GRACE FENG LIU Staff

Pine Mountain Settlement School
Series 09: BIOGRAPHY – Staff
Series 14: MEDICAL
Grace Feng Liu, Nurse, Summers 1943 & 1944
Grace Huan Jung Feng Liu (1910-2011)

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Ts’ui Chieh Liu, (second from left), Grace Feng Liu with young Francis Liu (far right, 7 months old). Dr. Frances Tucker and Dr. Emma Boose Tucker. September 16, 1946. [tuck_0017.jpg]


TAGS: Grace Feng Liu, Dr. Emma Boose Tucker (1870-1971), Dr. Francis Fisher Tucker (1870-1957), Ts’ui Chieh Liu, China, Grace Rood, nurses, narratives, weddings, Dr. Margaret Tucker, Chapel, Dorothy and Glenn LaRue, Mr. and Mrs. H.R.S. Benjamin, folk dancing, train travel, bus travel, medical practice, music, China


GRACE FENG LIU Staff

Infirmary Nurse, Summers 1943 & 1944

Early Years in China and US

Grace Feng was born November 10, 1910, in Hepei, China, she was a daughter of the late Lian Yuan Feng and Shuzhen Feng. Her given name was Huan Jung Feng, which means “Splendid Glory.” As a child she was later given the Anglo name “Grace” when she attended a missionary school in the small village area where she grew up and attended high school.

When Grace graduated high school she showed much promise and was encouraged to go to Shantung Province to study nursing. It was in Shantung Province that Grace met Dr. Francis Tucker and Dr. Emma Tucker and where they became fast friends as they served the medical needs of the local population. Grace made such an impression on the Tuckers that they soon became her surrogate parents.

When China was invaded by the Japanese and the countryside became increasingly insecure, the Tuckers, fearing for all their lives, encouraged Grace to come with them to the United States. Together with the Tuckers, Grace traveled along the Burma Road, through Hong Kong and then on to the Philippines and arrived in the United States in 1941, Through the support of the Drs. Tucker, she studied nursing at the Massachusetts Memorial Hospital in Boston and quickly qualified for her degree.

GRACE FENG LIU: At Pine Mountain, Summers 1943-1944

It was through the Tuckers that Grace Feng came to Pine Mountain Settlement School, where she arrived in 1943. Not only did she know the Tuckers in China, she had also met Glen LaRue and Burton Rogers, staff at Pine Mountain. Both the LaRues and the Rogers families were familiar with the China work of Grace Feng and the Tuckers. All had engaged in mission work in China. It was through the recommendation and urging of her adopted “parents,” the Tuckers, that Grace came briefly to Pine Mountain. When the vastness of China and the United States are considered, the tale of these tightly joined friendships is all the more remarkable. The world is small.

Following her graduation from Massachusetts Memorial Hospital in Boston, when Miss Feng came to Pine Mountain, at the request of the Tuckers, she worked as a volunteer. The summer month of August of 1943 was to fill in for Grace Rood while Miss Rood, the School nurse, took a much-needed vacation. In 1944 Grace returned to Pine Mountain School to again assume the volunteer nursing position and to again provide Grace Rood relief from the demanding job at the School Infirmary and assistance to Dr. Francis and Dr. Emma. These two visits to Kentucky won her an everlasting admiration from the students and the staff at the School. In Notes from the Pine Mountain Settlement School of 1943, Grace Feng is described as “a winning ambassador of international good will.”

Grace Feng’s indomitable spirit of good will shines through in a brief article written for the Pine Mountain Settlement School student publication, The Pine Cone, in January 1944. In the article she places her early life in context for the students and staff at the School. She tells of her early life growing up in a “small place” close to the land on a farm in China and how she came to leave China. Her complex story was told simply but powerfully. The details are later filled in by her new husband when he wrote a full account of their memorable wedding at Pine Mountain. The story is further expanded by a special account of the Pine Mountain Settlement wedding (see below) shared in the Louisville Courier Journal. However, it is the following account that captures the modesty and strength of Grace Feng.

