Friday, December 9, 2011

There were students from China back in the twenties?

I was browsing through the St. Olaf Catalog from 1926 and found that there were two Chinese students! There were also one from Japan and a 2 from Canada. It was a surprise for me since who would think that international students would come to a small liberal arts college in Northfield. However, Elma Thorson does not sound Chinese to me, So I wonder if she was a second generation Chinese? Or even third? Or an American studied in China? So I went to the yearbook, curious about what she looks like. Here's a description and a picture.
I think that "American school" really solve the confusion. It was just a cool discovery.   
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1 comment:

  1. L. DeAne LagerquistDecember 13, 2011 at 6:34 PM

    Athena, Yes, you seem to have come upon a student who was the child of missionaries to China. Ansgar Sovik, a significant member of the religion department and one of the founders of St. Olaf international studies programs was such a student here as was his sister. Likely some of the earliest international students were also connected to St. Olaf through missionaries. LDL

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