 Fuzhou, Fujian 350007 People's Republic of China Since 1908 |
Fuzhou, Fujian 350007 People's Republic of China Since 1908 |
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LOCATION AND HISTORY
Fujian Hwa Nan Women's College is a private institution located in Fuzhou, China, on top of Yan Tai Shan overlooking the picturesque Min River. Four bridges connect two sections of the city. Fuzhou is on the East Coast of China half way between Shanghai and Hong Kong. There are several other universities and educational institutes in this city but Hwa Nan is the only all girl's school.
In 1859, the Ladies China Missionary Society in Baltimore, Maryland, sent two women missionaries to Foochow (as Fuzhou was then known) to establish a boarding school for girls offering primary education. By 1880, the school leaders were dreaming about a college for women but it was not until 1889 that Lydia Trimble, a young Iowa teacher, was sent to Foochow where she became co-administrator for several schools in Fujian Province. It was in 1904 that she appealed to the Missionary Society in Baltimore for financial support to locate a site, plan, and build a college. By 1908, Hwa Nan College of Letters and Sciences became a reality.
Hwa Nan was chartered by the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York in 1921 as the first graduation took place. The college thrived through staff shortages, financial difficulties and government restrictions. Unfortunately, the Japanese War brought the fall of Fuzhou to Japanese occupation. Bombing forced Hwa Nan to move to a small city 150 miles up the Min River. Eight years later the college moved back to Fuzhou to rebuild its ruined campus. That was short lived because when the Communist Party took over in 1949, American faculty left the country and funding from the United States became illegal. The college could no longer survive and merged with three other colleges, finally becoming Fujian Teacher's University in 1954.
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