Recently, I had to submit copies of my academic qualifications to Renassens University in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, so that students who attended my lecture there could earn continuing education credits.
Because I have never had to provide copies of my diplomas before, I had no existing photos or scans. While scanning my 1976 master’s degree from the State University of New York at Albany, I noticed that one of the four signatories was Elisabeth Luce Moore. I wondered if she was related to Henry Luce, founder of Time magazine, and patron of the beautiful Luce Chapel, Praying Hands, designed by IM Pei and built at Tunghai University where I taught the first year we were married. It turns out that she was that . . . and so much more.
She was born in China in 1903 to missionary parents who were sent by the Presbyterian Church to build up a Christian institution, Cheeloo University (or “qilu”) in Jinan, the capital city of Shandong province. Her father, Henry Winters Luce, was a graduate of that magical trifecta of China studies plus Christian activism that has fascinated me for so long: Yale University, Union Theological Seminary, and Princeton Seminary. I wondered about the turn of the century religious environment and the personal beliefs that motivated them to go. What challenges did they face and what joys held them in place for so long? How did their 4 children (the younger three were all born in Shandong Province) adapt to life in China and then back to life in the early 20th century in the US?
Elisabeth majored in religious studies and graduated from Wellesley in 1924 at 21 years old – 100 years ago. She wrote articles for her brother’s magazine and promoted higher education in general and for women in particular. She married and had two children. She was an active volunteer serving on the United Board for Christian Higher Education and was the first woman appointed to the Board of Trustees of the State University of New York (which is how she came to sign my diploma). Her legacy includes the Elisabeth Luce Moore Library, donated by the Henry Luce Foundation to Chung Chi (Chongji) College in Hong Kong specializing in music and religious collections. Wellesley College has a Professorship in Christian Studies and fellowship grants for the Study of World Religions. The Elisabeth Luce Moore Preserve in Connecticut promotes health through visits to, and hiking in, a beautiful natural preserve free to all.
Susan Olmstead Wang 