Memorable Social Work of Grace Coppock in China is Now Carried on by Natives

 

Even before Grace Coppock became the General Secretary of China's YWCA, she had been making strides for women and Christianity in China. When she first arrived, she found that China was on the brink of linguistic, industrial, and political changes. Grace studied these changes and made future plans based on them. She taught gymtastics classes for girls, spread the values of Christianity, and got acquainted with her new surroundings. Most of all, she was a friend. She listened deeply to the women of China, observed, and made it her goal to improve their lives.

The building of China's YWCA came with recruitment of new secretaires. Grace promoted internationalism by recruiting staff from all over the world. She managed to recruit six from Great Britain, which quadrupled the staff in China. Grace was elected to General Secretary in June 1913. At first, she was insecure about her leadership and ability to make executive decisions. She became confident after giving a talk at the World's Committee Conference and never looked back. The students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln also continued their support for her work, even after she moved abroad.

Grace was aware of impending complications brought on by worldly evnts and worked to find proactive solutions to issues affecting the YWCA. She took every task upon herself, including: attending conferences, orientation of new staff, recruitment of those new staff members, keeping constant contact with satellite locations, and travelling to those locations.  She continued to expect more of the international committee and other secretaries in China. At the root of her work was her belief in spreading the spirit of God to each person she met.

Two pivotal, defining moments of her YWCA work were her decision to allow the Shanghai Board of Birectors to consist entirely of native Chinese women, and her closing address at the 1920 World's Committee Conference in Switzerland. The all-Chinese Board of Directors was the first organization of Chinese women to be formed across China. Grace took it upon herself to train each member and make sure they were prepared to take their positions. She believed that turning the Board of Directors back over to native Chinese women was the best measure of her success in China. The world wanted to honor her success by making her the closing speaker at the World's Committee Conference in 1920. At first she declined, not believing she would have anything to say, but then was convinced by others that it didn't matter. They wanted her to speak from her caring heart, and she did.

Grace promoted the health of women in China. She introduced a new perception of beauty that the women of China adopted and made their own. She set out to make a difference, but made an even bigger impact than she had originally imagined.

The articles exemplify written reports of Grace's work and support in China.

Helen Thoburn's manuscript of her memoir, Grace Coppock: A Person for To-Day, is held at Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Library. See information about the YWCA records or contact the repository for more information.