Hanson, Irene, 1898-
Biography
Frances Irene Hanson (née Forsythe), was born August 5, 1898 in Enterprise, Oregon. She graduated from Muskingum College in New Concord, Ohio and then relocated to Woodburn, Oregon to teach. There, she introduced her brother Emmett Forsythe to a colleague of hers and his future wife, Bessie Swope. Irene Forsythe wanted to live an exciting life outside of Oregon, but her father would only allow her to attend the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois. She moved to Chicago to attend the institute and was assigned to a street corner to preach testimonies. Growing up, Forsythe had reservations about missionary work; however, in 1926 she was assigned to the Shangtung Province of Northern China. There she traveled with two Chinese women who taught her the customs of China and assisted Forsythe in preaching Christianity. She remained in China during the Japanese occupation, eventually being deported on a ship called the S.S. Gripsholm bound for New York. She returned to China in 1946, now under threat from the communist revolution led by Mao Zedong. Forsythe was the last remaining American Presbyterian missionary in China during the revolution and was the subject of denunciation campaigns by the communists who dubbed her "the chief American spy" in the region. She recalled loud speakers yelling her name and calling for her death. Eventually, she was picked up one night and shuttled to the coast where she was once again placed on a ship and sent home, warned never to step foot in China again. After returning to the United States, Forsythe married Perry O. Hanson on August 8, 1952 and settled down in Iola, Kansas. Reverend Hanson was also a Presbyterian missionary who had lost his first wife to fever while living in China. Together they preached about the circumstances in China and the effect on the Presbyterian Church there. Irene Hanson wrote two books, "Chengs Mother" and "The Wheelbarrow and the Comrade" in an effort to inform Americans about life in China. Perry Hanson died in 1967, but she continued to spread their message. Irene Hanson moved to Duarte, California, in 1980. She died December 25, 1994.
Found in 1 Collection or Record:
Forsythe family papers
The Forsythe family papers (1846-2009) contain correspondence, documents, literature, photographs, and ephemera. They represent the collected efforts of Irene Hanson (née Forsythe), Emmett and Bessie Forsythe, and Margaret Grace Forsythe to document their family history.