PINE CONE ARTICLE – “I Was Born in a Small Place”

While the remarkable life of Grace Feng is hinted at in her husband’s account and in the newspaper article, her personal account is the most compelling and takes up the theme of a small world. When she tells her own story it is simple and captures a tale of persistence and strength that echoes many stories told by mountain girls in the remote Pine Mountain Valley in Kentucky during the 1930s and 1940s. Like Grace Feng, those girls in the Valley found their lives changed by the benefit of the pre-nursing program offered by Pine Mountain Settlement School’s Community program. One can only imagine the magic of the connection made in the room where Grace gave the following talk. This account of her life was given to students when she arrived at the school for her second summer in 1944. Her story was recorded by a student for the January 1944 Pine Cone and it captures the universal lesson that means even more in today’s world: “The world is small and small is beautiful.”


THE WORLD IS SMALL
Pine Cone 1944 January

I was born in a small place, and when I was very young I played with a few girls almost the same age. My father was a farmer, and often I played in the fields with the horses and mules. When I was older and the busy time in farming came, we children rode in the wagon with the workers to the field and helped by carrying drinking water to them. Sometimes we stayed in the fields all day, and I always went to the field either to play or help.

We went to a school somewhat like Pine Mountain. There we helped do all the work—cleaning the class rooms and our dormitory. When the farmers were busy, we closed school and went home to help. Once we said to each other, “We have never been over ten miles from home. It would be nice if we could go to another province.” When we graduated from grammar school, four of us went to another province forty miles from our home. We enjoyed it very much!

After my high school education there, I attended the first training school for nurses in Shantung Province, a province which has thirty-seven million people. I had four years of training in this school, and then went to other places to help in nursing at various hospitals. In 1935 I left my home province ( or state ) and went to Southwest China, and with the Drs. Tucker helped in the hospital work and aided in starting a nurses’ training school. This training school is the first one registered from Yunnan in the Nurses’ Association of China. This place, Chaotung, is among the mountains, and the living conditions and the state of public health were very poor. I liked it there very much, and it was there that I met these fine workers among the mountaineers, Mr. [Glenn] and Mrs. LaRue. We have been close friends since then.

After the war started between China and Japan, volunteer-nurses and doctors were called for, so I worked in different provinces and hospitals with the wounded soldiers, refugees, and war orphans. Sometimes there was lots of travel, the trips taking two weeks of constant journeyings.

Then in 1941 I came to this country, I have been in a few large cities here, and once I said to myself, “I wonder if all America is like this big place! I would like to see real American life in the country, but I don’t know how to arrange to see country places.” Do you think the door opened easily for me? By no means. Through Jesus Christ, in whom I trust, the doors have opened, and He has been with me. My life and my effort will be His wherever I am. When I was here last summer for a month, I saw the mountains and and houses, and they made me really feel at home.

It has been a great privilege to meet the friends and girls and boys. I wish I were in school again. Do you sometimes want to go to some other region? The way is always open for you; the world is smaller than it used to be. Please come to China and visit me some time.

Grace Feng

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Though the time that Grace Feng Liu had at Pine Mountain was a brief stay, Grace Feng’s presence was long felt at Pine Mountain. As an “ambassador” she brought light to all who knew her. She left wonderful stories as well as recipes for Chinese food with many of the staff. Her nursing skills assisted many community children into the world. She excited all who met her to wonder and marvel at China — so very far away and yet so near.

GRACE FENG LIU: The Wedding at Pine Mountain, 1945

Through the Tuckers we know much about the wedding of Grace Feng and Ts’iu at Pine Mountain in the summer of 1945 and about her later life. But it is the fascinating account of the wedding recorded by her husband, the groom that is most remarkable and touching. While Ts’ui Chieh Liu, captures the novelty of the couple’s beautiful wedding, he also captures the spirit of community during the end of the war years at the School and in the surrounding service area. More importantly, he captures the beauty and love of their relationship.

GRACE FENG LIU Staff ; Margaret Tucker, Grace Feng Liu, T.C. Liu, Burton Rogers. March 9, 1945. nace_1_068a.jpg

Margaret Tucker, Grace Feng Liu, T.C. Liu, Burton Rogers. March 9, 1945. [nace_1_068a.jpg]

GRACE FENG LIU Wedding: Transcription of the Groom’s Narrative

The Feng/Liu Wedding at Pine Mountain Settlement School
Description by Ts’ui Chieh Liu, the groom

This a brief letter to tell you about our trip, leaving Miami March 3rd, and arriving in Boulder, Colo. March 14, 1945.

