Augusta Bertha Wagner

Augusta Bertha Wagner (May 19, 1895 – February 4, 1976) was an American missionary educator in China, and a headmistress of the Shipley School.

Augusta Bertha Wagner
A yearbook photo of a young white woman with short wavy hair; she is wearing a round white collar on a dark dress
Augusta B. Wagner, from the 1924 Wellesley College yearbook
BornMay 19, 1895
New York City
DiedFebruary 4, 1976
Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
Notable workLabor Legislation in China (1938)
PartnerMargaret Bailey Speer

Early life

Augusta "Gussie" Wagner was born in New York City, and grew up in the city's Yorkville neighborhood. She was a member of the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church and friend of its pastor, Henry Sloane Coffin.[1] She earned a bachelor's degree at Wellesley College in 1924,[2][3] and completed doctoral studies in economics at Columbia University.[4]

Career

Wagner briefly served on the YWCA board after college.[1] She taught economics at Yenching University in Beijing, from 1926 until 1942.[5][6] While teaching at Yenching, Wagner wrote Labor Legislation in China (1938), based on her doctoral dissertation.[7] After Pearl Harbor, she was held in a Japanese internment camp in Weihsien,[8] then returned to the United States in 1943. In 1944 and 1945, she worked in Washington, D.C. at the State Department.[4]

Wagner was associate headmistress at the Shipley School, alongside her partner, Margaret Bailey Speer,[9] from 1945 to 1960.[4][10][11] She also spoke at Bryn Mawr College[12] and at church and women's groups about her experiences and economic conditions in China.[13][14]

Personal life

Wagner lived, worked, and traveled with fellow American teacher Margaret Bailey Speer,[15] in China and in the United States, from the 1930s into the 1970s.[9][16] In 1968, Speer and Wagner were honored by the Yenching Alumni club with a supper in Honolulu.[17] Wagner died in 1976, aged 80 years.[4]

References
  1. Poethig, Richard (June 17, 2011). "On the Sidewalks of New York". The Gotham Center for New York City History. Archived from the original on 2016-03-30. Retrieved 2021-06-15.
  2. Wellesley College, Legenda (1924 yearbook): 114.
  3. "Honor Students of 1924 Class, Wellesley College, Announced". The Boston Globe. 1921-11-16. p. 4. Retrieved 2021-06-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Obituary for Augusta Wagner (Aged 80)". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 1976-02-06. p. 20. Retrieved 2021-06-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. Yu, Enyi (2018-05-29). "The Gospel of Intellectuality: Indoctrinating Yenching Educational Missionaries in the Progressive Era". The Mission of Development: Religion and Techno-Politics in Asia. BRILL. p. 41. ISBN 978-90-04-36310-6.
  6. "Yenching Sophomores Greet Wellesley Sophomore Class". Wellesley College News. May 27, 1926. p. 2.
  7. Wagner, Augusta Bertha (1938). Labor Legislation in China. Yenching University.
  8. "Miss Wagner Changes Ideas of Heaven After 2 Years with Japs". The Santa Fe New Mexican. 1946-02-26. p. 2. Retrieved 2021-06-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Shipley Leaders to Attend Parley". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 1955-02-22. p. 18. Retrieved 2021-06-15.
  10. Patterson's American Education. Educational Directories. 1953. p. 636.
  11. "Shipley's History". Shipley School. Archived from the original on 2020-02-24. Retrieved 2021-06-15.
  12. "Current Events". College News. January 14, 1948. p. 2. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  13. "Camp Sunshine Program Shown at Woman's Club". Delaware County Daily Times. 1950-03-03. p. 4. Retrieved 2021-06-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. "Church Women Plan World Day". Altoona Mirror. November 3, 1952. p. 18. Retrieved June 16, 2021 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  15. "A Purposeful Vision: Margaret Bailey Speer and Yenching University : Years at Yenching". The Albert M. Greenfield Digital Center for the History of Women's Education. Archived from the original on 2014-04-19. Retrieved 2021-06-15.
  16. Speer, Margaret Bailey (1930s). "Margaret Bailey Speer and Augusta Wagner". Speer, Margaret Bailey. "Speer Family Photo Album 3." Speer Family Papers, Special Collections Department, Bryn Mawr College Library. Retrieved 2021-06-15.
  17. "Yenching Grads to Honor Pair". The Honolulu Advertiser. 1968-03-12. p. 7. Retrieved 2021-06-16 – via Newspapers.com.
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