Norman and Anna Bowman Seese Family Papers, 1917-1951 | Earl H. and Anita F. Hess Archives and Special Collections

Title: Norman and Anna Bowman Seese Family Papers, 1917-1951

ID: MSS/MSS-0032

Extent: 0.0

Rev. Norman Alexander Seese was born on February 1, 1886 to parents Ephriam Seese and Lucinda Wertz Seese in Bedford County, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Bridgewater College in 1915 and taught there until marrying Anna Bowman in 1917. That same year, the couple traveled to China to begin missionary work with the Church of the Brethren. During his time there, he co-authored the book China-A Challenge to the Church in 1919, in which he wrote about vocational training for the Chinese (“Vocational Training as a Practical Solution for Some of China’s Problems”). They spent the latter half of 1917-1919 in Peking/Shanghai/Tientsin. In the latter half of 1919 until 1923, they worked in Liao Chou, then in the second half of 1923 from 1925, returned to the United States on furlough. Seese received his master’s degree from the University of Virginia in 1924. They soon returned to China, spending half of 1926 in Liao Chou and the other half in Ping Ting, half of 1927 in Ping Ting and the other half in Peking/Shanghai/Tientsin and remained in Peking/Shanghai/Tientsin until the end of the first half of 1928. Seese served as director of Boys School Work in Liao Chou, Shansi, China from 1917-26, as well as principal of the Church of the Brethren High School in Ping Ting Chow from 1926-28. After returning to the United States permanently due to “unsettled conditions” in China, the Seeses settled in Daleville, Virginia, where Norman served as the principal of Daleville Academy from1928-1930. He died on August 26, 1960 at the age of 74. Anna Bowman Seese was born on October 24, 1888 to parents Dr. Samuel Joseph Bowman and Susannah Virginia Bowman in Jonesboro, Tennessee. She graduated from Bridgewater College in 1914, and did postgraduate work and taught there from 1914-1917, receiving her master’s degree in 1917. She married Norman Alexander Seese that year and the couple traveled to China to perform missionary work with the Church of the Brethren from 1917-1928. During her time there, she co-authored the book Junior Folks at Mission Study- China in 1921, in which she wrote about Chinese history (“Some Marks of China’s Civilization”). She also gave birth to all five of their children while in China, including Norman Jr. (born 1918), Margaret (born 1920), Sylvia (born 1922), Lyman (born 1924), and Patricia (born 1927). Upon their return to the United States, the family settled in Daleville, Virginia. She died on May 2, 1954 at the age of 65. Sylvia Seese Bieber worked at the Church of the Brethren headquarters in Elgin, Illinois during the late 1940s and early 1950s, helping bring German high school students over to America following WWII. She found homes for about 100 of these students on the country’s West Coast. She died on May 17, 2014 at the age of 91.

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Scope and Contents:

The Rev. Norman and Anna Bowman Seese Collection, spanning the years 1917-1951, primarily documents the family’s Church of the Brethren missionary work in China from 1917-1928. It contains photographs from their missionary trip, a file of notes on the missionary trip recording day-to-day events and facts about Chinese history and culture, a file of letters from Norman and Anna to their parents in America, letters addressed to various recipients including Ephriam Seese, Norman Seese, Lucinda Seese, Susie Seese, and Sylvia Seese Bieber, and photographs and newspaper articles of Sylvia Seese Bieber in her work with the Church of the Brethren in America.

The Church of the Brethren began its foreign missionary work in 1875 in Denmark, and began this work in China in 1908. A total of 78 Brethren missionaries served in China during the period from 1908-1937, including Norman and Anna Seese. These missionaries provided religious and literary education, medical care, vocational training, and more to the residents of various areas, including Taiyuan, Ping Ting, Shou Yang, Liou Chou, Tsin Chou, Peking/Shanghai/Tientsin, South China, and the Philippines.