First of all our thanks go to our dear sister Sylvia Seto, who was so helpful to us the last three days in Miami. Sylvia, we will do the same when your wedding comes! As we have told you, we received the telegram in Harlan [Kentucky] that your friend could not buy the wedding ring for me in N.Y. Very luckily we got a ten diamond ring in Harlan. It matches the engagement ring very beautifully, and everybody praises them highly.

From Miami to Pine Mountain we changed cars at Jacksonville and also at Corbin [Kentucky]. At Harlan, Dr. Tucker met us at the station. He is the most wonderful person I have ever seen. He was in China 40 years as a medical doctor, as was his beloved wife, Dr. Emma Boose Tucker. All their four children were born in China, and every one of them is a medical doctor. Grace Feng came to the United States with Father and Mother Tucker in 1941 over the Burma Road, and through Hong Kong and the Philippines. They worked together for 15 years, and love Grace as their own daughter, Margaret, who is now a radiologist in the University of Minnesota Hospital.

On reaching Harlan, Dr. Tucker took us to breakfast in the hotel where he arranged two rooms for us to rest when we were not busy that day, Mar. 5. He went with us to have the required blood tests, and in only two hours we had the report of this, so we applied for the marriage license in the county courthouse. We also sent clothes to be pressed and hunted till we found a suitable ring. Then we completed arrangements for a 20-pound wedding cake, Grace decorating the top of it with “double happiness.”

The same afternoon at 6:10 the train from Chicago brought Dr. Margaret [Tucker], Mrs. Emma Scott Tucker and her 21 months old cute Betty Jean [Tucker]. The taxi driver drove the six of us, and many suitcases to Pine Mountain (18 miles) where Mother Tucker met us in the dark, starry, mountain home. She gave me the most unforgettable kiss in my life. On the way over it was lucky that the wedding cake held itself very well on my knees, — though the taxi did run over my new hat, which proved to be unbreakable, though.

After a very tasty supper, I was escorted to a neighbor’s house [Bill and Fern Hayes‘ home [Practice House/Country Cottage] , where according to Fern Hayes, he was given the family feather bed for the night.] Boy, I was sound asleep soon, even though the frogs from far away were loudly calling their nearby mates, having the spring fever.

From Tuesday to 3 pm Friday, March 9, 1945, we were busy as bees preparing for THE occasion, — not only the Tuckers but also the neighbors and some of the students and faculty, — of the Pine Mountain School. The wedding gifts, — from priceless silver sets to nice looking pot-holders, the congratulation letters and telegrams, — came from every corner of the country. Here we thank you each and every one who were so nice and thoughtful of us.

Now we come to the wedding. For the first time in several years, the Pine Mountain Chapel was decorated for a wedding ceremony. As you would know, Kentucky trees just waked up from winter, so daffodils and forsythia were just out in bloom, and the church was covered with golden yellow flowers, also wild bamboo, — these from Kentucky; and also palm fronds, laurel leaves, some un­named evergreens, lantern flowers of digitalis and the perfumed state flower of Florida, orang[e]-blossom, from Mr. & Mrs. Harris, of Homestead, Florida.

In the Chapel, I sat in one corner, just beside the door with my best man, Mr. [Burton] Rogers, standing by me. [He had known Grace quite well in China.]

The organ played softly and joyfully while I watched the warm sunshine come through the front window from the west, making the golden forsythia and fresh, green bamboo semi-transparent. Tiny particles danced in the rays of the straight path of sunshine, reflecting rainbow colors of fireballs, as on the eve of the first full moon celebration each Chinese New Year. The aire [?] in the church was very peaceful, — no one even made a small move. The hemlock trees outside the opposite window once in a long while bowed a little. It was so quiet that one could hear a pin dropped on a rug. The shadows of the flowers painted a very artistic picture in front of the altar. Suddenly my best man gave me a winkle that the bride had just come out of the car.

