name, if you place, is not Miss Browne, but Bin Chiao Shih (Jee-ow-shir) –which is, being interpreted, Teacher Bin […] which means ‘guest.’ Isn’t it a beautiful meaning? (3)

Frame’s strong love of China and its people can also be seen in her descriptions of interpersonal relationships between missionaries and the Chinese, and also in her changing motivations to help improve the lives of Chinese women.

Back  Next

Home