Margaret Majora Young (1855 – 1940, in ) was a Canadian

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. She dedicated her life to the education of women there, and laid the foundation of

St. Mary's College, Nagoya is a private junior college in Showa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, established in 1953. The predecessor of the school was founded in 1898, when Margaret Young Margaret Youngblood (February 23, 1891 – May 3, 1969) better know ...

Birth and education

Margaret Young was born in Vienna, Ontario,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in 1855. She was the third daughter of the six siblings. After studying at the

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

Normal School A normal school or normal college is an institution created to Teacher education, train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high s ...

, she started to work in 1890 at a public

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

in Elma, Ontario, where she was exposed to

Friedrich Fröbel Friedrich Wilhelm August Fröbel or Froebel (; 21 April 1782 – 21 June 1852) was a German pedagogue, a student of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, who laid the foundation for modern education based on the recognition that children have unique need ...

's early childhood education method and practice.

Missionary in Japan

In 1895, she was sent to Japan as a

of the

Anglican Church of Canada The Anglican Church of Canada (ACC or ACoC) is the Ecclesiastical province#Anglican Communion, province of the Anglican Communion in Canada. The official French-language name is ''l'Église anglicane du Canada''. In 2017, the Anglican Church co ...

, and arrived in

's third largest city, where J. Robinson and his wife had begun their missionary work in 1888. In 1898 she started education of child care workers at her own home, with one student. In 1999, she established Ryujo Kindergarten in

Higashi-ku, Nagoya is one of the 16 wards of the city of Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the ward had an estimated population of 82,939 and a population density of 10,757 persons per km². The total area was 7.71 km². Geography Higashi Ward is located ...

. (Ryujo, meaning the

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist s ...

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

, is one of the

nicknames A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

of Nagoya, well known for its magnificent castle.) In 1903, she started to emphasize education of mothers, by establishing the “Mothers' Association” at the kindergarten. In 1910, the child care worker training facility became the Ryujo child care workers' training school. In 1924, it was officially renamed the Ryujo Child Care Training School. Based on this school, Ryujo Women's Junior College was established after

WWII World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, in 1953, in Showa-ku, Nagoya, across the street from which now stands St. Matthew's, the diocesan cathedral of the Chubu Diocese. In 1995, the women's college became Nagoya Ryujo Junior College, its English name being

. In 1922, Margaret Young went back to Canada with his adopted son, Masataka Shimizu, but in 1936 she returned to Japan for permanent residence. In 1939, she left Japan because of her sister's illness, but returned in the same year. Margaret died in Nagoya in 1940. She was 84 years old. Her funeral service was conducted at St. John's Church, Nagoya. She was buried at the

Yagoto Cemetery Yagoto Cemetery (Japanese: 八事霊園, Yagoto Reien) is one of the largest cemeteries in Nagoya, central Japan. It is located in the neighbourhood of Yagoto. The cemetery, which was established in 1915 during the Taishō era The was a peri ...

, Nagoya. Margaret's motto was "By Love Serve" (from

Galatians 5 Galatians 5 is the fifth chapter of the Epistle to the Galatians in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It is authored by Paul the Apostle for the churches in Galatia, written between AD 49–58. This chapter contains a discussion about cir ...

:13), which is now in the

insignia An insignia () is a sign or mark distinguishing a group, grade, rank, or function. It can be a symbol of personal power or that of an official group or governing body. On its own, an insignia is a sign of a specific or general authority and is ...

of the college.

References

External links

Margaret Young's Photo Album - St. Mary's College, Nagoya (in Japanese: 創設者マーガレット・ヤングの写真アルバム - 名古屋柳城短期大学キリスト教センター
{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Margaret Majora Anglican missionaries in Japan Canadian Anglican missionaries 1855 births 1940 deaths Female Christian missionaries Canadian expatriates in Japan Missionary educators

Birth and education

Missionary in Japan

See also

References

External links