Mr. [Arthur] Dodd played the organ so beautifully, and the organ was softer than ever, while I can hear the bride, the bridesmaid, the master of ceremonies, the mother and the father walk into the church. The long silk dress of the ladies gave a very low whisper when it touched or kissed the floor. Mr. Dodd rested his fingers a few seconds, and started the music of “Here comes the bride.” First the minister, Mr. [Glen] LaRue [well known to Grace in China] showed up from the side door of the altar, and then my best man and I walked gently toward the altar on the right-hand side. I turned a quarter turn, and here really came the bride with a long white veil, white satin gown, a bouquet of white carnations and yellow daffodils, perfumed with orange blossoms. After “I will” and “I will” two girls sang “O’ Promise Me.” I felt all the eyes in the church concentrated on us. When I put the ring on her finger she stopped quivering, and then I received a gold ring. The most dignified part of the ceremony was over, and we turned and walked gracefully toward the door. The watchful eyes on both slides of the aisle followed us with hided smile.

Outside, the weather was exceptionally soft. The people who had cameras, all aimed at us. There at Pine Mountain March was budding into spring, — the maples tinted red, forsythia yellow, grass tender green, and the small brook nearby also sang its first spring melody. The eight girls of the senior class who aided, in their charming formal dresses, added more spring to the wedding. The bridesmaid with her light pink dress looked like the queen of England, — Dr. Margaret at her best. Emma, the master of ceremonies, like a bride herself, gracefully instructed this or the other for the pictures, — and added in myriad other ways. Then we went the short distance to Laurel House in Mr. [H.R.S.] Benjamin‘s car to take part in the reception. This is the first time in my life I have shaken so many hands with different feeling, — some of the hands were stiff, some soft, some warm, some cold, some wet, some dry, some shake, some hold, some with fingers you love to touch, some as noodles. Anyway, my hands got stiff after more than a half-hour of continuously medium-warm shaking hands with about 150 people.

GUEST: “What I want is not the bouquet but the man. I wish somebody would throw me a man.”

The next scene was to hold the bride’s hand to cut the twenty-pound wedding cake [!]. This was not so hard as the kissing in front of the altar which I never experienced before. Everyone seemed satisfied after a glass of fruit punch, a piece of the wedding cake, and some candy. Then the master of ceremonies said the bride was going to throw her bouquet. All the girls rushed to the stairs. Who says the girls do not want forget married? In this case the bridesmaid did not get the bouquet but she made the most honest remark: “What I want is not the bouquet but the man. I wish somebody would throw me a man.”

The supper table for the wedding party was specially decorated that evening with flowers and otherwise. The bride wore one of her handsome, flowery Chinese dresses. Even little Betty Jane [Tucker] seemed to appreciate the special occasion, — not throwing any fork or spoon. She is a very lovely angel with blonde hair and blue eyes, and very independent.

If she is in her mood, you can ask a few tender kisses from her. The big blue innocent eyes, and the warm, wine dimple cause me to worship childhood.

Following the supper there was a dance, — the first time for me to see folk dances or square dances, which is a real good sound exercise, both physically and psychologically. If the folk dance is continuously used probably you would not see a plumpy girl, for the extra fat would be danced out unconsciously!

After the dance the Nace sisters [Margaret and Dorothy] asked us to have tea in their apartment. Perhaps I am the best tea-leaf reader in the world in that I made everyone of them happy. Big Miss Nace had a boyfriend in mind and little Miss Nace is searching for one.

Margaret [Tucker] seemed to have a man in China waiting; Emma wished and dreamed her Frankie [son, Francis Carlile Tucker] would come back from China as soon as possible, and Grace’s next step is wanting to have some nice children. From my glass ball, rather from the tea leaves, I satisfied all their wishes. Then they walked with us to our guest room in West Wind. I was told that I was supposed to carry my bride over the threshold into the room. Gosh, she was heavy in my arm, or, rather, I was not strong enough to carry a lady of 105 pounds. But I may say that this finished the wedding ceremony, except the two gifts in the room and the flowers on the table, which brightened our hearts more than words can express. The night was clear and quiet, which symbolized a happy wedding.

So is finished the excitement of March 9th, which will be our wedding anniversary for years to come. The next morning outside the door was a tea-pot and an electric stove, with cups and a package of Chinese tea, which, according to our judgments, were put there by the Nace sisters, who left that morning for their one week vacation. God bless you both, happy and thoughtful sisters.

