Miyagi Gakuin (College) was established in 1886 
and is proud of its long history of providing a 
Christian education for women. We are most 
proud of the music education originally promot-
ed by Dr. Kate I. Hansen. Her heritage means a 
great deal to us. We are pleased that this book will 
provide readers the opportunity to learn about 
her devotion to music education and Christian 
ideals and to appreciate her great works.
— Matsuo Fukaya, Chancellor, Miyagi Gakuin, 
Sendai, Japan
This collection of Kate Hansen’s diaries, letters, publica-
tions, and compositions provides compelling insight into 
the life and work of one of Kansas’s most important native 
daughters. Descended from northwest Kansas pioneers, 
Kate  Hansen graduated from the University of Kansas in 
1905 and drew upon her heritage in serving  as a mission-
ary teacher in Japan for nearly half a century. Through two 
world wars and the Great Depression, she helped introduce 
Western music to the Orient and–as a woman of action 
and achievement–served as a role model and inspiration 
for several generations of Japanese Christian women.
— Robert E. Hemenway, Chancellor, The University of Kansas
Dane Gray Bales is manager-trustee of the Hansen Trust and a trustee of the Hansen Foundation 
in Logan, Kansas. Polly Roth Bales is a leader in Logan church and community affairs and has been 
instrumental in developing the Hansen Museum. Calvin E. Harbin, emeritus professor of education 
and dean at Fort Hays State University, is the counselor for the Dane G. Hansen Scholarship program.
Kate Hansen—The Grandest Mission on Earth
The University of Kansas Continuing Education 
ISBN 0-936352-18-3
This volume of materials by and about Kate Hansen brings together her diaries of  a family trip to Colorado by covered wagon 
in 1891 and a year-long (1893-94) stay in Denmark, 
her father’s homeland; letters and diary excerpts 
from her years as a student at the University of 
Kansas at the turn of the century; and her published 
writings and letters home during several decades as 
a missionary teacher at Miyagi College in Sendai, 
Japan. 
Early in her education at the University of 
Kansas, after a period of agonizing over her life’s 
direction, Kate committed herself to “the grandest 
mission on earth.” She would help take the Christian 
gospel to the young women of Japan. There, for 
nearly half a century, she would serve as a mission-
ary teacher, dean, and acting president at Miyagi 
College, as well as a mediator between Japanese and 
American cultures.
In her years in Japan, Kate Hansen witnessed 
many significant events: two world wars and the 
severe economic conditions following World War II, 
the earthquake of 1923, the Great Depression, and 
the beginning of the Japanese women’s movement. 
Her letters home chronicle her daily activities and 
reflect on developments in Japanese culture and 
society. Her articles, written for church publications, 
detail the importance and process of  teaching West-
ern music in Japanese schools and higher education 
institutions.
With humor, humility, and perseverance, she 
worked diligently to impart to her students Chris-
tian teachings and her love for Western classical 
music, and to serve as a role model for her Japanese 
students. In 1926 she and her colleague at Miyagi 
College, Lydia Lindsey, participated in–as the 
only foreigners–a conference of Japanese women 
determined to improve the rights of women. Many 
of the leaders of this movement were graduates of 
Christian schools in Japan.
As the daughter of a prominent Kansas pio-
neer family, Kate grew up in a supportive, loving, 
and adventuresome family.  Her family and friends 
in Logan, Kansas, provided her a home base during 
her furloughs from her position in Japan, and she 
always loved to return to the subtle beauty of the 
Kansas prairies and wildflowers.
Kate spent the World War II years after Pearl 
Harbor in Kansas but returned to Sendai after the 
war to help rebuild Miyagi College. After she retired 
in 1951, she returned to Kansas. In her retirement 
she was honored by the University of Kansas, 
Miyagi College, and the Emperor of Japan for her 
contributions to the education of Japanese women.
This volume offers a rich, multidimensional 
perspective on the life and work of an important 
American missionary teacher, on the influences 
that formed Kate Hansen’s decision to operate 
outside the traditional domestic sphere, and on her 
contributions to international education.
Jacket designed by Teresa Stevenson
K
ate H
ansen—
T
he G
randest M
ission on E
arth
From K
ansas to Japan, 1907–1951
BALES
The Grandest Mission on Earth
From Kansas to Japan, 1907–1951
Dane G. and Polly Roth Bales with Calvin E. Harbin
Kate Hansen
The Grandest Mission on Earth
From Kansas to Japan, 1907–1951
Dane G. and Polly Roth Bales
with
Calvin E. Harbin
The University of Kansas
Continuing Education
Copyright © 2000 by the University of Kansas
ISBN 0-936352-18-3
Printed in the United States of America
Cover photographs: Kate Hansen Collection,  
University of Kansas Archives
Cover design: Teresa Stevenson
Credits
The papercut illustrations on pages 76, 78, and 95 are reproduced with 
permission of Ulla Alberg from Kate’s dagbog: Fra præriern til Flens-
borg fjord. Langenberg Trykkeri, Sønderborg, Denmark, 1985.
Unless otherwise noted, the letters, diaries, articles, photographs, and 
memorabilia in this book are reprinted with permission from the Kate 
Hansen Collection, University of Kansas Archives.
To the Memory of
Dane Gray Bales, Jr.
1947–1998
Beloved Nephew of Aunt Kate

CONTENTS
Introduction ...........................................................................................  vii
1.  Heritage and Childhood ..................................................................  1
2.  A Trip to the Old Country ...............................................................  33
3.  An Education and a Calling .............................................................  105
4.  The Early Years in Japan .................................................................  157
5.  Assuming the Mantle of Leadership ..............................................  199
6.  War with Japan and Post-war Years ................................................  249
7.  Going Home .....................................................................................  285
Appendix
 Selected Kate Hansen Compositions and Related Items ............  313
Index .......................................................................................................  343

vii
INTRODUCTION
 Kate Hansen, native Kansan and sojourner in her adopted land 
of Japan, was born on July 5, 1879. This is her story—the story of a 
strong-minded young woman who came of age at the beginning of the 
twentieth century in Kansas and of her many achievements over the 
next seven decades.
 Kate Ingeborg Hansen was truly a pioneer in spirit. Bold missionary, 
beloved teacher, she was far ahead of her times. She dared to go well 
beyond what was expected of her and most young women of her era. 
Never shy about speaking her mind, she defined and shaped her own 
colorful life in an extraordinary fashion.
 More than fifty years of work and service are revealed in her writings. 
Throughout her long life, her thoughts and emotions flowed through her 
correspondence to her beloved family and friends as well as the official 
reports to her sponsoring church organization. They show her to be 
an alert, sensitive, intelligent observer and leader, never content with 
the usual or mundane. Her life emphasizes perfection and beauty. Her 
remarkable legacy is evidenced in her personal papers, which include 
correspondence with family and students, diaries, and photographs 
housed in the archives at her alma mater, the University of Kansas, in 
Lawrence, Kansas.
 This book brings together many items of information by and about 
Kate Hansen lest they be lost, forgotten, or ignored by later generations. 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
viii
The long-term influence of a Christian missionary and her sacrifices of 
decades of patient efforts cannot be accurately assessed by contempo-
raries. Although one might suggest that only God knows the long-term 
benefits of a committed witness to Christ, it is clear that succeeding gen-
erations both at home and in the mission field have profited from Kate 
Hansen’s quiet acts of loving concern. She considered it a high privilege 
to represent the liberating ideals of the church, America, and Christian 
sacred and classical music. Like other Christian doctors, missionaries, 
and teachers, she strove to be an exemplary ambassador for the church 
and her country. Her commitment to Christ was central to her life and 
to her work.
 She chronicles her visits to family and friends, classes and concerts, 
and her concerns as she faithfully attended to missionary responsibilities. 
Especially interesting are her descriptions of local sites, conditions, and 
customs. She reports on her yard and garden and her summer home at 
Karuizawa, along with the strange and funny things she experienced. 
Her travel adventures add colorful dimensions to her story. Whether in 
Kansas or in her far-off mission field thousands of miles across the Pacific 
Ocean, her devotion to her country and to duty never wavered. Patiently 
and lovingly, she taught generation after generation of Japanese girls 
who were interested in American music and the principles of Christian-
ity. For forty-five years, she worked at Miyagi College in Sendai on the 
island of Honshu. Her correspondence, diaries, and other writings offer 
insights into the state of both American and Japanese culture during the 
late nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries.
 Kate Hansen influenced Japanese women by her dedication and 
example. The results of her work and the model she set for both col-
leagues and students still survive. The Emperor of Japan recognized her 
contributions to his nation; her church and her alma mater also honored 
her for her contributions to humanity and her profession. The life and 
experiences of this Kansas pioneer are deserving of study because 
she blazed trails for women on the world’s stage. Additionally, her life 
spanned significant developments both nationally and worldwide—in-
cluding two world wars and women’s winning the right to vote in the 
United States.
Introduction
ix
 Other works describe various aspects of Kate Hansen’s life. One is 
the story of her brother, Dane G. Hansen, in which family coverage is 
extensive and numerous references are made to Kate. This book, Dane 
Gray Hansen, Titan of Northwest Kansas, was written by Billy M. Jones 
in 1982. Another volume is To Japan with Love: The Story of Kate Hansen 
and Lydia Lindsey of Kansas and Japan, written by William Mensendiek 
in 1991. Mensendiek used official church records and correspondence 
to document Kate’s activities in Japan. Taken together, these volumes 
provide a comprehensive documentary of the life of Kate Hansen. These 
books provide a measure of appreciation, preservation, and extension 
of her eighty-nine years of living for others.
 In this book, as well as in both of the above volumes, the authors 
relied on the thousands of letters, photos, and memorabilia in the files 
of the Kate Hansen Collection of the University of Kansas Archives. For 
their assistance in preparing this book, we are grateful to the following 
individuals: Barry Bunch of the University of Kansas Archives in the 
Kenneth Spencer Research Library for help locating numerous textual 
resources and photographs; Mary Solecki and Wanda Jandera for in-
valuable word processing contributions; Malcolm Neelley and Teresa 
Stevenson of the KU Continuing Education staff for word processing and 
book design; Mary Greb-Hall for copyediting and proofreading; and Bill 
Clarke of Phillipsburg, Kansas, for several of the photos in this volume.
Dane G. and Polly Roth Bales with Calvin E. Harbin 
May 2000

Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
xi
About the Authors
 Dane and Polly Bales are carrying on the heritage and tradition of 
the Hansen family in Logan, Kansas. They have been very active in civic 
affairs and, through the Hansen Foundation, have provided millions of 
dollars for charitable support. The Foundation’s scholarship program 
has provided college scholarships for thousands of high school seniors 
in northwest Kansas.
 Dane Gray Bales was born to Elles Everitt Bales and Alpha Flor-
ence Hansen Bales, the younger sister of Kate Hansen. He graduated 
from Wentworth Military Academy and the University of Kansas. On 
graduation, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army 
and served in World War II. He married his college sweetheart, Pauline 
Roth, in 1941. Captain Bales returned to the family business in Logan 
after the war and succeeded his uncle, Dane Gray Hansen, as the chief 
executive of the Hansen enterprises.
 Polly Roth Bales is the daughter of John and Anna Rutschman Roth 
of Whitewater, Kansas. She attended the University of Kansas, where 
she met her future husband. Polly is a leader in church and community 
affairs. She is an accomplished organist and has been instrumental in 
developing the Hansen Museum in Logan, one of Kansas’s outstanding 
community museums.
 Calvin E. Harbin, Hays, Kansas, is the son of Wesley and Ada Harbin. 
He, too, was an officer in the U.S. Army in WWII and afterwards was 
a professor of education and dean at Fort Hays State University. His 
Ed.D. in curriculum is from the University of Missouri. He has been 
the counsellor for the Dane G. Hansen Scholarship Program for many 
years.

Chapter 1
Heritage and Childhood
Maternal Ancestry
 Kate Hansen’s mother was a Gray whose ancestor Henry Gray came 
from England to the American colonies before the Revolution. He was 
listed in the First U.S. Census in 1790 in Pennsylvania. He and his wife, 
Susanna, had seven sons and one daughter. Kate’s direct lineage was 
from Henry (1750–1822) and Susanna (who died in 1832) Gray as follows:
 Henry Gray and Susanna Liggitt
 Their fifth son, John, who was born in 1786
 John’s son, William (1813–1860), and wife, Nancy Hoover
 William’s daughter, Alpha Ama Gray (1858–1957)
 Alpha Ama (Gray) Hansen’s daughter, Kate Hansen (1879–1968)
 Interestingly, another son of Henry Gray was Liggitt, named for his 
mother’s family. He was born in 1790. He had a son, Lewis, a dentist, who 
married Alice Josephine Zane. One of their sons was Pearl Zane Gray, 
who later changed his name to Zane Grey and became the prolific writer 
of fifty-four Westerns. Zane Grey’s mother was descended from Colonel 
Ebenezer Zane, an exiled Quaker from Denmark who came across the 
Atlantic with William Penn to settle Pennsylvania. Kate’s mother, Alpha 
Ama (Gray) Hansen, was the second cousin of Zane Grey.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
2
Paternal Ancestry
 Kate’s paternal grandparents were Jorgen and Ingeborg Hanssen, 
who owned a large farming estate in Denmark known as Ravnskoppel 
near Dybbol, a town in the vicinity of Sonderborg. Jorgen Hanssen was 
a highly respected community leader and was honored by the King of 
Denmark with a citation for public service and awarded the Order of 
Sonderborg.
 Peter Hansen,1 born in 1846 at Ravnskoppel, was Kate’s father. He 
was one of ten siblings. The family belonged to the Lutheran Church 
in Denmark, and their son Peter was confirmed in the church at age 
fourteen. He was an apt and ardent student of the Bible and committed 
to memory long passages that he retained and quoted throughout his 
life. Peter left his native Denmark when he was twenty years old. Ger-
many had twice invaded Denmark before Peter was eighteen. Twice 
the invading German army had burned his parents’ home. When the 
province of Schlesvig was annexed by Germany, the young Danes were 
expected to serve in the German army. Peter and thousands of other 
young Danes became political refugees when they sailed to America to 
start new lives.
 After a four-year stay in Wisconsin, Peter arrived in Kansas in 1872. 
He settled in Norton County six miles west of Logan in Phillips County. 
Peter Hansen’s early activities and achievements documented that he was 
an innovator and a man of vision. He brought his own lumber and built 
a dugout for his first home. Almost immediately, he became interested 
in politics and ran for office. In fall 1872, he was elected to represent 
the Solomon District on the Norton County Commission. Peter was also 
instrumental in bringing a preacher to the area. With great foresight, he 
realized the need for lumber and building materials to be readily available 
if settlers after the Civil War were to populate and develop the area. He 
built a saw mill in 1874 on six acres of land that he bought for $15. He 
built another mill near Glade, about fourteen miles east of Logan. Rapid 
development of the area and farmers’ need for a flour mill prompted 
1When Peter Hansen emigrated, he changed his name from Hanssen to Hansen 
to make it “more American.”
Heritage and Childhood
3
This flour mill was one of several saw- and flour mills in the Logan area owned by the 
Hansen family. Peter Hansen had the vision to know that lumber, other building materials, 
and flour would be needed by post-Civil War settlers.
At age thirty-one Peter Hansen and his partner opened a general merchandise store in 
Logan. It quickly became the area’s trading center. Peter and Alpha Hansen lived above 
the store following their wedding in September 1878. The store above, a successor to the 
first Hansen general store, was built in 1900.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
4
Peter to convert his Logan saw mill to a flour mill. His customers came 
from as far as a hundred miles away to have their wheat ground. He 
also worked to bring in a railroad and other community improvements. 
At age thirty-one, he opened a general merchandise store that quickly 
became the area’s trading center.
 In these busy times, Peter Hansen also served on the local school 
board. One day he visited the school barefooted and the teacher told him 
that he was not welcome. Nevertheless, he married the school teacher, 
Miss Alpha Ama Gray, age eighteen, on September 1, 1878, in Phillips-
burg. By this time, Peter was a prosperous and influential businessman 
in Logan.
Kate Hansen at age three (1882)
Heritage and Childhood
5
Childhood
 Peter and Alpha Hansen became the parents of six children: Kate, 
George, Dane, Alpha, and two who died in infancy. Kate, as the oldest 
child, became the apple of her father’s eye. He proudly displayed her 
to his business associates, friends, and relatives in Logan. A warm and 
loving relationship developed among Kate, her parents, and siblings. It 
continued throughout her life as she cherished her childhood memories 
and experiences. She developed her patriotic, pioneering spirit as a heri-
tage from her close-knit family and the models they provided. She came 
from a family of pioneers whose experiences acclimated her to harsh 
realities and promoted individual initiative and a pragmatic approach to 
life. She was a sensitive and intelligent child who exhibited early signs of 
careful observance, reporting, and a serious outlook. She was an eager 
learner, quick to size up situations and draw conclusions.
 On the frontier, survival alone required hard work and struggle as 
preparation for the future. Kate’s childhood milieu, her family history, and 
her early educational experiences helped shape her sense of patriotic duty, 
and particularly her resolve to work as a missionary teacher. Kate’s child-
hood and youthful experiences contributed significantly to her preparation 
for a Christian mission and service as a cultural ambassador to Japanese 
girls and their parents from 1907 to 1951. From her early years in Logan, 
she developed characteristics that would make her later achievements 
and experiences possible. She would live through years of momentous 
events and rapid change on the world scene. Through it all, she had an 
anchor in the values inculcated in her by family, school, and church.
