Katherine Shapleigh Papers

Series I, Correspondence consists primarily of family correspondence. Letters from Shapleigh to her family and their replies document in detail the changing paths of her life. Brought up in an affluent, traditional Episcopalian household, Katherine may have been headed toward a rather sheltered existence, but her marriage to Alfred Shapleigh and their subsequent work in China exposed her to a vastly different world. The Shapleighs' dissatisfaction during their first period of work in China under the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions led to a return back to the United States where they engaged in a variety of educational, commercial, and missionary activities before being appointed by the China Inland Mission to return to China. The tragic deaths of Katherine's husband and sons shortly after their arrival in China did not deter her from remaining with the mission and finding a new way of life there. While Katherine had been largely preoccupied by her language study and baby son during their first period in China, her subsequent years alone in China were spent at the CIM Yangchow training school and the Foreign Women's Home in Shanghai, which provided shelter to Russian women refugees who came to China following the Bolshevik revolution in Russia. Katherine found fulfillment in her work with her mission colleagues but clearly had continuing strong ties to her family at home. In addition to the correspondence documenting Shapleigh's life, there are also letters of other family members and material related to the John Singer Sargent portrait of Katherine that was painted when she was in her late teen years.

Series II, Writings, includes some early school essays but consists primarily of poetry written by Katherine Shapleigh. Katherine was an accomplished poet who had her work published.

Series III, Personal Items and Memorabilia, includes a variety of materials documenting Katherine Shapleigh's life, from early school report cards to biographical sketches by family members. Of particular note in this section is the application letter submitted by Katherine to the China Inland Mission when she and her husband sought appointment to China by CIM. This autobiographical letter provides explanation of the religious beliefs that significantly influenced the course of the Shapleighs' lives. Series III also includes a number of interesting photographs from the Shapleighs' early years in China, 1896-1897, which show their well-equipped Western-style home in China, their Chinese language teachers, and so forth. Later photographs show Katherine in Yangzhou (Yangchow) and members of the China Inland Mission Kiangsu Conference.