THE DAY AFTER

The morning (10th) was especially clear and calm. A thin layer of frost covered the lawn, the trees, and the roofs. It was so strange that I did not recognize the beautiful Chapel where we were married the day before. Grace laughed and called it a joke that I did not know how to hold her hand when we marched out from the church, and, even worse, that I did not button my coat right! (Her fear and quivering in front of the altar matched pretty well my unbuttoned coat!) Saturday afternoon we were invited to tea at the home of the Director of the School. Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin were in Ningpo** for many years. A daughter lives with them while her husband is overseas. Mr. Benjamin told me how they manage to get funds for the school. Pine Mountain School is a very ideal mountain institution. Every day the students work several hours, and what they get from their job is just about enough for their schooling. What they learn in the school is practical knowledge, — what they need for their daily life after they graduate. The students I met on the campus were very friendly and cheerful. Undoubtedly they will be the leading citizens in their communities when they reach manhood. The girls study cooking, sewing, nursing, weaving, and other essential home economics courses, while the boys learn farming, carpentry, printing, and other trades. Some of the students after graduating from this secondary school go to Berea [Kentucky] College, that college being of the same type of institution, — to train rural and mountain leaders.

BREAKFAST WITH THE LaRUE FAMILY

Sunday morning (11th) we were invited to the [Dorothy and Glenn] LaRue home for breakfast. Both Mr. & Mrs. LaRue worked in China among the Miao tribes and the language has 7 to 9 inflections of each sound, making it much more difficult than the Chinese language. The Miaos live a very primitive life among the mountains, but are very honest and hospitable. The three children of the LaRues were born in China, and are now in school here at Pine Mountain. Both Grace and the Tuckers have visited the LaRue station in Kweichow Province, China.**

Sunday evening we invited 16 people (plus 4 children) to be our guests at a Chinese meal, — most of them staff members who had to do with the wedding. After that there was a Vesper service mostly made up of singing. By this time there were only about fifty persons to attend, because many of the students and staff had gone home for the vacation.

Monday morning (12th) Emma, Betty Jane and the Lius started on their way, all going together by auto to Harlan. Emma, bound for Chicago, was on the same train that we were on as far as Corbin, and so we left her there (and Betty Jane) while Grace and myself continued our honey-moon towards Boulder, Colorado. Dr. Margaret had left Pine Mountain two days earlier because she had to be on duty in Minneapolis by Monday.

BOULDER, COLORADO

On the way to Boulder, we changed cars six times, at Corbin, Louisville, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Kansas City, and Denver. It was inconvenient to carry four suitcases (with extras) for so many changes. I still feel a heartache that Grace fell once at Louisville. On reaching Denver it was too late for the morning train to Boulder, so we took the 12:45 bus, and could use our railway tickets on the bus.

At 2 p.m. we arrived at Boulder, and went to the home of Mr. & Mrs. Warren, Carrie Warren being a niece of Father Tucker’s. They had been written to earlier, suggesting that they take care of us till we could settle on an apartment. They gave their own bed-room to us, and we stayed nearly three days with them. On Friday evening (16th), Mrs. Warren drove us to our new home, 2119 Mapleton Ave.

Very, very fortunately we found this place, through Mr. Topping and Miss Anderson. The Catchpoles, our landlady and landlord, are very nice to us, giving us the best of everything. We hope we live here until we leave Boulder.

Boulder is a very beautiful city, with lofty mountains on the west, now snow-capped. The streets are wide and straight, churches are at every corner of the street. The campus of the University of Colorado is only a few blocks from the business district. We feel at home already, — living here in our first home. The many presents given us by friends near and far make our rooms, we think, all the more habitable.

Now it is 10:30 p.m. of Sunday night (18th). Outside it is snowing, and everything is covered white. Here we think of each and every one of you, — friends and relatives in Pine Mountain, Chicago, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Boston, New York, Miami, Arkansas, Oregon, California, and many places either in this country or in other lands across the seas. Here is our deep appreciation for your gifts, telegrams, letters, and many other forms of congratulations for our wedding.

God bless you all.

Sincerely yours,

Ts’ui Chieh Liu
Grace Feng Liu


Note: “The World Is Small,” in THE PINE CONE1944 January, page 5, a short autobiography written by Grace Feng.