 When talking about her childhood, Kate often acknowledged that 
it had been a happy, busy time of preparation. Schooling was terribly 
important, and she always tried hard to do her best. But she had many 
advantages that other local children did not have. Her family was con-
sidered well-to-do, and Kate, as the first child, wanted for nothing in the 
way of necessities. She was especially loved and provided for by doting 
parents. The fact that her mother was a schoolteacher contributed to her 
love of learning and early accomplishments. She displayed a capacity for 
learning by completing eight grades in six years, ending in spring 1891. 
From then on, her family and friends had high expectations for her.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
6
In 1891 Kate finished grade school. 
She had completed eight grades in 
six years and exhibited a pronounced 
love of learning.
Heritage and Childhood
7
 Kate always loved to travel and usually found time to record experiences 
while on trips with her family. An interesting example of this is her diary 
of the family’s trip to Colorado in summer 1891. Twelve-year-old Kate was 
alert to new sights and adventures throughout the trip, which started May 
4, 1891, and ended on June 26. The family traveled in a specially built 
covered wagon that accommodated the four adults and eight children2 for 
the visits to relatives and exploration of the Rocky Mountains. The travellers 
spent two weeks in the bustling city of Denver, Colorado.
 Kate painstakingly recorded experiences and her impressions along 
the way. Her century-old notes of this trip show attention to details of the 
events—their first views of the mountains, descriptions of meandering 
mountain streams and hikes, visits to Denver’s museums, and cable car 
rides. She describes precisely the towns and cities they visit and some of the 
interesting people and experiences they encounter.
Trip to Colorado
Kate I. Hansen
May 9, Saturday
 We started the 4th of May. The first night we stopped at Norton but 
did not sleep in the wagon. Devizes was our next station. It is very small 
but the millpond is very pretty. We caught a good mess of fish there and 
it was fun to catch them. We camped there that night and slept in the 
wagon.
 The next day we ate dinner at Wilsonville and at night camped near 
Cambridge, the town of windmills. We counted nineteen of them, and 
the town is not very large.
 Bartley is not very large and we did not stop there long. Indianola 
has many fine buildings. The schoolhouses in the country are built of 
brick mostly and are quite large.
2Members of this party included Kate, her siblings and parents, cousins Peter and 
Preston and her Aunt Florence and Uncle Will.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
8
 At a creek along the way they used the seine first. It was funny to 
watch them but they did not catch any fish. We stopped over night at 
McCook. It is quite a large town, and the residences are mostly very 
pretty. I noticed that about two thirds of the residences were square.
 At Culbertson we only stopped to buy a few things and went on to 
camp. I did not notice much at Trenton for we did not stop at all there. 
We stopped at night near the Republican river and we went in and wad-
ed. The river is full of quicksand and we had to be rather lively or we 
would sink a little. They shot the first game, two ducks, there and they 
fished but only caught some little fish. All afternoon we were passing 
springs and along the railroad there were ponds. At Stratton they were 
comparing the town to Logan all the time but I do not think it is as nice 
as Logan, if it did have two hotels.
 We only passed through Max. It is rather little for Preston tried to 
buy some candy and could not. Benkleman is about the size of Logan.
 We are camped tonight a little way from Benkleman on the prairie 
and near a well and a house. Several times today we passed a train for 
we went along the railroad, and then Aunt Florence would get out and 
The Hansen family used this specially built covered wagon, which accommodated four 
adults and eight children, on their visits to relatives and their trip to the Rocky Mountains.
Heritage and Childhood
9
walk and our horse, Bones, (she is much afraid of Bones) or Morgan, 
would dance and then look around as much as to say, “How do you like 
it?”
May 10, Sunday
 It rained last night, but we did not get wet. Preston who slept under 
the wagon (He says he cannot sleep when George snores for it scares 
him) kept saying that he was getting wet and that the wind in our water 
jug scared him. This morning we did not pass scarcely anything but wild 
sage and prickly pears, but they were thick enough. We saw a mirage 
today. It made things look closer than they are, and everything except 
close to us, looked wavy, like tall grass or water in a wind.
 We had seen one some days ago and we thought a windmill and two 
little houses were big trees and a house. We passed through Haigler 
this afternoon. I did not like it, for we tried to get water and could not; 
they had to haul it from the river. At about five o’clock we crossed the 
Nebraska line into Colorado. We saw several irrigating ditches. George 
and Pete caught a big fish with their hands in the Republican. They are 
going to fish tonight.
May 11
 We saw some hills today that looked like mountains at a distance. 
On one of them there were some big rocks as tall and taller than I am, 
rolled down it. We passed a very pretty stream that looked like a moun-
tain stream and the water was better than well water. We went through 
sand most of the way.
May 12
 We came upon very pretty flowers today. They were like pea blos-
soms, only about twice as large, and were all shades of purple. The 
center leaves were white. We stopped at noon at Yuma. It is pretty but a 
good many of the houses are empty. A few days ago we met two covered 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
10
wagons and we have camped near them several times. We went through 
Hyde. It deserves its name, for about two-thirds of the houses were de-
serted. Otis is about the same as Hyde. We camped there at night by a 
deserted house and we moved the stove and the cots into it. Pete slept 
in a barn and it rained. He got rather wet and had to come in our bed. 
We could only get water at one well and it belonged to the railroad. The 
railroad company bored 2700 feet for water and could not get it so they 
bought the well. It was 212 ft. deep.
 We met a tramp the other day and he was suspected of trying to steal 
some horses. Mamma and Aunt Florence think they see him every time 
they see a tramp on the railroad and they have borrowed a telescope of 
Uncle Will’s to look at tramps whenever they see them a good way off.
May 13
 We had to get to Akron by noon for water and we started early. It is 
quite a large town and is not deserted like the others. We went a little 
way from town to water the horses and we met a Dane who was from the 
same place that Papa was. He and Papa talked in Danish and he acted as 
if he was crazy but he was not. He would jump and laugh at everything. 
He had a grandchild who was about the fattest boy I ever saw. We saw 
Fremont’s buttes today but they were a good way off. We went through 
sand all afternoon and the horses had to pull pretty hard. We saw the bed 
of a river that was dry and the sand, the bed was all sand, looked red.
May 14
 We camped last night near a sheep ranch and this morning we saw 
a good many sheep. We saw, too, some very little lambs. We passed 
through Brush. It is little for I only saw one store. We stopped at noon 
at Fort Morgan. It is the prettiest town we have seen yet and is quite 
large. They irrigate lots here. We passed a great many ditches all the 
afternoon. Some of them I could see the bottom and step over and one 
was as big as the Solomon river. Some of them looked just like creeks 
with trees and grasses on the banks. We passed alfalfa fields a great deal 
Heritage and Childhood
11
and they looked very pretty, they were such a pretty green. We camped 
tonight near the head of an irrigation ditch on the Platte river, which is 
quite large here. We saw the mountains plain today. They still look like 
clouds a little but they are not shaped like them.
May 15
 We stayed in camp all forenoon. A bachelor who lived there let us 
bake and wash in his house. There is a very long dam across the Platte 
here that looks like seats put across. This dam was joined to a bridge 
which was fixed so as to let the right amount of water into the irrigating 
ditch, which is larger than the Solomon river. In the afternoon we started 
on. We went by a sand hill that was quite high and was almost straight 
up and down. We all got out to walk and while we were walking a big 
hailstorm came on. The hailstones were some as big around as my thumb 
and they came down thick. When we got in the wagon it sounded like 
hundreds of stones being thrown on it. After the hail came rain. It did not 
sound as loud as hail but it came near it. The top of the wagon did not 
leak but the sides did a little. We had the finest view of the mountains we 
have seen yet, when it cleared up a little. They did not look like clouds at 
all. There were two high ones that looked very close and a great many 
lower ones. They said the highest one was Long’s Peak and that it was 
the highest one in the state. We camped at a little shanty and we slept 
in it. Uncle Will got a big mess of wild onions and they were almost as 
big as tame ones.
May 16
 It rained all day today. The top leaked some and we got wet a little. 
We had to go into a house for dinner and get warm. It did not rain hard 
in the afternoon and we reached Greeley by night. It is quite a city and is 
very pretty. There are so many trees in it that we could not see anything 
of it till we were in it except some steeples. There are trees bordering 
every street and they are great big ones. We crossed the Platte river on 
a bridge that was about 400 feet long. We got a room in town and we are 
going to sleep in it.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
12
May 17
 We stayed all day in Greeley. In the morning, before the others were 
up we took a walk, going to a college on top of a hill. There are more 
pretty residences in this town than in any other one we have seen yet. 
The houses are high but the trees are higher. There is a kind of flower 
grows here that is very pretty. It is a large white flower with yellow cen-
ter. The leaves are shaped like a heart, and there are four of them. The 
flower is about an inch and a half across. The park is full of them, and 
there is an artesian well in it. The well is large and there is a platform 
over it with grating in one place so one can see the water, which is a few 
feet from the surface. By a house near where we stayed were two rustic 
chairs. They were made of limbs of trees with the bark on.
May 18
 We started late this morning. As soon as we were out of Greeley we 
saw the mountains. They looked so near that Preston said he could walk 
to them in half an hour. They looked blue, much darker than the sky, 
and the tops were so white with the sun shining on them, that I could 
not look at them only for a short time. We passed by a large pond that 
was almost covered with mud hens. Loveland, which we reached near 
night, is right in the trees like Greeley, but it is not so big. We are close 
to the foothills here.
May 19
 We stayed almost all forenoon at Loveland. We came to a lake in the 
morning and they caught a whole bucketful of fish in about half an hour. 
In the afternoon we started on ahead of the wagon. We climbed one of 
the foothills which was all rock when we got up a little and had seams on 
them. We found a lot of new flowers in the cracks of the rocks. We found 
a good many specimens on the road. One big hill it took us an hour to 
climb, and we walked almost all afternoon. We passed great rocks that 
were straight up and down.
Heritage and Childhood
13
May 20
 Last night it rained hard and in the morning when we went out we 
got our feet wet. We walked all forenoon up the mountains and found 
the prettiest rocks we have seen yet. They were all colors with a shiny 
substance over them. There were flowers all over and pine trees were 
on the tops. We are 7000 feet above the sea level. At noon we made a fire 
between two big rocks that looked like a fireplace with pine limbs and 
cones. It was raining at noon, and a little after it snowed like it does in 
winter. There are rocks all over the mountains here with trees growing 
on them. We stopped at a house when it began to snow hard. It snowed 
all afternoon and it was several inches deep. We are right among the 
pines. They are loaded down with snow and they look white on one side 
and green on the other.
May 21
 We stayed all forenoon at the house we were at last night. At about 
three o’clock [we started] for Estes Park. We passed on the way a rock 
that looked just like a cunning old man. We went over a place where we 
had to get out for the wheels were stuck in the mud. We went over a 
road a mile long, where the mountain rises high on one side of the road 
and on the other the rock are almost straight up and down and in some 
places without even a tree between the road and the bottom. The road is 
about 1000 feet from the bottom. We saw one mountain that was almost 
straight up and down with narrow shelves once in a while with pines 
growing on them. The pines were white with snow and they looked as 
if they grew out of the rock. In a few hours we came to the house that 
we will stay in for a while. It is a log house with three rooms in it and a 
porch all around it. Inside we can see the logs on top for the top is made 
of logs. There is a fireplace in one of the rooms and we have a fire in it 
all the time. The house is built right among the rocks and pines and we 
have burnt pine cones a good deal. I have climbed the big rocks several 
times.
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May 22
 We climbed the rocks a good deal today. Aunt Florence and Mamma 
went out a good way and Aunt Florence brought home an elk horn. Uncle 
Will was fishing almost all day and he caught two trout. Trout are pretty 
fish, green with black specks all over them and they were almost a foot 
long.
May 23
 We went after elk horns today and Harry got some. We went about 
a mile. In the afternoon Mamma and Papa went out and got several elk 
horns and a deer horn. Uncle Will and Aunt Florence went with them 
but they got lost and had to come home. The elk horns are about four 
feet long and the deer horn about two feet.
May 24
 We went with the wagon to some waterfalls today and the man who 
owns this house, Mr. McGregor, went with us. We went within a mile of 
the first one. It is almost straight up and down but is not very high. The 
other one is very high but it does not go straight down. It comes against 
a big rock near the bottom and breaks into spray. We found some snow 
near the falls. There is a rock there that is as high as the falls, about 30 
feet. It began to rain so we had to go home soon. Pete went away from 
us to work today.
May 25
 This morning when we got up it was snowing hard and we could 
not move on. About noon it stopped snowing and began raining and it 
has kept it up all day, so we could not go out at all. This makes twice we 
have been caught in snow.
Heritage and Childhood
15
May 26
 We started for Lyons today. The road was crooked enough for any 
mountain road. We followed a creek part of the way that deserved the 
name of Crooked Creek. I never saw one so crooked. Several times we 
thought we had to cross it, when it turned away from the road. I never 
crossed creeks so many times in one day. We crossed forty times in one 
day for I counted them. We found flowers here that looked like clematis, 
in fact they were wild ones. They grew on the rocks, and are a kind of 
vine. The flowers are two inches across and are purple and blue. When 
we came to the toll gate (we are travelling on a toll road) they told us 
that there was a bridge out down the river, and we had to stop, though 
it was not near night, at the house there.
May 27
 We had to stay all day here at this house for the bridge cannot be fixed 
yet. This is a nice place, mountains on all sides and a river in front. The 
house is among the pines and there are quaking aspen along the creek. 
The aspens are like cottonwoods only they have smaller leaves which 
are nearly yellow. There is a mountain rising only a few yards from the 
house and it is quite steep. We went to the bridge that is broken in the 
afternoon. I never saw such a pretty winding road. It goes between the 
mountains and follows the river. The river is crooked and the road goes 
across it a great many times. As an example, by one bridge the river flows 
west and by the next one, which is a few yards from the first, the same 
river flows east. The streams here all flow about as fast as I could walk, 
and some of them flow faster. In one place the rocks stand up straight 
from the river. We can hear the river in the house and it sounds like the 
water coming over a waterfall.
May 28
 We stayed at the house all forenoon and Mamma and I climbed a 
mountain after stones. The stones were real pretty red with white stripes 
and they looked like cake. At three o’clock we started for Lyons. Some of 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
16
us started ahead and we passed ten bridges before we got in. The road 
was pretty, in most places the river was on one side and the solid rock on 
the other. The rocks were covered with dark green moss and ferns were 
growing between them. The road was one that looked like a bad one, 
but was really quite good for a while. Afterward it was hilly. We went on 
one regular mountain road with the rocks on one side and the precipice 
on the other and the road was wet. We saw cattle trails that looked like 
the beds of mountain streams and there were so many that I could not 
count them. We saw one rock that looked like an old woman, a dog, an 
old man, Punch and a boot as we went around it. Once it looked just like 
Punch in the circuses. We saw another that looked like an Indian sitting 
down with feathers in his hair and a bow and arrow in his hands. The 
stones near the creeks were all smooth and round and were quite large. 
It looked queer when we saw whole banks of them. We went in one place 
where the rock was on one side and the swift river on the other. We saw 
many mud holes. One place the road was washed out and they had to 
get out and fix it, and then it bumped lots. Several times the stove went 
nearly out of the wagon when it bumped. We passed forty-six bridges 
between three o’clock and half past six. We met Oscar Hill near Lyons 
and he went with us ever since. Lyons is a large town but it is made a 
great deal of tents and it is a rough place. There are a good many Logan 
people here.
May 29
 We stayed nearly all day at Lyons. Early in the morning Mrs. David 
came to see us. Papa went out in the morning to see Mr. Hodson and in 
the afternoon he and Stella came to the wagon. We went down by the 
river where it is all sandstone. There were a few places where we could 
get down to the river but mostly it was straight up. We found some red 
sandstone with vines and trees traced on it in black. We could not find 
out what it was. Some people thought it was impressions of plants made 
thousands of years ago. We left the wagon spread out all forenoon, for 
we were to have a photograph taken. One bunk was spread out. Oscar 
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17
Hill, Stella Hodson and a dog, besides our outfit were taken. After it was 
taken, Mamma and Aunt Florence went to see Mrs. David. About half 
past six o’clock we started out of town to camp. The country around here 
it is level and we had good roads, but we went only a little way before 
we camped.
May 30 (Decoration Day)
 We started early this morning for Boulder. We passed three small 
lakes on the road and saw several more for we could see a long way. 
The country is thickly settled, and several farms had so many houses 
on them that they looked like towns. We passed irrigating ditches every 
little while. I saw two new kinds of flowers, one was blue and green on 
slender stems a foot high with very small leaves, and the other was 
yellow and was about three inches across. In the afternoon we reached 
Boulder. It is a very pretty town and looks best of any we have seen yet. 
It is Decoration Day and the streets were full of people. We only stayed 
a little while in Boulder and went on to camp. When out a little way we 
saw the graveyard with teams in it and it looked like a big city seen at 
a distance. We camped near a creek with mountains on one side. We 
went to see the reservoir after we had camped. It was a large pond with a 
fountain in it. Afterward we went after specimens but I only found some 
pieces of pure mica and a large mica stone. The others found some pretty 
mica stones. The boys did not go along for they were wading and when 
we came back I went wading.
