Guide to the Mary Margaret Moninger Papers

Mary Margaret Moninger was born in Marshaltown, Iowa in 1891. After graduating from Grinell College in 1913 she taught high school until her appointment to the PCUSA's Hainan mission in 1915. After spending a year in language studies, Moninger was appointed as teacher and later principal of the Kachek Daughters’ School. In 1919 she was appointed for a year as acting principal of Pitkin School in Kiungchow. In 1922 she earned her Masters degree from Grinell College. Moninger then returned to Kachek and remained until 1926 when she was appointed business agent and treasurer for a year for the mission at Hoichow. During that period she and the other staff were refugees for six weeks at Haiphong and on the ship President Taft. By 1929 Moninger was transferred to Nodoa where she taught and evangelized. In 1930 she returned to Kachek and continued her evangelistic work until 1935 when she was once again transferred to teach at Pitkin School at Kiungchow. In 1939, Moninger was reappointed the Mission Business Agent and continued those duties until her retirement in 1942.

While serving in Hainan, Moninger also acted as correspondent for the Hongkong Daily Press, (1933-1935) edited the Hainan newsletter (1917-1921;1929-1935), wrote a dictionary of the Hainanese language and published several articles and monographs. She also acted as a member at large for the China Council in 1924 and 1926.