Note: Grace Feng Liu’s wedding bouquet, [seen below] was tossed and ended up in the hands of Dorothy Nace, teacher and secretary at Pine Mountain, [seen below]. She stands between Ts’ui Shieh Liu and Burton Rogers. The catch was prophetic, as Dorothy Nace married Jack Tharp not long afterward.

[Dorothy Nace}With the bride's bouquet. [T.C. Liu and Burton Rogers to either side.] nace_1_068b.jpg

[Dorothy Nace} with the bride’s bouquet. [T.C. Liu and Burton Rogers to either side.] [nace_1_068b.jpg]


[**Kweichow Province, China is in the southwestern region of China, south of Szechwan province (Sheng). To the east of Kweichow is Hunan province and on the south is the Chuang Autonomous Region of Kwangsi. The western border is dominated by Yunan province. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Kweichow sits on a high plateau and measures more than 350 miles (560 kilometers) from east to west and about 320 miles from north to south. It has an area of 68,000 square miles (176,100 square kilometers). Its main resource is found in its minerals (most importantly mercury). Like the eastern Appalachians that range across a high plateau, the Kweichow Province is home to a rich cultural heritage. Music and art are found throughout the culture. Like eastern Kentucky in the 1920s, Kweichow province had and continues to have one of the highest illiteracy rates in China.]

[**pinyin: Níngbō; Wade-Giles: Ning-po]


GRACE FENG LIU Wedding: Newspaper Article

The Liu wedding was not missed in local news and community word of mouth, but the most extensive news reporting came from an article appearing in the Louisville Courier Journal in 1943. It is from this article that the life of the Liu’s can be expanded.

CHINESE COUPLE WED IN HARLAN
(Special to the Louisville Courier Journal)
March 9, 1943.

“A Chinese wedding took place today in Harlan County, probably the first such in the county, when Tsui Chieh Liu married Grace Feng Liu in the chapel of Pine Mountain Settlement School. the bride chose Pine Mountain as the scene of her wedding because she has done summer nursing there twice and her foster parents, Dr.. F. F. Tucker and Dr. Emma Boose Tucker, are on the hospital staff there. The officiating clergyman, the Rev. Glenn Larue, had known her well in China. 

Though both were born in Shantung, the same province in China, the couple did not meet until two years ago, when both were in New York. Both are well educated products of farm families. A Ph.D. from Oregon State College of Agriculture, Dr. Liu came to this country before the “undeclared war” with Japan, to sutdy ways modern American farming methods can help his province, which is almost entirely agricultural. Since he cannot return to China, Dr. Liu was for two years a teacher at Arkansas State University and lately he has been with the United States Government [in Boulder]..

WAS VOLUNTEER NURSE

Hua Jung, meaning Splendid Glory, was the name given Grace Feng Liu on her father’s farm. Her parents did not bind her feet, and sent her to the village school and to the mission school established by the London Mission where she was given the name of Grace. Though her parents were uneducated themselves, they sent Grace to the American board school in Tehchow, and in 1932 she was graduated from one of the first training schools for nursing in China. Later she helped establish training schools for nurses in three provinces. 

Though Chinese usually do not go afield, Grace went to far interior Yunnan Province in 1934, the last part of the trip taking 12 days by litter. When war started with Japan, she was one of the first to volunteer for any needed nursing service. An overland trip of nearly two weeks took her to the Yangtze, and she was soon in Hankow, nursing in a hospital that already was scarred by Japanese bombs. Dr. Tucker was there at the tine and recalls how cooly Grace Feng took the approach of enemy planes, though later she confessed to terror inside. At such times her duty was to comfort patients who could not be moved; to help out of bed a 10-year-old boy who had lost one leg from bombs an feared the loss of the other. There and at other hospitals she had to make decisions as to which patients should be hospitalized and which should be taken away. When Hankow was taken, Grace Feng and her foster parents, the Tuckers, moved to Hunan Province. Keeping her faith in China’s ultiate victory, Grace took a post in Kweiyang as secretary of the International Relief committee, which furnished funds and medical supplies to ore than 100 hospitals and orphanages in unoccupied China, with money given largely by the United States. 