May 31
 We started this morning for the mining camps. It was decided we 
should go to Sunshine. We walked nearly all forenoon, as the road was 
uphill. It is not very far from Boulder to Sunshine, and we reached it by 
noon. We saw places all along the road where they had been digging 
for ore. The town is a mining town and it has not even a level street. We 
saw one place we thought was a mine but when we went to it[,] it turned 
out to be a large spring with a little stream running out of it. The spring 
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was in a cave. We stayed at Sunshine nearly all day and they got a good 
many specimens of ore. In the afternoon we started back to Boulder. 
We camped near a creek and a house. We left the buggy and two horses 
there and we shipped the horns and specimens home from Boulder.
June 1
 We stayed in camp all forenoon. I went up the creek and found some 
very pretty light purple flowers. I got caught in the rain and had to run 
to the wagon. In the afternoon we started and we traveled until quite 
late. The road was quite level and we made good time. We saw artificial 
lakes all along the road. They were made with the extra water from the 
irrigating ditches. We stopped at night near one of these artificial lakes 
and went into a house for supper.
June 2
 We started this morning for Denver. We saw the mountains at a dis-
tance and we saw Pike’s Peak. They irrigate altogether here and there 
are many artificial lakes. This morning when she got up Marie could 
not walk. She seems well all places only that she cannot walk. Before 
noon we came to Denver. We went through additions for over two miles 
before we camped for dinner but we camped in a shady grove when we 
stopped. We stayed there part of the afternoon, and Aunt Clara and Un-
cle Lew came down to see us. Afterward we all went out to some lakes. 
We went along a cable line and every time a car came along the horses 
scared but they did not run away. We went to Uncle Lew’s at night and 
Aunt Florence stayed all night there. We rented a house near by, and 
we will stay there some time. I went down town with Papa on the cable 
car. The car runs on a viaduct or bridge like an elevated railway and we 
went up in an elevator. I did not like it for I was dizzy going up and felt 
queer inside coming down.
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19
June 3
 When we got up this morning Marie was quite sick. We did not go 
out today at all, but we stayed at the house and Mamma was over at 
Uncle Lew’s a great deal of the time. The boys and Papa went out in the 
afternoon and saw the statehouse and some large buildings.
June 4
 Marie has been very sick all day and we did not get out this morn-
ing. In the afternoon we went out. We went on the cable car and had to 
transfer. We had a great time getting on the right car, but at last we got 
on. I like the cable cars because they are open and low down. We went 
to the end of the cable line and then we had to go back a little way after 
they turned around and then we walked several blocks before we came 
to Mrs. Arington’s house. We stayed there a long while and they talked 
about Logan people all the time. It began raining while we were there 
and we got on the electric car which went right past the house. It did 
not take us to Villa Park, so we had to transfer. We walked quite a long 
while through the rain and got wet before we got on the cable car. We 
did not go out anymore this afternoon.
June 5
 We did not go out at all today for Marie was very sick. She could not 
sit up or eat, and could not even swallow. The doctor said it was a partial 
stroke of [paralysis]. She wanted to drink all the time and they had to 
wet her lips with water. They stayed up all night with her and she nearly 
choked to death several times.
June 6
 We went out to the smelters today. We went to the end of the cable 
line and then we had to walk some time. We went over about two dozen 
railroad tracks and then we went up one. There were cars on it and they 
were filled with ore. We went to them and got some specimens. We 
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20
picked up some real pretty specimens along the track. Then we went 
through a room that was so hot we could hardly stand it. Then we went 
by great piles of metal of all kinds mixed together. The boys got several 
pieces and Mamma got some pieces that were all colors and shone. We 
went to one place where there were shining black stones coming out of 
a round place and I got three of them. There were several places where 
the red hot metal came out. The men had bell shaped things to carry 
it in. I saw them put the metal in them and when it came out it looked 
like liquid fire, and there was fire on the top of it. I saw some of it run 
out of the barrow and I picked up a piece of it when it got cool. When it 
came out of the barrows it looked like big bells. We saw a great deal of 
it. We saw a place where a man was dipping red hot lead and putting it 
into molds. We went over a road made of the substance after the metal 
was all out and there was a high bank on one side made of the same 
substance. We passed piles of all kinds of ores and got many specimens. 
We saw several more cars filled with ore. The richest ore was the ugliest 
for it was a dull gray stone. The lead ore was very pretty and the iron 
ore shone so that they thought it was gold. The silver ore was pretty for 
it shone some, but the gold ore was ugly. After we were to the smelters 
we went to the sampling works. There were piles of all kinds of ore on a 
platform there and we got specimens from each pile. The lead ore was 
the prettiest there. There were cars close to the platform and we could 
step to them from it. They got some pretty specimens from there. The 
cars began to move and we got out of there pretty quick. It was quite a 
while before we could cross the track but it was not a long walk from 
there to the street car and we soon got there.
June 7
 We got up about four o’clock for we were going to Manitou. We took 
the first street car which came about six o’clock. We got on the Denver 
and Rio Grande railroad. The first town we reached was Littleton, and 
it is like its name, little. Castle Rock was better. There is a great rock 
near it that looks like a castle. On the other side of it there are other 
rocks as large as the first and much grander. One looked like immense 
pillars put together and one like a very high wall set around the top of a 
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21
mountain only with dirt on the inside and level. Palmer Lake is beautiful 
but is not very large. It is very blue and has a great many boats on it. 
There is a very nice boat house there and on the other side is a large 
building. The train stopped there some time and almost everyone got 
out. A little way from the lake the train stopped again and most of the 
men got out to gather flowers. Papa brought in a bouquet and I pressed 
some of the flowers. Monument and Husted are little towns. From Pike 
View we had a good view of Pike’s Peak. Colorado Springs is quite a 
large town and is pretty. We stopped there quite a long time but did 
not get off. Colorado City is only a little town and we did not stop there 
long. At last we came to Manitou, but before that we saw the Garden 
of the Gods. We only saw some large and queer shaped rocks, for we 
were a good way off. Manitou is very pretty. The houses some of them 
are perched on the rocks hundreds of feet above the road and they look 
somewhat funny. Nearly all the houses are a few feet above the road. 
This is a town of hotels. We passed several very large ones and almost 
every house had rooms to rent. We saw one large rustic house. There 
is a creek here and when it runs through the yards it is walled up and 
there are pretty bridges across. On one side of the creek is the road and 
on the other is a wide footpath. We went by the footpath to the spring. 
In every shady corner there is a seat and there are bridges every little 
way. The first spring we came to was the iron spring. It tasted like very 
good water. The next was a soda spring. It was the worst water I ever 
tasted. Then we came to a house with a porch on it and in the middle 
of that porch was a spring. There were several steps leading down to it. 
The water tasted good but it burned my mouth a little. There was a fine 
collection of stones in the house. There were some stones that looked 
like diamonds. There were others that were flat with a fish skeleton in 
them. There were some beautiful carvings made of white stones from 
the Garden of the Gods and there were lots of stones both polished and 
unpolished. We went up to the Pike’s Peak railway, but were not in time 
to see the train start. We saw an engine and two cars. The cars had glass 
all over the sides and the engine was much larger than an ordinary one. 
The rail had an iron in the center so as to fit the cogwheels, and the train 
could not slip when going up or down grade.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
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 Then we started back. We saw a huge rock which we went under. 
There were several small springs around under the rocks and one very 
large one. Aunt Clara and I went around to the other side of the rock from 
where the others were. We came to a little stream which we followed 
up. The large spring was close to the rock and there was a natural arch 
across it. We went into a cave and could see the others across the large 
spring through the archway. At the end of the cave was a spring, the 
water of which was almost the best I have ever tasted. The spring was 
the source of the little stream which we followed.
 We got some pieces of white and pink rock by a creek, which were 
very pretty. At last we got to the depot and then had to wait an hour. 
The grounds around the depot are very pretty and large and are planted 
with blue grass with flower beds every little while and with wide walks 
through them bordered with trees.
 When we got out a little way there were two tracks near together and 
we ran a race with a train on the other track. It reached Palmer Lake first 
and they and we waved our handkerchiefs and cheered, and then we started 
for a race. We would be first ahead and then behind and every time the 
other train passed us they would cheer and wave. Finally we got ahead and 
could not see them for a long time, when suddenly we saw them coming 
and they passed us. You out [sic] to have seen them wave and heard them 
cheer. But our train started up quickly and then had to stop at a station. The 
other train stopped too for it had out done itself. The wheels went round 
all right, but the train did not move. Then we started off at a terrible rate 
of speed and the other train could not keep up with us, but when we would 
go slower it would nearly catch up and so we had it till we got to Denver. 
The other train was a Santa Fe train. The depot was beautiful, for it was all 
electric lights and was as light as day all over. I have seen Denver by day 
but it was much more beautiful by night. The streets glittered with electric 
lights. Some of them were white and some red, but the red ones were the 
prettiest. But the prettiest scene was from the viaduct. There were houses, 
trees, and ponds, and all over there were electric lights all over, shining 
like large stars. One light on a tall tower I at first thought was a star for I 
could not see the tower, and the light looked like it was right against the 
sky. Some of the stores had as many as half a dozen electric lights in them.
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23
June 8
 We did not feel well this morning when we got up, and we did not 
go out till afternoon. When we did Marie went with us. We went to the 
museums. The first one we came to had the stones, and then there were 
a great many heads of animals all around. When we went in, we looked to 
the back of the store, and there was something that looked very like our 
first view of the mountains. We went up to it and found out it was made 
of leather, painted and made into the right shape and behind rising up 
to the ceiling was a painting of the mountains seen a long way off. There 
was a water wheel with a little stream of water going over it. There was 
a mine cut in it and there were little carts revolving around on a round 
flat piece of metal moved by the water wheel. There were houses by it 
and the carts went through them. There was a road there, with a toll gate 
across it and a house by it, and there were stuffed animals and birds all 
around.
 We went into another one. It was larger than the first and has a 
great many things in it. There were polished stones by the hundreds 
of all colors, sizes, and shapes, but about the prettiest were the striped 
ones. They had some jewelry there made of native stones cut and pol-
ished. They were very pretty, especially the milky white ones. There 
were several elk stuffed and a whole herd of buffaloes with their heads 
down, besides a bear and almost every kind of wild animal that lives in 
Colorado. There were two big snakes alive but asleep at the back of the 
store. The smallest one woke up when we came near[,] raised his head 
and began to strike at the looking glass at the back of its cage. We stood 
and watched them quite a long while before the larger one woke up, but 
when it began moving, they got afraid it would break the cage and we 
went away.
 The next one we came to had not so many stones as the second, but 
it had something the others did not; a lot of birds in cages. There were 
several parrots and some of them could talk. When we talked to them, 
two began to make the most ridiculous moves I ever saw. They would 
walk up the wires of their cages then come down and try to hang to one 
of their perches with their beaks then get in the bottom of the cage and 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
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eat or drink and then begin over again. George was calling one of them 
and another answered, “I’m Pretty Polly.” There were lots of canaries, 
and they kept up a constant singing all the time. There were some real 
pretty pure white birds with red beaks, about as large as a canary. But 
the funniest were some little red birds. There were about a dozen of 
them, and they crowded as close together as they could on the perch of 
their cage.
 When we left the museums we started for the dry goods stores. We 
stopped at a fruit stand to look at some things and the rest of them got 
lost from us. We went to several dry goods stores, but I stayed at the 
door and waited until the rest came back. It was quite a long walk to the 
street car. When we got back we found that the rest had got there before 
we did.
June 9
 We started out this morning with the wagon. We went across two 
large bridges, and had got a good long way from the house when some-
thing cracked and after that something kept clicking all the time. It is not 
fun at all to go out among the streetcar lines, for you almost get run over 
half the time. We had crossed a railroad track and got a little way from 
it when the train whistled, as it did sound so awful it was no wonder the 
horses scared. Papa had got out to fix something and when they began 
to run he caught Vick by the bridle and hung on and they took him 
quite a way before they stopped. It took him and Mamma both to hold 
them. When we started again, it clicked so much worse that we had to 
go back and stop till Papa could fix it and then we went right back to the 
house. We did not go out again until nearly dark. They had been talking 
about Uncle Will’s folks going away today and they decided they would, 
so they had been packing all day, so as to go away on the evening train. 
There were Uncle Will’s and us, besides Claude and Chet, that got into 
the wagon, and they had a great big box besides, so it filled it up pretty 
well. The depot was all lighted up when we got there and looked very 
pretty. Papa went with them to see if they got on their train and they did 
all right. While we were waiting for him, I noticed a telegraph pole and 
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25
I counted the wires on it. There were just two hundred of them. We saw 
many others, but they did not have so many wires on them as the first. 
At last Papa came and we went back to the house.
June 10
 Today we went out in the wagon. We stopped at Dan Working’s 
office and took him along. We went up on Capitol Hill where they say 
all of the nice homes are, but I did not see very nice ones. They are just 
building the state house but it will be quite large when done. It is built 
of pink and white granite with black specks in it. We got several pieces 
of both kinds. Then we went out to the City Park. It is very large, for it 
has over a hundred acres in it, most of which has trees on it. We stopped 
for dinner just outside of the park, and after dinner we went through it. 
There is a house in it for the superintendent of it and around it is blue-
grass. There is lots of bluegrass there with rustic baskets with plants 
in, standing around. There were nice seats all around in the shade of 
the trees and shrubs here and there. The drives were wide and were 
bordered on each side by trees. There are several fountains there, some 
of which were going when we were there. There are irrigating ditches 
all over and they look very pretty. When we were a little way from the 
house it was all natural and wild flowers grew all over. We went back to 
the house. There were some rustic baskets hanging up between trees 
that looked very pretty. From the park we went to the smelters, but did 
not go all over, and we only got some green and blue stones. Then we 
went back past Arrington’s but they were not at home. I never saw so 
many lawns as here, for almost every house has its own and many had 
fountains. They are very pretty, but are not very large.
June 11 and 12
 We went out today and yesterday to try and sell the wagon and horses. 
We went over a great part of Denver and saw many pretty houses and 
yards. When we went in the business part, I did not like it. There were 
streetcar lines all over and in some streets there was scarcely room for 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
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us to pass. Sometimes there were several teams at the same place and 
two or three cars besides. Where there was a crossing of the streetcar 
lines it was worse than ever. They were digging out the streets there 
and made holes all around the track only leaving a narrow space for 
wagons to pass and sometimes not even that. The horses were afraid of 
the cars, and every time one came they would stop. When they got used 
to one kind of car and saw another, they would have to get used to it too, 
and as there are many kinds, it took them a long while. I do not see any 
enjoyment in riding through Denver at all. The streets were muddy and 
there were worse bumps in the streets than we have found anywhere in 
the mountains. I think we will not sell the wagon, but will go home in it.
June 13
 We have packed all forenoon for we will go home in the wagon. At 
about noon we started. Aunt Clara and her children went with us until 
we got nearly out of Denver. We went to the end of the streetcar line, and 
they got on a car and went home. As soon as we got out of Denver, the 
country is not settled at all except a ranch now and then. I had thought 
that out of Denver the country would be settled, but it was the same as 
if there was no big city near. When we would get to a station, there was 
nothing there but the railroad buildings and a house or more.
June 20
 This week has been about as monotonous as anything I ever saw. 
The country is so level that it looked as if there never was a hill, and 
there were scarcely any houses at all. At night we would camp away 
from any house, by little ponds. There were ponds every little while but 
the water did not taste very good. In two or three days we lost sight of 
the mountains and then there was nothing to see at all. There was one 
nice thing about it and that was the stones. Papa found a topaz right by 
the road the first day. It is as clear as any glass, and has a pink tint to it, 
which makes it prettier. At noon the same day, I found two stones that 
were clear, but were not so much so as Papa’s and some others that 
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looked clear on the outside but were not clear when broken open. After 
that every time Alpha or Dane would find a white stone that was a little 
clear, they would say they had found a topaz. There were a good many 
dry beds of creeks around and we looked in them for stones. Those 
we found there were polished and some had stripes in them. I found 
several that they said were agates and one they said was a moss agate. 
Some of the polished stones, when broken open[,] had spots or stripes 
of another color in them. George found a great big tiger eye in one creek 
and Dane found one not so big. One forenoon we did not see a house at 
all and other times we saw a few that were not inhabited. We saw more 
prickly pears and cactus than anything else. They were all in blossom 
and looked very pretty. We saw six colors of prickly pears one day but 
the red ones were the prettiest. We saw two kinds of cactus, one was the 
common kind, and the other had the stickers in rows up and down. We 
dug up a great many cactus and some prickly pears of different colors. 
We had to stay one day at Limon. There is a crossing there where the 
Rock Island crosses the Union Pacific. We went in a little house that was 
empty. It rained all day and was much colder than it was when it snowed 
in the mountains. We slept in the wagon the first night but in the house 
the second night. Mamma made a fire in an old iron bucket, and cooked 
over it. The next morning when we got up it was raining a little but we 
started on and it soon cleared up, and since then we have had two or 
three rains. On Friday we crossed the line into Kansas. George and I 
went and stood with one foot in Colorado and one in Kansas. The first 
thing we got in Kansas was a little rabbit that we ran down, but we let it 
go again. We have found prettier stones in Kansas than in the east part 
of Colorado and the country is more settled here.
