(5)

Introduction

In 1892, Episcopal High School enrolled its first Chinese student, Theodore Wong. Theodore was the son of a Chinese missionary and he was raised Christian—a rare phenomenon in late 19th century China. (5)

Family Background

His father, Reverend Kong Chai Wong, had been the first to convert of the American Episcopal Church in Shanghai as well as the first Chinese deacon and its first Chinese priest under Bishop Boone. (1) He became the first Chinese deacon, and after 13 years in this office, on November 8th 1863, he was ordained as the first priest of the Protestant Episcopal Church in China. He is one of the first recorded Chinese visitors to the southern United States when he traveled there with an American missionary in 1843. His mother had been the first Chinese girl in Shanghai to receive baptism. Theodore raised Christian--rare in late nineteenth century China. He had first sailed to the US in 1892 to continue his studies at Episcopal High School. (2)

What made Theodore come to Episcopal High School?

Theodore was enrolled shortly before the start of the school year by Reverend Francis Lister Hawks Pott, a missionary to China and president of Saint John’s College of Shanghai. EHS was a natural fit for the sons of Chinese missionaries because the school was well known and respected by the missionaries sent forth from the adjacent Virginia Theological Seminary. (2) 

Keeping in touch with Blackford

Mr. Wong kept a close correspondence with Mr. Blackford even after graduation. From February 4th 1898 to June 23rd 1893, Mr. Wong and Mr. Blackford exchanged several letters from each other.

(2)

Life after Episcopal High School

After graduating from Episcopal High School, Mr. Wong went to UVA where he read Greek, Latin, History, English, natural philosophy, and political economy. Wong was UVA's first Chinese student. However, he transferred to Georgetown University before graduating and obtained his university from Georgetown. (3)

In 1898 Mr. Wong returned to China where he married Julia Sih, one of the first students at the McTyeire school, a girl’s academy established in Shanghai by the Methodist missionaries in 1892. At the end of 1911, Mr. Wong left  his family behind to supervise the overseas students supported by the Chinese Educational Mission.(4)

In 1911, the Chinese Educational Mission in Washington DC was established to look after the hundreds of Chinese scholarship students studying at universities across the United States. From the start, this program was directed by Theodore Wong. Mr. Wong had charge of all the Chinese indemnity students who were pursuing courses in this country and was assassinated in Washington soon after the close of the war. It is supposed that this motive was robbery. He was an earnest Christian, a brilliant Thinker, a fine speaker, and a charming gentleman.(4)