Sprague, Viette Brown,
Sprague papers,
ca. 1871-1923
Manuscript Collection: MS 0709
1
box
Agency History/Biographical note:
Viette Isabel Brown was born on February 12, 1846 in Newark, Wayne
County, New York. She was the third of Hiram Leicester Brown and
Hester Ann Bonker's ten children. She attended public school in
Newark and then in Shortsville, New York. After graduating from
Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in 1871 she taught school in Red Creek,
New York; Muncie, Pennsylvania; and Emory, Ohio. In 1893 she went to
China and married Reverend William P. Sprague in Tientsin. The
Spragues then went to Kalgan in northern China to work at a
missionary there. On June 11 in 1900 the Boxer Uprising forced them
to flee the mission with a group of nineteen people including other
American and Swedish missionaries and children. The group reached
Urga, the capital of Mongolia, and then had to move on to Siberia,
Moscow and finally St. Petersburg on September 18. The Spragues
returned to New York for one furlough and then went back to Kalgan in
1902, staying there until 1910. William Sprague died in 1919 and
Viette Brown Sprague spent the rest of her life in Shortsville, New
York remaining involved in church activities, missionary
organizations and choir. She died on November 2, 1923 at the age of
seventy-seven.
Scope and Content:
The Viette Isabel Brown Sprague papers consist of correspondence
(original manuscripts or transcript copies), writings, biographical
information, and photographs. Most of this material reflects
Sprague's work as a missionary in Kalgan in northern China from
1900-1919. In letters written to her friend, Anna C. Edwards, she
discusses her work in China as a missionary, as well as the social
and political conditions in China during the time of the Boxer
Uprising. Her writings include an article on her missionary work and
two reports on women's work in Kalgan. In these writings she
discusses growing anti-foot binding sentiments and the mission's
progress. Her writings and letters are supplemented by more than
thirty photographs relating to her work in China. Biographical
information includes articles and notes relating to her time in China
and two detailed obituaries.
Cite as: Viette Brown Sprague Papers, Mount Holyoke
College Archives and Special Collections, South
Hadley, MA.
Access Restrictions: Unrestricted
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