June 21
 Last night Papa was sick and we stopped at a house, where Papa 
slept while we went in the wagon. It began to rain and blow very hard 
before we went to bed, and we went into the house for a while. There 
were two girls near my size there, and I liked that, for I had scarcely seen 
any girls my size since we started. The men hitched up some oxen to 
draw water, for the bucket was a large keg. We slept in the wagon, and it 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
28
rained and blew all night. In the morning we had to harness the horses 
and grease the wagon, and we did it all right. Mamma drove almost all 
day, and when she did not[,] George and I did for Papa had to sit in the 
back part of the wagon.
June 22
 We got into the hills today and we had a great time getting out of them. 
The roads were bad and we got on the wrong road all the time. The road 
would look all right at first, but afterward it would be shut off by a fence 
or stop, and then we would have to find another road, which would turn 
out the same way. We found some quite pretty stones today. There were 
great big stones all over that looked like dried [?]3. At noon they told us 
that it was thirty miles to Norton and every time we asked them how far 
it was they said thirty miles, so we do not know when we will get there.
June 23
 Today was just like yesterday. They have told us it was thirty miles 
to Norton every time we asked, but I do not see how it can be so. We 
passed several farms, and at one the boys got some mulberries. When 
we camped at night they told us it was twenty-eight miles to Norton, so 
according to them we only went two miles today.
June 24
 We got to the railroad this forenoon, and followed it to Norton. The 
roads were washed out a great deal near there and bridges were washed 
out some. We came to one place where they were fixing the bridge, and 
we had to go around it and ford the creek which was quite deep. George 
and I went up and stayed all night at Rushes House while the rest stayed 
at Marshes.
3Places or words that are not legible in Kate’s handwritten diary are indicated by 
a [?].
Heritage and Childhood
29
June 25
 We stayed in Norton all day. Stella and I got up, ate our breakfast 
and went down to Marshes’ before they had their breakfast. Then we 
went up town and looked around some time before we went to the store 
where Mamma was. She took Dane to have his hair cut, and we went 
along. He looks funny without his hair and Mamma has thought he was 
George several times today. In the afternoon we went out in a buggy. 
We went to a stone quarry, and I got some pretty stones. There was a 
natural well in the solid rock there and they cannot tell how deep it is. 
We were going to another quarry, but it got late and we went back.
June 26
 We started at nine o’clock for home. The roads were washed out 
badly, and we did not go very fast. We stopped at noon near the house 
of some people Papa and Mamma know. Every time we would pass any 
corn Dane would wonder if his corn was as big as that. He kept grinning 
all afternoon as if he was very glad we were getting home. We stopped 
at Albrights a few minutes and then went on. About sundown we got into 
Logan, and now we are at home, and I am glad of it.
 Towns passed:
 Norton Stratton Akron
 Devizes Max Brush
 Wilsonville Benkleman Fort Morgan
 Cambridge Haigler Greeley
 Bartley Wray Loveland
 Indianola Eckley Estes Park
 McCook Yuma Lyons
 Culbertson Hyde Boulder
 Trenton Otis Sunshine
 Marshall Denver
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
30
 Passed twice during the trip:
 Littleton Monument Colorado Springs
 Castle Rock Husted Colorado City
 Palmer Lake Pike View Manitou
Heritage and Childhood
31
v
••
•
•
•
•
••
•
•
•
Norton
Logan
McCookYuma
Fort Morgan
Estes Park
Boulder
Denver
Manitou Colorado Springs
Limon
Route of the Hansen family’s trip to Colorado by covered wagon in summer 1891.
COLORADO
NEBRASKA
KANSAS

 Kate was excited when her parents decided in 1893 to go back to 
Denmark to visit her father’s family and to introduce their American 
family to relatives and to Europe. They prepared for the long sojourn 
by discussing their itinerary and stopovers. Then the costs associated 
with the trip were calculated with wide allowances for prolonged visits 
with relatives.
 To help defray these expenses, the Hansens decided to take with 
them a railroad car loaded with flour from their mill in Logan. They 
negotiated arrangements with the railroad. After several weeks of 
planning, their journey began early on August 7, 1893. Brief visits were 
made at Beloit, Topeka, Chicago, and New York City. In Chicago, the 
family took in the World’s Fair. Billed as the Columbian International 
Exposition, this event celebrated the 400th anniversary of Christopher 
Columbus’s discovery of America. The Hansens immersed themselves 
in the activities of the fair, which would close in October. The World’s 
Fair featured camel rides in “the streets of Cairo,” a Ferris wheel on the 
Midway, a statue of the Republic, flags of all nations, electrically lighted 
fountains, and the Manufacturers and Liberal Arts Building, which had a 
roof of iron and glass and covered thirty-one acres. Kate would later use 
her memory of the sights and sounds of the World’s Fair as a yardstick 
against which to measure her experiences in the Old World.
Chapter 2
A Trip to the Old Country
33
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
34
 The Hansen’s booked passage on the City of Rome bound for Co-
penhagen, Denmark. On September 10 they stopped for three days’ 
sightseeing at Göteburg, Sweden, and enjoyed being on solid ground 
for a short time. They then sailed on to Copenhagen, which is on the 
island of Zealand. From Copenhagen, they went by rail to Korsør on the 
southeast coast of Zealand, then by steamer to Sonderburg on the island 
of Alsen, where they spent the night of September 17. The next morning 
Map of the Hansens’ route.
Copenhagen
Göteburg
KorsØr
Baltic Sea
North Sea
GERMANY
SWEDEN
D E N M A R K
Alsen
Hansen Family’s Route
Ravnskoppel
Sonderburg
Stranderott
JU
TL
AN
D
Zealand 
A Trip to the Old Country
35
they went on by boat to Ravnskoppel, Peter Hansen’s birthplace. Their 
long forty-two-day journey ended on September 18, 1893.
 Peter’s sister, Sophia, operated a small hotel and was glad to see her 
brother after an absence of twenty-six years. Peter’s family quickly moved 
into a house on the Hansen family farm. Thus began an outstanding year 
in the life of Kate Hansen, aged fourteen. Kate recorded her adventures 
in the diary she carefully kept throughout their stay.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
36
 In her first diary entries after crossing the Atlantic Ocean, Kate describes 
her impressions of the strange-appearing cities of Göteburg and Copenha-
gen. As she begins to explore the new terrain, she compares the sights to her 
Colorado trip two years earlier. Kate also tells about the tensions between 
Denmark and Germany over Schleswig-Holstein. Although her heritage 
is Danish, she learns to speak German and earns a gold watch from her 
father for this achievement. As her year in the old country evolves, Kate 
becomes quite comfortable in her ancestral homeland. She enjoys her new 
family and friends and takes pleasure in their experiences together.
Our Trip to Germany1
By Kate I. Hansen
Volume II2
Wednesday, September 8, 1893
 How beautiful everything is today! Here we are, sailing over seas 
almost as smooth as glass. Not a trace of our old sea-sickness remains. 
We are the happiest company I ever saw. The verse in our favorite song, 
which we sang this afternoon—
Storms are over and land in sight
Calmly glide we o’er the waves tonight
When the morning sun arises bright
We’ll greet the hills of home, happy home
although it is not all true yet for us is yet true for very many. Thanks 
be to God, Who has brought us safely through this long voyage. Who 
1Peter Hansen, Kate’s father, left his homeland in spring 1867 to avoid serving in the 
German army. In 1864 Germany (then Prussia) had annexed the province of Schleswig, 
Peter’s homeland, and established a system for conscripting all eligible young men. When 
Kate writes of her experience in Schleswig in 1894, she refers to it as “Germany,” rather 
than the “Denmark” of her father. She learns the language and customs of the region 
in its mixture of German and Danish heritages. For Kate’s interpretation of the conflict 
between Germany and Denmark, see pp. 56–57.
2Volume I of this diary is lost.
A Trip to the Old Country
37
has so kept us, that none of the perils of the deep have come near us. 
Through Whose mercy we are tonight almost to land, with all dangers 
past. May we strive during our whole afterlife to prove our thankfulness, 
and I am sure we will.
Thursday, September 9
 At last we are in the harbor of Göteburg.3 All day today we have been 
in sight of land. Never in my whole life have I seen anything so lovely as 
the land appeared. All the loveliest shades of brown, red, green were on 
those high cliffs that rose out of the water seemingly not more than ten 
rods away. The land seems to us so old, but perhaps it is mostly imagi-
nation. It certainly seems older than did New York shore. We have today 
seen the shores of Denmark and Norway, but Norway was too far away 
to be seen distinctly. The coast of Denmark is a low one, appearing to 
us to be only a narrow line between sky and sea. We had some trouble 
in securing a pilot this evening, I do not know why. He did not come for 
almost a half-hour after we signalled, and of course we could not enter 
this dangerous harbor without one. All evening we stood on the deck 
and sang: Mamma, Papa, Mrs. O’Neil, Jennie, the boys, Alpha & I. How 
we did sing our national songs! till the old ship rang. I am sure, however 
lovely the old country songs may prove, we can never love them as we 
do our own. Our land and the songs of our land, will always be best for 
us, however much we may grow to like this country of Papa’s.
 How glad Mrs. O’Neil must be to be in her own country at last after 
thirteen years absence. But even to her, Sweden can hardly seem her own 
country for husband and home are in America. She will not be here long, as 
she wishes to be home by Christmas. It seems a very short visit to make, 
after so long an absence. However, it was chiefly on account of her poor 
health that this voyage was undertaken, and if it continues to improve as 
rapidly as heretofore, it will be entirely restored by the time she starts for 
3Kate’s spelling of place names is sometimes inconsistent. To avoid confusing the 
reader, we have imposed a consistency throughout the diary of names such as “Göte-
burg,” “Sonderburg,” “Korsør,” and “Stranderott.”
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
38
home. Although she too has been very seasick, she is very well indeed 
now. Jennie and Ruth, the baby, are very well now, especially the former. 
She can well be so, for she has not been seasick a day, or an hour even. 
She, Alpha and Dane are a fine trio. How the three do play! They go all 
over the ship, seeing everything, missing nothing. They have made friends 
with the cooks and the stewards, and have a fine time with their cookies, 
etc. Dane[,] always interested in everything that pertains to money, has 
made a friend of the purser, a great big man, with a long beard. Dane is 
sure to be in his room, if he is not with Jennie and Alpha. How he does 
stir up those “twin sisters!” But for all that the three are always together. 
They will be very sorry, and so will we all, when Jennie and her mother 
leave us, as they will in a few days, when we arrive in Copenhagen.
Friday, September 10
 Today we are for the first time actually in the Old World. It seemed 
an old world surely. This morning of course we all scrambled to the win-
dow the first thing when we awoke. It was a picturesque sight that met 
our eyes. We were anchored quite a distance from the town, but right 
opposite us, seemingly very close, was the oldest and finest looking fort 
I ever saw. It is on a small island, and covers the whole, rising directly 
out of the water. The stone walls look as if they were surely five hundred 
years old at least, and the large rocks at the base of the walls add to the 
effect. The rocky shore, with here and there bits of green among the 
rocks, forms a fitting background to the picture.
 This forenoon we went on shore. We took a small steamer, which 
runs from the large ships in the harbor to the town, and in twenty or 
twenty-five minutes were on shore. Mamma and Mrs. O’Neil were not 
with us, as the latter had her baby to attend to and Mamma stayed to 
keep her company. (Or so she said, I really think she was slightly afraid 
of seasickness!) The Captain too was with us, as was Miss Swanson also.
 How strange the town did seem! almost like another world. Every 
house looked hundreds of years old. The streets wound about in every 
direction, never being straight for very long. Up and down hill they went, 
some being so steep I think they would be fine places for coasting. All 
A Trip to the Old Country
39
the streets are paved with rough stones, and when one of the great farm 
wagons seemingly weighing a thousand pounds, passes over them the 
noise is deafening. Everything seems so solid, so substantial, people, 
houses and all. And by the way, almost every man, woman and child I 
have seen here has light hair and blue eyes. I do not believe I have seen 
more than a half dozen altogether with dark hair or eyes. It is rather 
queer. One of the first things we noticed on landing was a railroad train. 
It was about the queerest thing I have seen yet. It was a freight train, and 
the engine, cars and all looked just like the little toy trains we have in 
America. The engine was not more than half as large as ours are, and the 
cars not even so large. First of all, on landing we had started for the post 
office, in order to post a letter of mine to Ruth. After Papa had inquired 
of a half dozen the way, we found the building. It seemed so strange to 
hear talking going on all around us, and not be able to understand one 
word. The officers on the steamer had talked a little German together 
but we had had no experience of this queer Swedish tongue. It is very 
like the Danish, so Papa was able to make himself understood.
 Just outside of the post office building we met our fellow passenger, 
Mr. Anderson. We should hardly have known him, he was so “fixed up.” 
Trousers with checks about a foot wide, and a long overcoat with a big 
cape, made up a queer costume. He looked like some pictures I have seen 
of Anglomaniacs. Papa said he thought our friend was going to “play the 
rich uncle,” with his relations here. Well, he went with us into the office, 
took us upstairs, as the office proper is there, and posted my letter. I saw 
Dane eye the Swedish stamp they put on it wistfully, and finally he said 
he was going to write to George to get that stamp and send it to him.
 Outside again, we were walking up the street, when we met our old 
Norwegian. He looked as happy as could be. Some of his people had 
met him here, and they travel on soon.
 We walked a long time through the queer streets, with no sidewalks, 
or stone ones like the street paving, taking in all the strange shop win-
dows. They looked as if they had very little custom[?], for the dust on 
everything was about an inch thick. Indeed, everything formed the 
greatest possible contrast to the noise, hurry, and bustle of the last city 
we had seen before this one, New York.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
40
 At last we came back to the steamboat landing, in good time, so we 
thought to catch our steamer. But it did not come. We waited there two 
hours or more, and still it did not come. In the meantime, we bought 
fruit of all the venders that came along, and the greater part of it we ate, 
leaving very little to take to those on board. It was a great treat for we 
had had of course no fresh fruit since we started.
 After waiting I do not know how long, there on the landing, Papa 
determined to hire a little steamer to take us to the ship. We were looking 
around for one, when we met the Captain. He told us he had brought 
the ship up to the town, and that a small steamer was waiting to take 
us back. We were very glad to hear this, of course, and very grateful to 
the Captain. We went back on the “Emma,” as it is called. A very queer 
looking boat it is. This afternoon as I remained on board the whole af-
ternoon, I made a sketch of it in my old notebook. Mamma, Papa, and 
Alpha were on shore this afternoon.
Saturday, September 11
 This forenoon Mamma, Papa and Alpha were again on shore, we 
others remaining on board. We passed the time in reading, talking or 
watching the constant succession of boats running to and fro. The Captain 
and I had quite a discussion on the subject of drinking; of course, as he 
is a German, he holds that there is nothing wrong about it. He laughed 
at my Prohibition talk; told me that before I had been two months in 
the old country, I would drink beer, wine, etc. like all the others, not be-
cause I would like them but because it is the “custom.” Then and there 
I made the resolve not to touch a drop of the vile liquor while I am here, 
nor afterwards either. What if it is the custom to drink? That does not 
make it right. I may be a crank on this subject, but all the “custom” of 
all Germany shall not induce me to touch a drop of liquor.
 Well, this afternoon we went again on shore, this time in a little row-
boat. Miss Swanson was with us too. We had a very nice time. We went 
first through some of those little narrow streets, a little narrower and a 
great deal steeper than the former ones. In one place the street was so 
A Trip to the Old Country
41
steep they had put in steps. I wondered how wagons are able to come 
over this street, or if there is a way around. Pretty soon we were out of 
the city, up on one of those high rocky hills we had seen from the ship. 
It was so nice to climb over those rocks, sometimes almost like it was 
in the mountains, two years ago. Then in the crevices of the rocks we 
found a great many flowers, some just like our mountain flowers. George 
crawled under a large rock, and brought out some of the prettiest ferns 
I have seen for a long time. We found a great many bluebells, just like 
our mountain bluebells. I got a large bouquet to take back to the ship. I 
want to press some of the flowers, the first ones we plucked in the old 
country.
 We climbed to the top of the hill and had a very fine view of the town, 
the harbor with all the ships there, and the ocean beyond. From there 
we descended the hill to a church we had seen from the top. From the 
hill it looked as if it were an old one, but near by it looked quite new. At 
any rate, it is a very pretty one.
 From the church we started for the landing. By the way we stopped 
at a little stand and Papa bought us each some hot pancakes and some 
fresh milk. The way they eat pancakes is funny. They sprinkle a little 
brown sugar on one, then roll it up and eat it from the hand. Dane saw 
something in the stand that looked like custard pie, and asked for some. 
I wanted a piece too, as did George, so we each tried a piece. I ate about 
a quarter of mine, but could not eat more, for it was the nastiest thing I 
had tasted for a long time. It was as hard as a stone, and flavored with 
something that was enough to make anyone sick. It was my first expe-
rience of old country messes. I hope I will not find many more as nasty 
as this.
 By five o’clock we were again on board the Virginia. Oh, I had for-
gotten to write that Mamma and Papa had brought with them a sack of 
those fine yellow Swedish plums. Mrs. O’Neil had been telling us about 
them and we had resolved to have some of them the first thing when we 
came to land. But the Captain when he heard of it absolutely forbade it. 
He said they would surely give us all the cholera and added that if we 
brought any on board he would “throw them overboard.” Unfortunately, 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
42
he neglected to inspect the packages they brought on board with them, 
so we all feasted on plums. We have not the cholera yet, I do not know 
whether we shall have it or not.