Just before the Burma Road was closed, Miss Feng came to the United States. Her post-graduate work in this country has taken her to New England, to a special maternity course in New York City, and to public health work in Pittsburgh and Miami. 

The couple left immediately for Boulder, Col., where both will teach Chinese to U.S. naval officers at the University of Colorado.

GRACE FENG LIU: Later Years

Grace Feng Liu and Ts’ui Chieh Liu returned to China after his graduation from the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he was also recruited to teach Chinese to Naval officers at the University. On his return to China with his new wife, they were both caught up in the Mao regime and purges. Ts’ui suffered very badly during the Maoist era and his health never recovered.

The couple returned to the United States and eventually ended up in State College, Pennsylvania. They had two children. One named Francis for Dr. Francis Tucker, and the other named Margaret (Margret?), the same name as the Tuckers’ daughter. Ts’ui died in 1989 and, according to her obituary (see below), Grace died at The Hearthside in State College, Pennsylvania, on March 2, 2011, at the age of 100 years.

Obituary of Grace Huan Jung Feng Liu, 100

Grace Huan Jung Feng Liu, 100, of State College, died Wednesday, March 2, 2011 at The Hearthside. (Date of birth November 10, `1910.)

She was married to Tsui-Chien Liu, who passed away in 1989.

She was a member of the State College Chinese Alliance Church. Grace received her nurses’ training in China and in the United States. She worked as a nurse in both countries.

She is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Francis and Lijuan Liu, of State College, and her daughter, Margret Liu of Columbia, S.C.; two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Services are private, at the convenience of the family.
StateCollege.com


SEE ALSO:
GRACE FENG LIU Correspondence


Title

Grace Feng Liu

Alt. Title

Huan Jung Feng; Grace Feng ; Grace Huan Jung Feng; Mrs. T.C. Liu : Mrs. Ts’ui Liu ;

Identifier

GRACE FENG LIU

Creator

Pine Mountain Settlement School, Harlan County, KY.

Alt. Creator

Grace Feng Liu ; Ts’ui Chieh Liu ; Pine Mountain Settlement School ; Ann Angel Eberhardt ; Helen Hayes Wykle ;

Subject Keyword

Grace Feng ; Huan Jung Feng; Grace Feng Liu ; Pine Mountain Settlement School ; Dr. Emma Boose Tucker ; Dr. Francis Tucker ; Massachusetts Memorial Hospital ; Grace Rood ; nurses ; Notes from the Pine Mountain Settlement School ; narratives ; Ts’ui Chieh Liu ; weddings ; grooms ; brides ; Sylvia Seto ; doctors ; Burma Road ; Dr. Margaret Tucker ; radiologists ; University of Minnesota Hospital ; blood tests ; marriage licenses ; courthouses ; wedding cakes ; Emma Scott Tucker ; Betty Jean Tucker ; taxis ; Bill Hayes ; Fern Hayes ; wedding gifts ; telegrams ; Chapel ; Mr. and Mrs. Harris ; Burton Rogers ; organ music ; Arthur Dodd ; Dorothy LaRue ; Glenn LaRue ; Mr. and Mrs. H.R.S. Benjamin ; bridesmaids ; folk dancing ; square dancing ; Margaret Nace ; Dorothy Nace ; Francis Carlile Tucker ; Berea College ; Miao tribes ; Vesper services ; train travel ; bus travel ; Mr. Warren ; Carrie Warren ; Mr. Topping ; Miss Anderson ; the Catchpoles ; University of Chicago ; University of Colorado ; Mao regime ; Shantung Province, China ; Boston, MA ; Miami FL ; Boulder, CO ; Harlan, KY ; New York, NY ; Jacksonville, FL ; Corbin KY ; Hong Kong ; the Philippines ; Minnesota ; Chicago, IL ; Homestead, FL ; Ningpo, China ; Berea, KY ; Kweichow Province, China ; Minneapolis, MN ; Louisville, KY ; Indianapolis, IN ; St. Louis, MO ; Kansas City, MO ; Denver, CO ; Wisconsin ; Arkansas ; Oregon ; California ; Appalachian dance ; medical practice ; marriage ; music ; The Pine Cone ;

Subject LCSH

Feng, Grace
Feng, Huan Jung
Liu, Grace Feng.
Liu, Ts’ui Chieh.
Medicine — China
Nurses — China
Shantung — China
Pine Mountain Settlement School (Pine Mountain, Ky.) — History.
Harlan County (Ky.) — History.
Education — Kentucky — Harlan County.
Rural schools — Kentucky — History.
Schools — Appalachian Region, Southern.
Rural health services — Appalachian Region — History.

