Annie Stocking Boyce (January 7, 1880 – January 26, 1973) was an

American Presbyterian Presbyterianism has had a presence in the United States since colonial times and has exerted an important influence over broader American religion and culture. History European origins Reformed Protestantism, of which Presbyterianism is a subs ...

missionary teacher active in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

, from 1906 until 1949. She also launched and edited a Persian-language women's journal, ''Alam-e-Nesvan'' ''(World of Women)''.

Early life

Annie Woodman Stocking was born in

Wiscasset, Maine Wiscasset is a New England town, town in and the county seat, seat of Lincoln County, Maine, United States. The municipality is located in the state of Maine's Mid Coast region. The population was 3,742 as of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ...

, and raised in

Williamstown, Massachusetts Williamstown is a town in the northern part of Berkshire County, in the northwest corner of Massachusetts, United States. It shares a border with Vermont to the north and New York to the west. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolit ...

, the daughter of William Redfield Stocking and Isabella Coffin Baker Stocking. Her parents and paternal grandparents were missionaries in Persia and Turkey; her father, born in Persia, was also a

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

veteran of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. She earned a bachelor's degree at

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial g ...

in 1902.

Career

Boyce was a teaching missionary in Iran from 1906 until 1949, appointed by the

Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions Presbyterian Mission Agency is the ministry and mission agency of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Founded as the Western Foreign Missionary Society by the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America in 1837, it was involved in sending w ...

. She spoke Persian, and worked at the

Iran Bethel School Iran Bethel School (1874–1968) was a school in Tehran, established by an United States, American Presbyterianism, Presbyterian missionary organization for girls in 1874. It was the precursor to the Damavand College. History The Iran Bethel Sch ...

, a girls' school in Tehran; Jane Doolittle was among Boyce's colleagues there. From 1918, she was president of the school's alumnae association. She was also founding editor of ''Alam-e-Nesvan (World of Women)'', a Persian-language women's magazine that carried practical advice, alumnae news, and translations from American literature. She was also active in ''Anjoman-e ḥorrīyat-e zanān'' (Association for the Freedom of Women), a feminist organization of the late Qajar period. She also worked at Alborz College in Tehran, teaching courses and supervising housing; her husband, Arthur Clifton Boyce, was a professor and dean at Alborz, and was the college's acting president in 1929. Boyce wrote about her work in letters to her family and for American publications, including "Moslem Women in the Capital of Persia" (1930), and in a book, ''Kings, Queens and Veiled Ladies'' (1933). She spoke about Iran to church congregations and women's groups during her furloughs in the United States.

Personal life

Annie Stocking married fellow American missionary educator Arthur Clifton Boyce in 1914. That year they attended an annual missions meeting in Chicago together. In 1915, returning to Tehran during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, they traveled by sea and rail from New York through Norway, Finland and Russia. She was widowed in 1959, and she died in 1973, aged 93, in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

. Her gravesite is in Illinois.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Boyce, Annie Stocking 1880 births 1973 deaths People from Wiscasset, Maine Wellesley College alumni Presbyterian missionaries in Iran Educators from Massachusetts American expatriates in Iran 20th-century American women educators 20th-century American educators People from Williamstown, Massachusetts