Sunday, September 12
 Today at five o’clock in the morning we started for Copenhagen and 
in a short time were out of Göteburg, in the Baltic. We had the finest day 
that we have had yet. It was warm almost all day, the sun shone brightly 
and not a drop of rain fell, a most remarkable thing. The sea was so 
smooth, that the ship did not rock at all, and most of the time we could 
see land, sometimes on one, often on both sides of us. How we should 
enjoy life on the ocean, if it were only like this was! But that can never 
be. I only hope that by the time we start for home we may become so 
accustomed to the water that we shall not be seasick.
 In the afternoon, it became cooler, and we went below. The head 
engineer was there and inquired if we would not like to see the ship’s 
machinery. Of course we assented. We went all together to the engine 
room. The machinery extends from the bottom of the ship upwards 
almost to the deck. At intervals the entire distance [is] stages formed of 
iron rods placed close together, but not so close as to prevent one from 
seeing through from the top to the bottom. The stairs connecting these 
stages are of the same rods. We went down I do not know how many 
flights of these stairs, pausing on every stage to inspect the machinery. 
The engineer explained many parts of the machinery to Papa, but as he 
spoke German it did us no good. As we went farther down, everything, 
stage, railing and all, was covered with oil. The engineer spoke to one 
of the men, who handed each of us a large bunch of what looked like 
loosely spun cotton thread, to keep the oil from our hands. At last we 
came to the bottom. We could see the curve of the sides of the ship 
plainly. From the engine we went a little to one side, to the furnace. 
There are the great fires that were taking us onward to our destination. 
In the darkness, relieved only by the glow of the fires, the forms of the 
firemen, covered with coal dust and soot, made one think of gnomes at 
work under the ground. What a life they must lead! there in that hot, 
A Trip to the Old Country
43
dark place working the whole time, feeding the great furnaces. One does 
not feel at all inclined to envy them.
 From the furnaces we went to the other side of the engines, fol-
lowing the engineer. We passed down a few steps under an archway so 
low we had to bend to pass under into a narrow passage. This passage 
extended seemingly the whole length of the ship. Through the middle 
ran a rod, some two or three feet in diameter, that revolved swiftly, being 
for the steering of the ship. The passage was so narrow we had to go 
sideways to avoid being caught by this rod. We went down the passage 
to the end of the ship, then retracing our steps we gained the engine 
room again. Then up all those flights of stairs, until at last we emerged 
in the passage leading to our cabin, and glad we were to see the light of 
day again. Mrs. O’Neil even confessed to having had some fear in the 
furnace room. At any rate, we had had a privilege that few enjoy. Papa 
said we were probably the only ones this voyage.
 On going on deck again, we found that George, Dane, Alpha and 
Jenny, who had remained there when we went below, had been seeking 
us through the whole ship. They were not at all pleased when told where 
we had been, and what they had missed.
 We remained after this on deck until we arrived in Copenhagen late 
in the afternoon. As we had a Danish pilot on board, we sailed for the 
time being under the Danish white cross, instead of the German red, 
white and black, as heretofore. A large fine harbor is that of Copenhagen, 
and as we steamed into it, it seemed to have almost as much craft in it 
as the harbor of New York. They were not as busy however. One large 
steamboat, all black and yellow, very much finer than all the others, we 
noticed particularly. We were informed that it was the yacht of the Czar 
of Russia who is now in the city. I wonder if we shall see him. I should 
rather like to, just to see if a czar looks any different from other men. 
Well, we all went on shore in a little steamer. Oh dear! as we neared the 
wharf, what should be the first sound to greet our ears but the melodi-
ous tune of “Ta ra ra boom de ay!” Here I for one had been hoping that 
here at least I would escape from that horrible song, and to hear it the 
first thing on landing! I collapsed. When I had recovered sufficiently 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
44
from the shock, to use my eyes I noticed the wharf where we landed 
was all fenced in so that it was impossible to pass it except through one 
gate which was kept guarded. We waited some time on the wharf, until 
Dane’s friend the purser came and told us we might pass through. He 
went with us and recommended a hotel to us, where we decided to go. 
We took a couple of queer looking carriages, which they call “droskas,” 
or something that sounds like it, and were driven over streets paved 
just like those of Göteburg, to the Hotel Victoria, where we engaged 
two rooms, and Mrs. O’Neil one. The windows of our rooms face the 
courtyard, but those of Mrs. O’Neil’s the street, and it is like looking at 
an old picture to look out of them. The houses remind me somewhat of 
those in Göteburg, but are mostly much larger and finer.
Wednesday
 We have been in Copenhagen three days now, and expect to start 
for Papa’s home, Ravnskoppel, tomorrow morning. We moved from the 
Hotel Victoria to another, the Hotel Göteburg yesterday. I cannot say I 
like this one as well as the other, but the charges were a great deal too 
high at the Victoria, so we changed. One queer thing about both hotels 
is that neither have electric light, gas, or even kerosene lamps in the 
rooms. All they give us is candles and they charge for them.
 Day before yesterday Mrs. O’Neil started for home. She crossed over 
to Sweden by steamer and from Malmö, the point where she lands, it is 
but a short distance to her home. We all went with her to the steamer, 
and on arriving there we found Miss Swanson there too. She did not 
leave with the steamer, however, as she had only come to see some 
fellow passengers off. She remains in the city some days.
 From the wharf we went up the street some distance until we came 
to the palace “Fredericksburg.” It has been a fine palace, but has been 
allowed to go to ruin. Still it is a fine building. Of course, we were not 
inside. The gardens around the palace are very fine indeed, though not 
large.
A Trip to the Old Country
45
 After leaving the palace we wandered about the city almost all the rest 
of the day “taking in” everything that came in our way, looking at shop 
windows, buying a little here and there, and enjoying ourselves greatly 
the while. By the way, the shop windows seem to be the greater part 
of the shops. They seem to contain samples of everything in the stock, 
which is very handy for buyers, since they have only to stop before a 
window and inspect its contents to know whether the thing they wish 
to buy is in stock, and are spared the trouble of going in and having the 
clerks ransack the whole stock for them.
 Another thing about the shops different from ours is that when you 
enter from the street you do not come directly into the shop but into a 
hall, with a door on each side leading into store room. All of the shops 
I have seen are just alike in this respect.
 There are some of the queerest streetcars here one can imagine. They 
are all horse cars, not an electric or a cable car have I seen here. One 
sort looks like one of our streetcars cut in two. The other funnier even 
than this, has a bottom story, like one of our streetcars, with one or two 
platforms with seats on the top of it. It must be fun to ride up there on 
the highest platform; one could see everything. I for one should like to 
try it. The people, mostly men, looked just like monkeys riding up there.
 Tuesday we went in the forenoon to the office of the American 
minister, as Papa wished to procure a passport. He had thought that his 
naturalization papers would be sufficient to enable him to travel where he 
pleased, but as many whom we met were of the opinion that he should 
procure a passport, he decided to do so, and so run no risks. As he had 
his naturalization papers with him, he had of course no difficulty in pro-
curing one. We made quite a lengthy call at the consulate, receiving all 
of the news from America. The minister gave us a large roll of American 
newspapers, a very welcome gift. We children stayed at the hotel the 
whole afternoon, and I read nearly the whole roll of papers.
 Today we have seen a great deal. In the forenoon Mamma, Papa, 
Alpha and I went out together. The boys went to the Zoological Gardens, 
in company with a young man from Nebraska, whose acquaintance we 
had made at the hotel.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
46
 We four, after buying a few things (among them a set of queer little 
teaspoons for Uncle Abe, a set of tablespoons for Mamma, and a ring 
for myself) started for the barracks and the city ramparts. The barracks 
occupy quite a large enclosure but are but very little different from all 
the other buildings in the city, except that they are a little dingier in ap-
pearance. Naturally, there were a great many soldiers about, and it was 
interesting to note their different uniforms. Most of them were either 
light or dark blue. The light sky blue were a great deal the prettiest. A 
strange thing about it all was, that they seemed to have selected all the 
tallest, lightest, greenest looking ones of all to wear those sky blue uni-
forms. They are all so green looking, anyhow. I never saw such a lot, in 
fact, I don’t think I ever saw but one such and that was Pete when he first 
came to America. I have seen a great many here however, even greener 
looking than he was then. It was queer too, to see the privates salute the 
officers. Every time one met a superior, up would go his hand to his cap, 
and there it would stay until the superior acknowledged the salute.
 Well, we had gone through the barracks, and wished to go up on 
the ramparts. But we were stopped by a sentinel, who demanded the 
password, and as of course we did not know it, we were obliged to go 
back. It seems ridiculous to me, these passwords and sentries, as if they 
were expecting every moment that the Prussians would attempt to take 
the city.
 Next to the barracks is a small park, and there we retreated after 
our repulse from the ramparts. Although small, the park is very pretty. 
On one side is a small lake, and on the farther side of it stands a pretty 
church. We came up by it, and by an inscription on the wall we saw it 
was an English church. It is built entirely of rough black and white flints, 
which give it a very old appearance.
 From the church it was not far to the shore, and there accordingly we 
went. Quite a distance away we saw the old Virginia. The Czar’s yacht, 
too, is in the harbor yet. Today it presented a queer appearance, to say the 
least. All over the ship, on the masts, in the rigging, were hung the clothes 
of the sailors. It was evidently their wash day. They have a good place to 
dry their clothes, anyway, and the ropes seem very good clotheslines.
A Trip to the Old Country
47
 The afternoon we started for Thorwaldsen’s Museum. It was not 
open when we arrived there, therefore we turned back to pass away the 
time until two o’clock, when the museum would open. The market place 
is not far from the Museum, so we went there. It is a very interesting 
place. Through the middle of a long street are the stalls of the vendors 
of fruits, flowers, and vegetables, and along an adjoining street, facing 
the water, are those of the fish-vendors. The latter are principally women, 
and all wear a peculiar sort of headdress, that looks like a sunbonnet 
that was a great deal too small for the wearer. They had all sorts of queer 
looking fish to sell, but what interested us most was the snaky looking 
eel. How people can eat such things I cannot imagine although they are 
said to taste very well.
 Punctually at two, we were at the museum. The building on the out-
side is but a large plain square house, little different, except in respect 
to size, to all the others around it. At the door, the doorkeeper wished 
to tell us to leave the parasols we had with us there as it was against the 
rules for one to bring them in the building. Instead of addressing Papa 
in Danish, as one would naturally suppose he would, he spoke to him in 
English. There seems to be something about us whether it is our looks 
or our clothes or something else, that tells everyone we are foreigners. 
As Papa has said, he has spoken Danish and put on all the Danish airs 
he could ever since he has been here, but everyone thinks at once he 
is no Dane. It is rather queer, I think.
 It would be useless to attempt to describe the contents of the muse-
um. I could not do it. The whole ground floor of the building, and another 
story besides, are filled with Thorwaldsen’s works, there being very 
few by other masters. The most impressive of all the works is the group 
“Christ and the Apostles.” It is indeed his masterpiece. Never before, 
have I seen anything like it, and I doubt if I ever shall again.
 In the center of the building is a large court, shut off by walls of glass 
from the rest of the building, and carefully guarded. Midway of the court 
is a low, ivy covered mound, and there surrounded by the works that 
have made his name immortal, sleeps Denmark’s greatest son and the 
greatest sculptor of the North, Bertel Thorwaldsen. No monument, save 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
48
the green ivy, marks his grave, but is not the “Christ and the Apostles,” 
standing fronting the grave, ever keeping watch over the rest of their 
maker, of themselves as great a monument as man has had before?
Thursday
 Well, early this morning we started for Sonderburg. We were to go 
as far as Korsør, on the other side of the island, by rail. I must say I never 
saw anything so queer as the coaches on the train. On the outside they 
looked something like long boxcars, with windows and doors all along 
the sides. Each car has five or six doors, and as we went to enter, they 
all stood open. Each door leads into a compartment just large enough 
to hold a seat along each side, and leave room for a passageway. We 
entered an empty one, which was just about large enough to hold us 
comfortably. We had made ourselves all ready for the trip and were very 
comfortably settled in our compartment when two men came along, 
and very coolly proceeded to enter, not withstanding the black looks 
we shot at them. And they stayed with us the whole way to Korsør. We 
were angry enough, and it is good that they could not understand the 
remarks we made about them, in English of course. I rather wished, 
though that they could have understood them. The way that train went 
was excruciating. The only thing I can think of with which to compare 
it is one of our lumber wagons, driven swiftly over a very rough road. 
Both its speed and the ease of its running can be very well compared 
to the wagon. However, we became accustomed to these trifling things 
as well as to the train’s whistle, which sounded much like my poor little 
brownie rooster’s crow. We enjoyed very much the pretty rural scenery 
through which we passed. The whole land was a continual garden. Every 
little while we would pass scenes looking just like the pictures we had 
seen. The quaint old thatched cottages, and the lazily moving Dutch 
windmills, particularly attracted our attention.
 At Korsør, we had no opportunity to see anything of the city as we 
went straight from the train to the steamer on which we were to go the 
remainder of the journey. We had nearly boarded a Kiel steamer, there 
being several boats there together, but I noticed the name “Kiel” on the 
A Trip to the Old Country
49
boat and called the attention of the others to it, so we found out our mis-
take in time. We had a lovely trip to Sonderburg. The whole afternoon 
we kept close to the shore and the scenery through which we passed 
was picturesque in the extreme. On the boat was an old lady, a country 
woman of Papa’s, who had known his father. She had a piece of crazy 
work with her, and she and Mamma had quite a chat over it, although 
how they managed to understand each other I cannot imagine as she 
spoke only Danish and Mamma only English.
 It was after dark when we arrived in Sonderburg so we could not go 
on to Ravnskoppel this evening. After a tiresome waiting in the custom 
house, while our trunks were examined, we were allowed to go. It had 
been so long since he left here, that Papa did not know where to pass the 
night but at last he thought of an old friend living here, by name Knarhor, 
who he thought could recommend a hotel to us. One would naturally 
suppose Mr. Knarhor would have been a little surprised at meeting an 
old friend after twenty-six years’ absence, but if he were, he did not show 
it. He was as cool as if Papa had not been away a day. I think he must be 
a Prussian. However, he recommended the “Hotel Denmark” to us, and 
there we went to pass the night.
Friday
 This morning early, immediately after breakfast, we started by steam-
er for Ravnskoppel. It was only a twenty minutes’ ride, but it doubtless 
seemed long enough to Papa. I know it did to me. We stood on deck the 
whole way, Papa pointing out places on shore he had known as a boy. 
He says that the land has changed very little since he was here, except 
that “everything looks so little.” It may well do that, to one whose home 
is on the prairies, as ours is. Why, little patches of land, no larger than 
a nice garden, he said were thought large fields. I wish they could have 
one of our big corn or wheat fields here. People would surely open their 
eyes pretty wide at sight of it.
 At last we came in sight of Ravnskoppel, which is only a field away 
from the water. From there, however, we could see only one of the barns, 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
50
and some large trees, which stand near the house. At the steamboat 
landing Papa’s sister, Aunt Sophia, has a small hotel or summer resort, 
and there we went first. Entering the house, we were met by a tall, quite 
pretty girl, whom I took to be about sixteen or seventeen years old. Papa 
inquired for Aunt Sophia [She operated a small hotel on the shore of Al-
sound, which is very close to Ravnskoppel and not far from Sonderburg.] 
and was told that she would be here in a minute. Pretty soon she came, 
a very tall and not very good looking woman.
 Naturally, she supposed it was only some ordinary travelers. Papa 
went up to her and spoke a few words in Danish to her. I never saw such 
a look of astonishment on mortal face as that which came over hers as 
he spoke. She could not speak, she could only stare at him and at us. 
No wonder, Papa had been away twenty-six years and she had not the 
slightest suspicion that he was coming back. It was enough to astonish 
anyone. After the first shock of the surprise was over, they began talking 
Danish, and they have kept it up the whole day. Papa soon asked after 
Uncle Christian at Ravnskoppel, but was told he was away for the day, 
so we stayed at Sandberg as Aunt Sophia’s place is called. I was curious 
about the girl who had met us when we came, so Papa asked about her, 
and found that she was the daughter of his sister Mary, that she is only 
fourteen and that her name is Ingeborg. I like her looks very much, and 
think I shall like her too when I can talk to her. This afternoon I helped 
her wash the dishes, and there the whole time we two girls stood and 
neither could speak a word to the other. I never felt so uncomfortable 
in my life before.
 This afternoon we went up to Ravnskoppel. It is only a short distance 
from Sandberg, but before we could get there it was pouring rain, al-
though the sun had been shining when we had started. We were forced 
to take refuge in a cottage near by the home of some old acquaintances 
of Papa’s. They had quite a talk, while we took in the queer interior of 
the house, the uncarpeted floors, the great fireplace in the kitchen, the 
spinning wheels and loom in one room.
A Trip to the Old Country
51
 When the rain had ceased we went on to Ravnskoppel. It looks very 
much like the picture we have of it in America, but is larger than I thought 
it would be. In front of the house is a large open space, on either side 
of which is a long barn. The house has a tiled roof, but the barns are 
thatched with sea grass.