Date

2007-06-26 ; 2019-12-03

Publisher

Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY

Contributor

n/a

Type

Collections ; text ; image ;

Format

Original and copies of documents and correspondence in file folders in filing cabinet

Source

Series 9: BIOGRAPHY – Staff

Language

English

Relation

Guide to the China Records Project Miscellaneous Personal Papers Collection (Record Group No. 8). Compiled by Martha Lund Smalley, et al. Yale University Library, Yale Divinity Library, 409 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06511. (2004, 2010). http://www.library.yale.edu/div/spc/ChinaMissionariesYDSL.html#T (accessed 2013-11-13) ; Pine Mountain Settlement School Collections, Series 9: Biography – Staff/Personnel ;

Coverage Temporal

1941 – 1945

Coverage Spatial

Pine Mountain, KY ; Harlan County, KY ; Shantung Province, China ; Boston, MA ; Miami FL ; Boulder, CO ; Harlan, KY ; New York, NY ; Jacksonville, FL ; Corbin KY ; Hong Kong ; the Philippines ; Minnesota ; Chicago, IL ; Homestead, FL ; Ningpo, China ; Berea, KY ; Kweichow Province, China ; Minneapolis, MN ; Louisville, KY ; Indianapolis, IN ; St. Louis, MO ; Kansas City, MO ; Denver, CO ; Wisconsin ; Arkansas ; Oregon ; California ;

Rights

Any display, publication, or public use must credit the Pine Mountain Settlement School. Copyright retained by the creators of certain items in the collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Donor

n/a

Description

Core documents, correspondence, writing, and photographs pertaining to Grace Feng and to Ts’ui Liu who became her husband while she lived and worked at Pine Mountain Settlement School. Grace Feng came to the United States on the recommendation of Dr. Francis and Dr. Emma Tucker in 1941, following their expulsion from China during the early years of WWII. Grace Feng Liu worked with the Tuckers for approximately fifteen years and at Pine Mountain for two summers of those years.

Acquisition

n/d

Citation

Grace Feng Liu Collection, Series 09, Pine Mountain Settlement School Institutional Papers. Pine Mountain Settlement School, KY.

Processed By

Helen Hayes Wykle ; Ann Angel Eberhardt ;

Last Updated

2007-07-12 hhw ; 2008-08-31 hhw ; 2013-11-10 hhw ; 2013-12-13 aae ; 2017-03-20 aae ; 2019-11-17 aae ; 2019-11-25 hhw ; 2019-12-03 hhw; 2021-03-30 hhw ; 2022-04-01 aae ;

Bibliography

Sources

“Grace Feng Liu.” Notes from the Pine Mountain Settlement School. XVI.II (October 1943): 4. Series 09: Staff/Personnel. Pine Mountain Settlement School Institutional Papers. Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY. Internet resource.

“Chinese Couple Wed In Harlan,” Louisville Courier Journal, [clipping – no date?] Mach 9, 1945 [?]

Guide to the China Records Project Miscellaneous Personal Papers Collection (Record Group No. 8). Compiled by Martha Lund Smalley, et al. Yale University Library, Yale Divinity Library, 409 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06511. (2004, 2010). http://www.library.yale.edu/div/spc/ChinaMissionariesYDSL.html#T (accessed 2013-11-13). Internet resource.

Liu, Ts’ui Chieh. “The Feng/Liu Wedding at Pine Mountain Settlement School.” Series 09: BIOGRAPHY and Series 22: Community, Guests and Visitors. Pine Mountain Settlement School Institutional Papers, Pine Mountain, KY. (1945). Archival material.

“The World is Small.” Pine Cone. January 1944, p. 5. Internet resource.

Obituary of Grace Huan Jung Feng Liu, 100.” StateCollege. com, State College, PA. Accessed 2021-03-30. Internet resource.


See Also:
GRACE FENG LIU Correspondence

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