 As I said before Uncle and Aunt were absent, but two of our cousins 
were at home. One of them, a girl, is named Ingeborg, of course. She 
is smaller than Mamma, and is very quiet and demure looking. She too 
is only fourteen, yet she wears long dresses. They say girls put on long 
dresses and leave school when they are confirmed, in their fourteenth 
year.
 The other cousin, a boy, at first sight made me think a little of Pete. 
He has the same ears and is about as long, but beyond these things there 
is no resemblance between them. Mamma said he looked like a cousin 
of Papa’s, who had been in America, named Lorenz Vogt and later we 
found out that this one’s name too is Lorenz.
When the Hansen family traveled to Denmark in 1893, many relatives and household 
employees gathered at Ravnskoppel to meet them. Kate is standing, third from the left in 
the third row.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
52
 After drinking coffee, we went out into the garden. It is a large one, 
and must at one time have been very pretty, for even now it is nice. It 
is a queer old-fashioned garden, in keeping with everything else here. 
The trees look as if they had stood half a century at least. One great big 
prune tree especially is an old looking one. It is as full as it can hold of 
long dark red prunes, just ripe. On one side of the tree right against the 
trunk, is a high seat, with two steps leading up to it. It is a fine place to 
sit, one can see across the fields and over the water to the island Alsen, 
on which is situated Sonderburg.
 Entering the garden by the double gates, we find ourselves in 
front of a grass plot on the farther side of which is a very pretty arbor, 
formed of some sort of a weeping tree. The limbs droop entirely to the 
ground completely covering the arbor, scarcely leaving an entrance. To 
the front of the arbor is a flowerbed formed principally of pansies and 
stocks. Behind is the vegetable garden, which is bordered on one side 
by flowerbeds. All around the garden except on the side next the house, 
runs a hedge. On the side next the water it is cut low, but on the other 
side has been left undisturbed, and is so tall and thick as to completely 
shut off the view. At the farther end of the garden is a very pretty nook. 
There both hedges are tall.
 Several bushy trees surround with the hedges a small open space in 
which two seats are placed. The trees shut off the view from the house, 
the hedges from the fields, but one inside can easily see all that happens 
outside, and on one side by pushing aside some of the branches, one can 
climb through, out into a field. From thence it is but a short distance to 
the shore.
 Well, after exploring the garden, we returned to Aunt Sophia’s 
where we remained until evening. With evening came Uncle Christian, 
a pleasant looking man, as tall as Papa, and a great deal thicker. They 
sat and talked awhile, then we started for Ravnskoppel again. It was a 
beautiful evening, almost as light as day. We enjoyed very much our walk. 
Arriving at Ravnskoppel, we were met by Aunt Ingeborg. We were taken 
into a different room from the one we had been in in the afternoon, and 
there they brought us coffee again. I would like to know if they ever give 
A Trip to the Old Country
53
visitors anything else here. We sat there the whole evening and listened 
to their Danish chatter. I at least feeling very uncomfortable. Late in 
the evening, however, came Lorenz with a couple of violins, and he and 
Uncle Christian played several pieces, which I enjoyed greatly. At last, 
about twelve o’clock, I think, we went to bed, I sleeping with Ingeborg.
 I hardly know where to begin to write this. It has been so long since 
I last wrote. I shall try and write a few of the things we have seen and 
done in these weeks we have been in Ravnskoppel. We are becoming 
somewhat accustomed to their queer ways of doing here. Everything 
seemed at first topsy turvy. It seemed, and seems yet, as though they 
did everything the very opposite way from the way we do. The very 
atmosphere seems different.
 The first night here, as I said before, I slept with Ingeborg. In the 
morning, when I rose, they brought me a pair of “somethings,” that 
looked like pieces of felt cut out like the soles of shoes, with pieces of cloth 
stitched on in front to stick the toes in. Of course, I could not understand 
what they said to me when they brought them. They pointed to my feet, 
and then to the slippers, so I supposed they intended me to put them 
on, but it seemed so queer that they should bring a pair of slippers to a 
guest in the morning, to put on, as if I had no shoes of my own. I did not 
put them on, for I was not sure that I could walk in the queer things. I 
noticed people’s feet a little after that, and they all wear these somethings 
in the house. When outside, all wear great big heavy wooden shoes, but 
as soon as one comes in the door, off go the wooden shoes and the feet 
are slipped into a pair of these slippers which are always there at hand. 
Between the hall and the kitchen is a little passage, where are always 
to be found a dozen or so pairs of wooden shoes or slippers. When a 
neighbor comes in he always leaves his wooden shoes at the hall at the 
door of the room, and enters in his stocking feet. People here think it 
very strange that we go always in shoes. No one wears shoes except 
for extra good, and then they are such coarse, heavy things, I almost 
believe I would rather wear wooden shoes. The wooden shoes do not 
look so bad on small children, as then the feet are so small. But when 
they grow larger, the feet seemingly to grow faster than the remainder 
of the children, the shoes grow so large that it would be a task to carry 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
54
them, or so it seems to me. The children, however, seem to run quite 
as well in them as we in our light leather ones.
 Their dress is all so queer and old-fashioned here in the country. We 
did not notice it in the cities, but here it is impossible not to notice it. Most 
of the women’s dresses are absolutely plain. Everything is of the darkest 
and dullest of colors. Every woman and girl has a black dress, and they 
choose hats and cloaks mostly of the same somber hue. At funerals it 
would be an impardonable offense for one to attend clad in anything but 
black from head to foot. The men on such occasions mostly wear great 
stove pipe hats. I saw Uncle Christian’s the other day. It looked as if it 
had been handed down from his great grandfather’s time.
 At confirmation, every one of the class is expected to be attired in 
black. At weddings, the bridal pair wear black. And in fact on all occa-
sions, with one exception, black is the favorite color. This one exception 
is ball-dresses of which more anon.
 For outdoor wear, all have long cloaks, as long as the dresses, jack-
ets and capes being almost unknown. As no one on ordinary occasions 
wears leather shoes, rubbers or overshoes are very rare. In fact, I do 
not think I have seen any overshoes at all here, and only a half dozen 
pairs of rubbers.
 As to the dress of the men, it is very little different from what it is 
at home. A costume, however, which Lorenz wears at work, is a little 
different. He wears a blue cotton jacket, and short white knee trousers, 
which look like two flour sacks tied together. He cuts a queer figure in 
this costume to which must of course be added the wooden shoes.
 By the way, I have not told of the remainder of the household. The 
two remaining children are Christian and Margrethe, or Grete, as we 
call her. Grete is a quite pretty and very bright and mischievous girl of 
9. She reminds us all very much of Marie, in spite of the difference in 
age. Her way of talking, and a habit she has of squealing, are very like 
Marie’s. Despite her mischief, she is as demure looking as a little old 
woman. When she and Alpha, who are great friends, sit down quietly, 
with their sewing or crocheting, they form quite a contrast. There is 
nothing whatever of the little old woman in Alpha.
A Trip to the Old Country
55
 Grete’s brother Christian is a boy of 16. Poor Christian! He is deaf 
and almost dumb, owing to some accident which happened to him when 
he was small. At first he was entirely dumb, but in the school for deaf 
mutes, to which he was sent, he was taught to speak a little. But most 
of his communications with others are made by means of writing. He 
and Papa will sit for hours, each with pencil and paper, carrying on a 
conversation. At present he is learning the painter’s trade at Satrup, a 
town some few miles from here, so he is only at home Sundays. I pity 
the poor boy most sincerely. How he can be so cheerful is more than I 
can understand. Yet I have never seen him otherwise than pleasant.
 Well, the remainder of the household consists of the four servants, 
two girls and two men. The girls’ names are Dorcas and Grete; the men’s 
Lorenz and Hendrick. The first named of the girls, Dorcas, has become 
engaged since our arrival. It is the custom here for a couple to be publicly 
engaged for five or ten years before being married. Couples become 
engaged very much too young here, as in a case or two which I know 
of, where the girl is not more than fifteen, the boy not much older. In 
fact, they are considered old enough to become engaged as soon as they 
are confirmed, at fourteen or fifteen. However, Dorcas is old enough, as 
she is eighteen, and has several years to wait before being married. Her 
betrothed, by name Peter Myer, comes here every few evenings. It is 
comical to see how they behave. All will be settled comfortably for the 
evening. Uncle Christian and Lorenz either playing cards or practicing 
on their violins, Aunt and Cousin Ingeborg sewing or knitting, Dorcas 
and Grete at their spinning wheels spinning. Then will come a knock at 
the door, announcing Peter Myer. He comes in says “Go Youden” (that is 
the way it is pronounced) to the company, and seats himself by the table. 
Dorcas never looks up. He does not seem to see her. Pretty soon the 
men begin playing cards, which continues throughout the entire evening 
and when he leaves, it is generally without having said a single word to 
her during his whole call. They are certainly a very undemonstrative 
couple, to say the least. I wish they, or some one else from among our 
acquaintances would get married. I should like to see a Danish wedding, 
and a Danish wedding it would be here, although Schleswig-Holstein 
belongs to Prussia, this portion of the province is as Danish as the most 
Danish portion of Denmark.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
56
 Everyone speaks the Danish language, although the most can speak 
German. Here in the country, these old Danish families hate the very 
name of German. Even the children are taught to despise the German 
country and flag. Even Grete, only nine years of age, simply hates the 
German colors. They are not without justification, in my opinion, in their 
hatred. A country that for hundreds of years had belonged to Denmark, 
a people who were nothing if not Danes, taken by force of arms and on 
the slightest of pretexts from their mother country and joined to another 
people, speaking an entirely different language, and with whom they had 
nothing whatever in common—and what excuse had Prussia to offer? 
Simply because there was a dispute concerning the succession to the 
Danish throne and Schleswig-Holstein favored a different candidate 
from the one Denmark proper had selected as king, Prussia and Austria 
take it upon themselves to settle the quarrel by separating the duchies 
entirely from Denmark, and sharing them together. A just settlement, 
truly! And equally infamous is the way in which they have since then 
been treated. A man may not fly a Danish flag, under penalty of exile or 
prison. He dare not breathe a word against the Kaiser or the government, 
they are held as sacred and incapable of making the slightest mistake in 
anything. The newspapers are never allowed to print anything criticizing 
the actions of “his imperial majesty.” No matter what he does, it must be 
right, for is he not Kaiser? and can a kaiser do wrong? How it is possible 
for this Danish people to bear it, I cannot conceive. Their children must 
go to German schools and learn the German language. But worse still, 
they are taught that the robbery of Schleswig-Holstein from Denmark 
was an act of justice and that it is a great favor to the people to be made 
part of the German empire and to come under its “free” government. 
The young men must give three years of their lives to a government for 
which they have no feeling, save hatred and fear. There is no escape 
save exile. No wonder is it that so many go to Denmark, and that still 
more go to America. They hope that their country may yet be restored 
to Denmark, but what grounds have they on which to base their hope? 
It is very improbable that Prussia having once gained possession of 
the country, would ever give it up unless compelled to do so. And what 
country would take upon itself that task? They all at some time in their 
several histories, have acted in the same way. Should they demand the 
A Trip to the Old Country
57
restoration of Schleswig-Holstein to Denmark, Prussia could answer, 
“Right the wrongs you have done, give back your conquests to their 
rightful owners, then you can with better grace demand that we restore 
ours to the conquered Danes.” But Prussia could not, even then, give 
back Schleswig-Holstein. If she did so then she must give Alsace-Lorraine 
back to France, Silisia to Austria, and the Polish province to that country, 
which would completely dismember the kingdom. No, Prussia will keep 
Schleswig-Holstein right or no right. But why, having once conquered 
the country, and being certain of their ability to keep it, why can they 
not deal more leniently with the people? “A soft answer turneth away 
wrath”; why cannot Prussia give a “soft answer” to this wronged, but 
weak and defenseless people? They would say hard things of Prussia; let 
them do so as much as they wish, words cannot harm so long as there 
is no force behind them. They would fly Danish flags; let them do so. If 
Prussia would give them full and free permission to say what they liked, 
although at first many bitter things would be said of her, yet their wrath 
would gradually die out like a fire for want of fuel to feed it. As it is every 
fresh act of injustice committed by Prussia but makes their anger until 
it is wonderful that it does not break out, despite everything. And just 
so long as Prussia continues to treat this people as slaves, so long will 
they continue to hate her with the most bitter hatred of which they are 
capable.
 As a more cheerful subject, I will try and tell how we pass the time 
here and as one day is very much like all the others, description of one 
will suffice for all. The household rises at five in the morning, although 
we do not rise so early. Breakfast consists of “grutze,” a sort of mush 
made of cracked barley, and milk. It is Ingeborg’s task to prepare this 
meal. Breakfast over, all go to their work, the men to the fields, the girls 
first to their milking, then after putting all in order in the kitchen, out 
in the fields to help. At about eight o’clock, all come in for their lunch, 
consisting of black bread, with lard, and cold meat. This over, the work 
begins again. The principal work of the girls in the fields is gathering 
in the potatoes and the “rohr,” a sort of turnip which they feed to the 
cattle. At twelve o’clock we have dinner, which consists of two courses, 
soup and meat. After dinner, the men all sleep about an hour, after which 
we all drink coffee. Aunt and Cousin Ingeborg generally pass away the 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
58
afternoon and evening in spinning, the girls also helping in the evening. 
Aunt Ingeborg knits a great deal, as they knit their own stockings, and 
coarse, heavy things they are too. At four o’clock comes another meal 
also bread, butter, meat and cheese. At eight in the evening, just before 
going to bed, we eat “grutze” again. We go out in the fields a great deal, 
when the weather allows of it. But it rains so much, that we are obliged 
to stay indoors a great deal. The showers come as suddenly as in April, 
and generally pass over as quickly as they come. Often it begins to rain 
when we are out in the fields, when we take shelter under a hedge until 
it passes over. The hedges are full of blackberries, blueberries, and a 
sort of black plums which latter are very bitter until frost, but then, they 
say, become quite sweet. They grow on bushes like plums, sometimes 
forming by themselves an entire hedge. We take long tramps, exploring 
the country around. As yet we have been but little on the water although 
it is so near to us. One Sunday we sailed down and across the sea to 
“Arnkiel Denkmal,” a monument erected to commemorate the landing 
of the Prussians on Alsen during the war with Denmark. The Prussians 
crossed in boats from this side and landed near the spot where the 
monument stands, unknown to the Danes although their army was but 
a short distance inland. The battle which followed in which the Prus-
sians were victorious, was one of the series which ended in the taking of 
Sonderburg, whose forts were considered almost impregnable. These 
forts are yet to be seen, only grass covered dykes and ditches, yet they 
have been strong fortifications. A queer old town is Sonderburg, with 
its narrow winding streets, all paved with rough cobblestones, and the 
sidewalks, when there are any, consisting of two rough or smooth stones, 
about a foot wide each, set in the pavement. The greatest attraction in 
Sonderburg is of course the castle. This old building was erected before 
the year 1000 as a defense against the heathen Vikings, by the king of 
Denmark. It is an immense stone structure, standing on the point that 
guards the entrance to Sonderburg strait, the narrow, but very deep 
passage between Alsen and the mainland. Despite the antiquity of the 
castle, however, I must confess it does not at all realize my ideal of what a 
castle should be. In the first place, it stands neither high up on a mountain, 
nor yet on an island by itself. It is built near the water, but not directly 
in it and it stands in the midst of the city. Then it is square, with only 
A Trip to the Old Country
59
one tower, so small that one must look twice before he can see it at all. 
And worst of all, it has windows, large glass ones too, over everything. 
I know that there is a great deal more space occupied by those windows 
than by all the remainder of the walls. The castle is now used as a place 
for quartering soldiers, Sonderburg being a garrison town. One meets 
soldiers at every turn when in town. We are becoming well accustomed 
to uniforms at least, also to little men, for I do believe not one soldier in 
the whole garrison is much larger than I am myself. The government 
must have selected all of the smallest men in the entire German army, 
and sent them here.
 Besides the castle, the city has another attraction in its old church, 
built in the year 1000. In this church my grandfather, Papa’s father, 
received a decoration of honor from the king of Denmark. I have often 
heard Papa tell about it. He was to have worn the decoration on all public 
occasions, and most men would have been only too glad to have done so, 
but my grandfather was different. He wore it home from Sonderburg, 
and that was the only time people ever saw him with it on. From what 
I have here heard of him, my grandfather must have been a singularly 
modest man, yet he was a good and just one as well. Such was his rep-
utation for honesty and justice that for miles around men brought their 
quarrels to him, for settlement, instead of going to law about them. Of 
all his children, there is no one more like him than Papa, in my opinion.
 Some time ago we went to the annual fair in Sonderburg. It was a 
queer sight. The principal street was lined with booths, something like 
the market in Copenhagen, except that these have all sorts of goods 
for sale. We walked up the street to the end of the booths, noticing with 
interest the queer looking things displayed there, and especially the 
people. I never saw quiet old Sonderburg so lively before. People from 
all the country round flock to the town for the holiday. Every one who 
attends the fair is expected to buy some little memento. We bought 
several. While there I noticed a pretty little glass set, consisting of two 
goblets about an inch high, with pitcher and plate to match. I thought 
it would make a pretty ornament, so bought it. What was my disgust 
to find out afterwards that it was a whisky set! However, I shall take it 
home with me; they will not know there what it is.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
60
 While walking along, Aunt Ingeborg was accosted by a very pretty 
dark-haired, blue-eyed girl. They talked for some time, and by and by I 
found out that she was another of my cousins, another daughter of Aunt 
Marie. I am sure I should like her very much if I knew her. She was quite 
attracted by Alpha; they walked together for some time, and she bought 
Alpha a set of comical little monkeys. Alpha says now she likes Doris 
(that is her name) best of all her cousins.
 By the way, I do not believe I have said much about the inside ap-
pearance of Ravnskoppel. On entering the house, one enters a large hall 
which has a stone floor, covered with sand, as are all the other floors 
in the house. On one side of the hall is the general sitting room; on the 
other, the parlor. The sitting room contains plain chairs, a table, Uncle 
Christian’s writing desk, the “Grandfather’s Clock” which stands on the 
floor and reaches nearly to the ceiling. There are also Uncle Christian’s 
and Lorenz’s violins, and an instrument they call a harmonium. It is 
something like an organ, but such a screeching noise as it makes I nev-
er heard before, and hope I never shall again. I had almost forgotten a 
very important part of the furniture; that is, a carved rack which is hung 
with those long-stemmed Dutch pipes. They reach (or some of them 
do) almost to the floor. Here we generally pass the evenings. Lorenz 
plays the zither and accordion, as well as the violin. Once in a while they 
dance, and that is a queer sight, especially when the girls, in their short 
sleeved, short skirted dresses, take part.
 The parlor, which is used only on state occasions, is quite well fur-
nished, but no carpet is to be seen. They say they never have carpets 
here, in fact, they scarcely know what they are.
 The kitchen is interesting. It has a stone floor, like the hall. The 
kitchen table is long and narrow and on either side are long benches, 
without backs. Here the family generally take their meals. The stove is 
built into the wall, a great clumsy-looking thing, like a box of iron. It is 
about three or four feet high. The stove lids are the most peculiar things; 
they are composed of from four or five to a dozen rings, which fit into 
each other. When cooking with the various sizes of kettles, the rings are 
removed until the kettle just fits the opening. The wash-house, separated 
from the kitchen by a small stone paved court, contains a large fireplace, 
A Trip to the Old Country
61
with a great kettle built into it. On washdays (which only come about 
once a month) Aunt Ingeborg, the girls, and one or two others hired for 
the day, assemble here. They have nothing like a wash board or, washing 
machine, but do all their washing by hand. It generally takes them all 
day. Then they put their clothes out, but without starching them.
 It generally takes from two days to a week to get the clothes dry, 
for about as soon as they are hung out, it will begin to rain, when they 
must be brought in, and kept until the rain is over. When, at last they 
are dry, they are starched, and the process of drying is repeated. In very 
wet weather, they are hung in the garret. Their methods of ironing are 
peculiar. One day, as we were sitting down-stairs, we heard something 
which sounded like thunder, just above our heads. We listened some 
time, then Papa began to laugh, and told us that that was the girls ironing 
upstairs. We rushed to the garret, and there they stood one on each side 
of the “ironing machine.” This consists of a long pine table upon which 
are two rollers. These rollers are held down by a box filled with heavy 
stones. There is a handle at each end, by which this may be moved to 
and fro. The clothes are folded smoothly, then passed under the rollers. 
This of course does not dry them at all and those linen sheets, ironed in 
this way, are not in the least pleasant to sleep between, even if one has 
a feather bed over him. But we have become accustomed to them as to 
many other queer things.
[Kate was sent to live with Peter’s favorite sister, Marie Thietje, and her 
husband and family at their ancestral home, Stranderott, which also was 
not far from Sonderburg.
Marie had been ostracized by her family when she fell in love and married 
a German soldier who was on duty in Denmark after Germany had con-
quered Denmark. During their year abroad, Kate’s father, Peter Hansen, 
effected a family reconciliation that continues to this day. Stranderott, with 
its beautiful thatched roof and dormer windows, was in the Thietje family 
until 1998, when the last descendant owner died.
During this year abroad, Kate fell in love with one of her cousins, but her 
family discouraged that relationship. A number of his letters are in Kate’s 
files at the University of Kansas Archives.]
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
62
 Well, we have been forming some new plans for the winter. Mamma 
and Papa are to keep house here. There are three rooms, a sitting room, 
bedroom and kitchen, at one end of the house, which were occupied by 
Papa’s father and mother after Uncle Christian’s marriage. These they 
are to use. The boys are to be sent to school in Sonderburg, and are to 
stay with a cousin of ours. I am to go to Aunt Marie’s and that is worst 
of all. I have only seen her once, and she lives so far from Ravnskoppel 
that I can only come here occasionally. But Papa has promised me a gold 
watch if I learn German well, so I shall go.
[Kate earned the watch. It is now in the possession of Dane and Polly Bales 
of Logan, Kansas.]
 Anyway, Ingeborg will be there, and so will Doris, although I do not 
know her any better than Aunt Marie. But I will try my best to learn 
Stranderott was the ancestral home of the family of Peter Hansen’s favorite sister, Marie 
Thietje. Kate lived with the Thietjes for most of her family’s stay abroad.
A Trip to the Old Country
63
German, and, as Uncle Fritz, Aunt Marie’s husband is a German, perhaps 
I shall succeed. We have learned so little here, that I can scarcely speak 
a word; the people here speak Danish almost all the time, so they do not 
teach us much.
Stranderott. Winter.
 Again I scarcely know where to begin, to tell all that has happened 
since I came here. It seems as though it would take a dozen books 
such as this to do so. Everything has changed so since last October, 
that I scarcely even know myself. Then, I cared little or nothing about 
this native land of Papa’s; my interest in it was only the interest of an 
ordinary sightseer, amused by the strange manners of the people, but 
understanding them little, and caring for them less. Then, there was no 
one to whom I could speak, but our family, none whose speech I could 
understand. But I will go no farther with this; instead, I will try to write 
a few of the things which have happened, beginning “at the beginning.”
 One fine day last October, all the people from Ravnskoppel came 
here to bring me. That was the longest drive I had taken in this country, 
and the scenery was delightful. We reached Stranderott about noon. 
Stranderott is only a cluster of houses, nestling down close to the waters 
of Flensburg Fjord, an inlet so broad that here one can just distinguish 
houses on the other side. The inhabitants of the little village are mostly 
the owners of and the workers in the two Eel “Fabriken” [factory] which 
stand side by side next to the water, and from which runs out a long 
steamboat landing. Uncle Fritz, his father and brother own one, Herr 
Clausen, our neighbor, the other.
 We left our horses at a farm-house, which is only a few steps from 
Uncle’s, and which is owned by a Franz Hansen. We walked through 
a little lane from the farm-house, and on emerging we saw the house 
which was to be my home for this winter. Truly, it is my very ideal of a 
cottage. Very long and low, with a high peaked roof, thatched and with 
green moss contrasting in a lovely manner with the brown thatch. But 
best of all the entire cottage is covered with a thick mat of the dark 
green German ivy, which twines around windows and doors, and has 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
64
even in some places climbed to the roof. The vine is an evergreen and 
all through the winter, when everything is covered with snow, its large 
glossy leaves make a beautiful contrast with the whiteness surrounding 
it.
 We were met at the house by the entire family. Aunt Marie is some-
what like Papa. I like her better than any of Papa’s other brothers and 
sisters. Uncle Fritz is a big, hearty-voiced, frank-looking German, very 
different from any of the men whom I had met before. One of the worst 
things I had seen in the society here, was the way in which the men 
rather looked down on their wives, not generally behaving very unkindly 
toward them, but lacking the respect and consideration for women which 
is shown in America. Uncle Fritz, however, is just as considerate and 
attentive as any American could be.
 Doris and Inger were of course there. The younger children are 
Amalie and Magda, the latter not much older than Alpha, and two boys 
of five and three, Heinrich and Henning. This latter is the prettiest little 
boy I have ever seen, I think, and is my especial pet. Although so young, 
he has a very good voice, as indeed they all have. We sing very much; 
Nestled along the waters of the Flensburg Fjord, Standerott was a small cluster of houses for 
the owners and workers at the local eel “fabriken.” The eel boxes, which were attached to the 
poles rising out of the water, housed the eels in the summer. Kate’s cousin Friedrich Thietje 
rowed out twice a day in a small boat to tend to the eels before they were processed in the fall.
A Trip to the Old Country
65
I have taught Henning one or two of my English songs, and have also 
taught the girls some. These were all the members of the family of whom 
I had heard. At coffee I noticed a young man about twenty or so, whom I 
took for some visitor. I was greatly surprised on finding out that he was 
my cousin, Friedrich.
 In the afternoon we rowed out a little, then returned and took a 
walk. For some time we followed the water. Stranderott is on one side 
of a little bay. On the other side is a large hill, and a low narrow strip of 
land projecting far out into the water. This strip is covered in winter, with 
water or ice, and is our skating pond. We went by the base of the hill, and 
walked for some time on the other side until we came to the Munkmühle, 
where Pete’s father once lived. We saw also the house where Pete was 
born. Near the house a long flight of steps leads to the top of a hill, upon 
which formerly stood a large windmill. A path leads along the brow of 
the hill, which is covered with bushes and trees. We traveled this path 
for a long time, until we came to the schoolhouse. There we saw the 
teacher, and made arrangements for my entering the school after which 
we returned by another foot path to Stranderott. In the evening the visi-
tors departed, leaving me here. I was a little lonely at first, since I could 
scarcely understand a word of what they said, much less speak myself. 
But before two weeks had passed, I could understand fairly what they 
said to me. I can scarcely remember now how I did learn it; it seemed 
to come so easily. I have been in school every day, and every two weeks 
I have spent Sunday in Ravnskoppel, going by steamer to Sonderburg, 
and sometimes walking the rest of the way.
 I wish to be candid in these books, so will say I do not like the school 
at all. It is very dull and monotonous, since the novelty has worn off. At 
first it seemed very strange to be sitting in that little room, on one of 
the long, backless benches, with German books before me. But I soon 
became accustomed to it. There is only one girl in school as old as I; that 
is Lucie Clausen, our neighbor’s daughter. She has a piano and is a good 
player; we often practice together, and generally some of the others are 
there and we dance. I have learned to dance quite well.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
66
 The teacher is a strange specimen. He is very tall and thin, with 
a long face, rather dark eyes, and thick lips. His method of teaching 
is as strange. He carries a rod continually, and uses it very often. The 
school discipline seems to me sometimes more like that of a company 
of soldiers than a school, everything must be so exact. The pupils are 
taught just what their predecessors have been taught for generations. 
Church history, the catechism, and the learning of hymns, form the most 
important part of the course of study. When a pupil becomes of a certain 
age, he is confirmed and leaves school, whether he knows anything or 
not. The pupils in general are not nearly so far advanced as in America; 
but a good reason for this is, that they, knowing nothing but Danish on 
entering the school, must learn German before going any farther.
 About the best thing here is our singing school. About one-half of 
two afternoons each week is devoted to singing. Most of the pupils have 
naturally good voices, so the singing is very good. I have learned a great 
number of German songs in this manner. On two afternoons each week 
we have sewing-school; I have made a great deal of fancy-work there.
 But it is at home that we have the best time. Almost every evening 
we have something; we are very often at Lucie’s, very often we have 
visitors in the evening. The four of us, Inger, Doris, Friedrich and I, are 
out together a great deal. There is a farm, about two miles from here, 
called the Ofen, there we go most often. There are two sisters and three 
brothers, the youngest about Inger’s age, there and generally a cousin 
also. We form quite a party by ourselves. The way of entertaining is 
slightly peculiar at these young folks’ parties as well as at old folks’; first 
of course we have coffee, and if the party be at all large, the boys and 
girls sit in different rooms. After coffee we generally sit awhile and talk 
and work on fancy-work, crocheting, etc. Then almost every time the 
evening closes with a dance, or sometimes with games. Nearly everyone 
can play some instrument or other; the violin and the accordion are per-
haps the most common. There is also generally some singing before the 
evening closes, since almost everyone sings well. At the Ofen the songs 
are generally Danish, “Olksheder”; many of them are very fine indeed, 
most of them are rather slow and nearly all have some sad notes even 
with the gayest of words.
A Trip to the Old Country
67
 I have gone to two or three balls since I have been here, which has 
been a new experience to me, so I will try to describe one of them. The 
first one was the best, so I will take it. It was given by the [?] of which 
Uncle and Friedrich are members, in the [?] in Rinkenis, about half a 
mile from here. We started quite early, just after dark, but the ballroom 
was almost full when we arrived. What first struck one was the contrast 
between the ball dresses and those worn on all other occasions. Ordi-
nary dresses are, as I have said, generally dark and very plainly made 
(In this district the people mostly dress in more modern fashion than 
those around Ravnskoppel). But ball dresses are very fanciful, light 
colored or white, mostly low-necked and very short sleeved. Another 
thing I noticed was, that there were no gentlemen in the room. I won-
dered somewhat where they all were (Uncle & Friedrich had left us 
on entering the house) but soon the band struck up, and then they all 
entered, a brilliant sight in their gay uniforms. There was scarcely one 
present in plain dress. The ball began, as with us, with a grand march. 
Ingeborg (Inger) and Doris Thi-
etje were two of Kate’s favorite 
cousins. The year that they and 
her other cousin Friedrich lived 
together at Stranderott was full 
of good times and adventures 
that Kate would fondly remem-
ber all her life.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
68
One other peculiar thing I noticed was this: when a gentleman wished 
to ask a lady to dance, he simply went up to her and made a low bow, 
saying not a word. If she consented, she rose and made a curtsey. After 
the march came waltzes, polkas, galops, besides different old-country 
dances, but not a single quadrille. (I found out afterward that these are 
danced only at dancing-school.) About midnight came supper, or rather, 
coffee. Inger of course went with her C[?]. The ball continued until about 
four o’clock, and I, for one, enjoyed myself greatly throughout. We went 
to another ball at the same place in Christmas time; Papa, Mamma, the 
boys, Alpha, and Lorenz were up from Ravnskoppel.
 In Christmas time we had a grand time. For weeks beforehand, we 
had been making ready. Each evening we girls would go off in a room 
by ourselves, to work on our Christmas gifts, and what fun we did have 
together. Every family here, no matter how poor it may be, has its Christ-
mas tree. So two days before Christmas, Uncle brought in our Christmas 
tree, after the children were all in bed, and put it in the parlor. That door 
was then kept locked. The next evening we decorated the tree. We made 
a quantity of tissue paper flowers first, fastening them on the ends of the 
branches. Then were brought out the glittering ornaments of gilt and 
tinsel, some of which had hung on a half-dozen different trees. These 
were hung on, then the dozens of candles were placed in position, next 
the stars, then a quantity of odd little cakes and quaintly shaped baskets 
of candy. Then the Christ-child was placed in the top of the tree, and we 
left it until the next night.
 Next evening, Christmas Eve, we first attended the Christmas 
service in the church, which was brilliantly decorated for the occasion. 
On returning, we first went to see Uncle’s father and mother’s tree, for 
even these old people have their tree just as they did when Uncle and 
his brothers and sisters were children. Then we saw Andreas’ tree, then 
all went to see ours. By this time all the candles were lighted, and the 
tree was a blaze of light. All our presents had been placed on a table 
near by, and they were now distributed. The children played and sang 
Christmas songs, and even the old folks joined. One thing peculiar we 
had: that was a kind of tissue paper caps, of all sorts of queer shapes. 
We wore them all through the evening. I had a grandmother’s cap, and 
A Trip to the Old Country
69
I have put it away to carry back to America with me as a memento of 
this happy evening.
 The next morning all the children started out to make a round of the 
neighborhood, and see everyone’s Christmas trees. I went with them as 
far as Lucie’s, where I spent most of the forenoon. The Christmas trees 
are left standing until New Year’s at least, instead of being torn up in one 
evening.
 We have had some ice on Knud’s Mai, enough to skate some. The 
school has had what they call Eis-tag; every pupil on that day goes to 
the ice, and those who cannot skate (they are only the very little ones) 
are taught by the teacher or by the older pupils. We went over in the 
evening, and I took my first lesson in skating. It was the hardest work 
I have done for some time, although I did not once fall down, even in 
skating alone. But I am afraid that skating will not soon be added to the 
list of my accomplishments. We have had some fun lately in the evenings, 
for Friedrich has been teaching (or trying to teach) me to play “Damen.” 
I am afraid I am a very stupid pupil; I never win a game unless he gives it 
to me. But nevertheless it is great fun. We all stay up until twelve o’clock 
at least, every evening.
Ravnskoppel
 I am spending the remainder of my holidays here. It is very dull in-
deed after Stranderott, but I shall go back there as soon as the holidays 
are over. After the Christmas ball in Rinkenis, we drove here. We started 
late in the afternoon, and it was long after dark when we arrived. I had 
not thought before that it was so far from Stranderott here; but the other 
time it was daytime, and in the lovely autumn; this time it was dark, and 
in dreary winter. It has been very cold ever since I have been here. The 
boys’ school in Dyppøl is of course out for the holidays, and they spend 
their time mostly in skating on the mill-pond not far from here. We went 
once but only stayed a short time, so I did not attempt to skate.
 On New Year’s Eve I sat up alone and watched the Old Year out 
and the New in. How has everything changed since last New Year’s. It 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
70
seems almost incredible that it all should have happened in the space 
of one little year. And what may this New Year bring? Where may we all 
be when it has become the Old Year? Some of us will be far apart then, 
it must be. But wherever I may be, each New Year’s Eve I shall watch 
as this time, and think of this evening and all that may take place since.
Wednesday, March 14, 1894
 At last I will begin again on this diary. I shall try from now on to write 
each evening all that happens in the day, which after this week, however, 
I do not suppose will be much to write for some time.
 Today there has been no school. The Danish confirmation class had 
examination this forenoon, the German this afternoon. Of course, I did 
not go to the Danish examination, Inger and I had intended to go to the 
German, at two this afternoon. By one we had started, having Andreas 
with us. We had come only as far as the “Back,” when it began to rain. 
However, we had umbrellas with us, so kept on. The rain came faster 
and faster, with some hail also. Still we kept on until we were through 
and through wet. At last when we were about half way to Rinkenis, we 
turned around and went back home. Before we were as far as Franz 
Hansen’s, the rain stopped. The rest of the afternoon was as fine as any 
day we have had yet. The Fates are against us unlucky girls, I think.
 As soon as I had put on dry clothes, Doris, Magda and I went to the 
pine grove by the “Back,” to gather some moss and evergreens. We were 
there some two hours gathering our green. We found too a few “Tay 
blume,” as they call them; pretty yellow flowers, with a fine scent. Com-
ing home, we worked a while, I finishing the last of the handkerchiefs 
I have been embroidering for Inger. After we had had coffee, away we 
went again, this time for Brandstaff. The steamer from Flensburg had 
come to pull off the sailboat that stranded there yesterday in the storm. 
After a great deal of pulling and tugging, the “Adler” at last pulled the 
unlucky “Fader Minde” off the bar and brought her here to Stranderott, 
where both anchored.
A Trip to the Old Country
71
 We were at work again, Doris & I making a wreath, when Uncle 
came in and said, that there was a diver who was going to examine the 
hull of the boat, to see that there were no holes. So of course we must 
out and see. We five girls & Uncle took a boat and rowed out. It was the 
first time we had seen a diver in his queer attire. He was clothed entirely 
in rubber, excepting only his head, on which he had a great iron thing, 
which looked as if it weighed ten pounds at least. On each side and in 
front were little round windows, or so they looked, at least. On his feet 
he had rubber shoes, which I know were two feet long. Altogether he 
presented a queer appearance. He dived twice, and examined the hull 
the whole way, but found no hole. It is fortunate for the owner of the 
vessel, who has already been obliged to pay 300 mark for the steamer.
 It was already dark when we returned from the ship. Shortly after-
wards, the steamer sailed for Flensburg. She had a searchlight on board, 
and the light fell on us in the garden so brightly, that they said, and I 
believed, that one could read newspapers by it. It reminded me of the 
searchlight on the Manufacturers Building at the Fair.
Thursday, 3.15
 Today has been almost the finest we have had here; this morning 
early it was foggy, but the sun soon dispersed the mists. It has been as 
warm as summer. The violets, crocus and primula are blossomed, in 
the garden, while the fields are covered with daisies. Spring has come, 
surely.
 This morning, as the teacher was to school examination in Rinke-
nis, there was no school. This afternoon also there has been none, as 
he went to a funeral then. We did not know the latter, however, so went 
to school. After finding that there was no school the others remained 
in Beken, but I came home through the fields alone. After the children 
came home, we went out on the water, Amalia and I rowing. We were 
out about two hours, it was so fine. It was hard work sometimes though, 
rowing. I think I shall learn it in time, however.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
72
 This evening I shall go to Clausen’s, I think, to practice with Lucie, 
unless we have visitors, which I devoutly hope we will not.
Friday, 3. 16
 Today has been the last day here in school, and a trying one, too. 
This morning all went as usual. But this afternoon was different. The 
first recess was over half an hour long. We improved the time, we five 
who leave the school today, never to return. I wonder why it is sad to 
part with them. I have known them for such a short time. But it was. I 
shall see them all again Sunday for the last time I am afraid. Ah, well, 
we have had a happy time together, although I have not thought it so 
sometimes. All of those little difficulties of which our school days were 
so full, are forgotten now it is all over. I wonder if the girls any of them 
realize what today means for them. It will not be long now before all of 
them must leave home, and “hoe their own way.” No longer can they be 
children. All this, and much more, the teacher tried to impress on them, 
in his short talk before saying “goodbye.” And when he concluded his 
earnest words of counsel, the whole school rose and sang the parting 
song, “Bless our coming in and going out.” The simple exercises con-
cluded with the Lord’s Prayer, repeated by Christian Delff. At the close 
there was a pause, then the teacher came to each of the class, with the 
hand-clasp and the single word “Adieu.”
 We girls remained for sewing-school. Then at the end came such a 
shaking of hand and such a shower of adieux as I have not seen since 
our graduation. At last it was over, and we came slowly home through 
the fields, for the last time. It was the best time too, for me. We were fully 
three quarters of an hour in coming from Beken, so slowly we went.
 It was almost sunset, when Doris & I went out on the water. The 
“Fader Minde” he’s yet here at anchor, so we decided to go on board. 
We rowed out, but there was no one on deck. We rowed several times 
around the ship, and at last they came up from below. Our question as 
to whether we might come on board and see the ship being answered in 
the affirmative, we clambered on board. Everything on the ship seemed 
A Trip to the Old Country
73
strange to me, accustomed as I have been only to steamers. No noise 
of machinery, no engine rooms, only the large masts and sails. The 
anchor too hung on the outside of the ship near the prow. The deck is 
surrounded on all sides by a plank fencing, three or four feet high. At the 
stern the deck for a short distance is raised about two feet. Under this 
place is the one cabin. We accepted the invitation of the sailor on deck, 
to come below and see how they lived on board. After climbing over the 
tiles, with which this portion of the deck is loaded, we went through a 
doorway about three or four feet high, down some half dozen straight 
up and down steps, and found ourselves in the cabin. It was a novel sight 
to me. The cabin is about six feet square. In the center a small table is 
fastened. On three sides of the room are fastened wooden benches. 
On either side of the cabin is a square hole in the wall, not more than 
a foot and a half square, leading to a bunk. The rest of the wall space, 
all around the room, is taken up by little doors, each with a name over 
it. The names were Danish, so I could not understand them, but one of 
the doors was open, leading into the cupboard. On the side of the room 
which had no bench was a small stove with a coffee kettle on.
 The occupants of the cabin were the skipper and a fisher from here, 
whom we know well. The skipper, a Dane, was very polite, showing us 
everything in the cabin. He offered each of us a glass of wine, which 
I naturally did not accept. All the glasses on board had however been 
broken when the ship ran ashore, so they must drink from glasses with 
the bottoms broken off. After a long talk, we went at last to our boat, 
receiving a cordial invitation to come again tomorrow. We rowed across 
to Knud’s Mai, then by a round about way home, it being after dark 
when we came to the bridge. They had lights in all the windows, so we 
knew we had visitors, and went around to the back door. They were the 
members of Uncle’s card club, with Franz and Regina Hansen and Mrs. 
Nielsen. They remained until almost midnight.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
74
Saturday, 3. 17
 I do wish I could write all we have done today. It would half fill this 
book. This morning we started at half past eight for Flensburg. It has 
been a very fine day all through. This morning we went by the largest 
steamer plying between Sonderburg and Flensburg, “Ernst Gunther.” We 
remained on deck the whole way, I learning quite a little of the history 
of the places along the shore. On the way we passed the Ochsen (Oxen) 
islands, two pretty green spots out in the water, each large enough to 
make a fine dwelling place. We stopped at two watering places, and the 
whole way seemed nothing but summer resorts. One thing attracted 
my attention particularly; a large, queer looking monument on top of a 
little hillock. I inquired what it was, and Doris told me it had been built 
by a very rich old misanthrope for a burying place. She told me too he 
had a wife and children in America, who are very poor. What a history!
 On arriving in Flensburg, we first started to hunt a certain machine 
repairer, who was to repair Aunt’s machine. It took us over an hour to 
find him during which time we tramped up and down the streets, stared 
at all the names on the door plates or dived into alleys, only to find we 
had mistaken the place. At last however, we found it. On the way, Doris 
and I kept together, Inger going in front. Every little while she would 
meet an acquaintance, when they would run on ahead and talk. And 
Doris and I did not meet a single person we knew.
 It was twelve o’clock when we at last disposed of the machine so we 
began to think of eating. But we could not agree as to where it should 
be. One said this place, one the other, and it was half an hour before we 
decided on the steamboat pavilion. While drinking our coffee there, an 
acquaintance of ours from Rinkenis came in and we had a good talk. On 
leaving the pavilion we would walk a short distance before going to the 
photographer. We were walking along, Doris and I of course together, 
Inger apart when she stopped to look at something. While she was look-
ing, we walked quickly around the side of the pavilion. We kept it up for 
sometime, disappearing around the corners just before she caught sight 
of us. At last she started up the street. We darted into an intersecting 
one, and followed. Pretty soon we caught sight of her, walking along 
looking around on every side for us. We took pity on her and disclosed 
A Trip to the Old Country
75
ourselves. Then we all went to Schulz, the photographer.4 He was the 
crankiest one I have ever seen. It took us two hours to have one picture 
taken. I expect they will be beauties when we receive them. They should 
be, at least.
 On leaving the photographer’s, we went into the principal street, as 
the girls wished to buy a few things. We walked a long way, looking at 
shop windows, which by the way are even prettier than before Christmas. 
It is now almost Easter, and one of every two or three windows contained 
Easter eggs, of all kinds from the little ones no larger than bird’s eggs, 
upwards. Together with the many rabbits which accompanied them, they 
made a pretty display. At last we became tired of walking, so boarded 
one of the most comical horse-cars one can imagine. It looked like one 
of our street cars cut in two. They could not very well have a conductor 
on such a car, so all put their ten pfennig in a box in the front of the car. 
By the time our ride was over, it was time to go to the steamer. We went 
back on “Adler,” which I know very well, having been with her several 
times to Sonderburg. Inger was cold and went below, but Doris and I 
remained on deck the whole way. We had a fine trip, and the captain took 
us in to Stranderott, something they very seldom do.
 This evening was full moon and Doris and I went out after dark to 
row. We were out over an hour, for it was almost the finest evening I 
have seen here. Not a breath of wind was stirring and the air was as 
warm as in summer. We had intended to row out to the “Fader Minde” 
but the ship had sailed farther out since we came in, so we rowed only 
out a little way, then let the boat drift while we sang.
Sunday, 3. 18
 This morning we arose very early as we were to be at church at 
eight, and it takes a half hour to walk there. Inger, Amalia, Magda and 
I went first; Doris was to come at ten to the Danish confirmation. The 
4The illustrations on pages 76, 78, and 95 are by Ulla Alberg and appear in the Danish 
translation of Kate’s diary, Kate’s dagbog: Fra præriern til Flensborg fjord. Langenberg 
Trykkeri, Sønderborg, Denmark, 1985.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
76
confirmation class was already in when we came. After the sermon to 
the class, the pastor requested first the boys, then the girls, who sat on 
the opposite side, to repeat the Apostles’ Creed. Then he called them 
one by one to the altar, said a few words to each, blessed them, and let 
them go. Then all together came and received the sacrament. The Dan-
ish confirmation was like the German in all respects, but of the former 
I could naturally not understand much.
 After church, we went through the fields and over half a dozen stiles, 
to the oven to ask them to bring us some butter tomorrow. From there 
we went home through the woods, past Delff’s and through Bladt’s 
fields, then by the Beken way. The day was so warm, we could not bear 
our wraps on, but took them all off.
 As soon as we were well through with dinner, Doris, Inger, Friedrich 
and I took a rowboat, rigged up a sail, and started for Glücksburg, on 
the other side of the Fjord. It was an hour’s sailing, and Friedrich rowed 
almost all the way too. It was the most beautiful weather we have had this 
spring. The sea was smooth as glass. As we went farther out, it appeared 
A Trip to the Old Country
77
as if we were in a great lake, with land on every side of us. Farther and 
farther away the low shore of Stranderott went, nearer and nearer came 
the wooded hills of Glücksburg, everything appearing two-fold, reflected 
in the water. At last we ran alongside of the steamboat landing. On either 
side of the landing is a bath house, very large, fine ones both. Close 
by the shore are two large summer hotels, now closed. Through the 
beautiful gardens of one we passed, then out into the grand Glücksburg 
woods. Through the thickest part our path led, now ascending a hillock, 
now descending into a valley, with the grand, solemn evergreens ever 
above us, and the softest of moss under our feet. At last we emerged 
near Glücksburg Castle, and for the first time in my life I saw a castle 
that more than realized all my dreams. Built out in the waters of a small 
lake, the white walls rise directly out of the water. At each corner is a 
round tower. The windows are few and far apart. The surroundings of 
the castle are in keeping with the old building. Water on all sides but 
one, trees all around the banks. Everything was reflected in the clear, 
glassy lake, the great white castle, the dark evergreens, the blue sky 
above with white clouds flitting across. It was beautiful, beautiful beyond 
description, the realization of a fairy dream. Under the Königs Eiche we 
four sat and enjoyed it all.
 Towards evening we went through the town of Glücks burg, and back 
through the woods. We were alone and the whole way back we sang 
waking the echoes with the sweet old German airs. The sail home by 
moonlight was a fitting close to the happiest day I have had since we left 
America. The wind blew quite hard, and the boat kept rocking. Inger was 
afraid, but we others laughed at her and sang all the way home; about 
all the boat songs we knew. Then I sang them some English songs.
Monday, 3. 19
 This forenoon we were at home. This afternoon Doris and I went to 
Rinkenis, to Meta Clausen, the shoemaker’s daughter’s Confirmation. 
It is here the custom, when one is confirmed to keep open house for 
a week, or so afterwards, and all the friends and acquaintances are ex-
pected to call and drink coffee. For a wonder, there was only one other 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
78
caller at Meta’s, Inger Jespers-
en, a very pretty, pleasant girl. 
We spent the whole afternoon 
at Meta’s, until eight o’clock 
in the evening. We had stayed 
later, but for the fact that I was 
to go to Lucie’s in the evening 
with Uncle and Aunt. When we 
came home, Uncle and Aunt had 
already gone. I followed directly. 
As soon as I arrived, we had sup-
per. After supper, we examined 
and admired the many presents 
and the mass of cards Lucie has 
received, until time for coffee. 
After coffee Lucie and I played 
all our four hand pieces, then 
each of us several tunes alone. 
We stayed until twelve. As we went home I could not help thinking of 
that other night, in Christmas time, when the company at Clausen’s had 
been broken up at this very time, and of the time that followed. This time 
all was quiet, and at home all had gone to bed when we arrived.
Tuesday in Ravnskoppel.
 At last it is over, I have said goodbye to Stranderott. Now I am here 
to remain. But it will not be for long, for I will go back once before we 
go to America. But all that happy home life there among them is at an 
end now.
Friday, 3. 23
 Second day of the “Fest.” Nothing particular has happened, except 
that Aunt Ingeborg from Sonderburg with her daughter Ingeborg and 
fiancé from Flensburg were here this afternoon a few hours. This is the 
A Trip to the Old Country
79
first we had known of Ingeborg’s engagement, and as a consequence 
her poor soldier fiancé (who is about the ugliest one I have seen for a 
long time) was subjected to a close examination by the whole family. I 
almost pitied the poor man.
Saturday, 3. 24
 Third day. Alpha and Grete went to Sonderburg this forenoon, and 
have not returned by the two o’clock steamer, as I could see from my 
daily resort, a pretty little nook on the coast near Aunt Sophie’s, where 
the ground is covered with a thick carpet of moss, relieved here and 
there by large patches of the yellow or of the modest little white daisies. 
I have been here every afternoon since I discovered the spot, writing or 
drawing in this book or [collecting] the shells which are so plentiful up 
and down this beach.
Sunday, 3. 25
 Have done nothing at all on this, the great day of the “Fest.”
Monday, 3. 26
 Easter Monday. Is this “Fest” never to end, I wonder? This evening 
there will be a staid “old people’s” gathering at Ravnskoppel. They will 
all sit and drink coffee, in the intervals of which they will jabber Danish, 
the women will knit, the men, I suppose, play cards. Very interesting all, 
I have no doubt, to them.
Tuesday. 3. 27
 Papa returned from Jutland this afternoon. He says he will probably 
go back soon as Uncle Jörgen will require further aid from him in ren-
ovating the mill.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
80
Wednesday, 3. 28
 Today I have seen that which I have so long wished to see—a real 
Danish wedding. The bride and groom are residents of Dyppøl, and 
there the wedding took place. We were not acquainted with either, al-
though later on we were informed that the groom was a schoolmate of 
Big George’s. Our non-acquaintance mattered nothing however, as all 
in the house were included in the invitation. But when the time came to 
start, only Mamma, Papa, Lorenz, and I went. At ten o’clock we drove 
to Dyppøl church, for the ceremony, which lasted about an hour and a 
half. It seemed strange to us that so few were present (there were not 
more than two dozen persons there). After the ceremony all drove to 
Dyppøl Hotel, about a half mile from the church. It was the first time 
that I had had a really fast ride since I have been here. All drove as 
though running a race, a brass band leading, the carriage containing 
the bride and attendants following, after which came the carriage with 
the bridegroom and attendants who all wore tall stovepipe hats. Then 
followed of course the guests. Arriving at the hotel, we found it almost 
full of people. The first thing of course on the programme was coffee. 
The women drank theirs in a couple of rooms on one side of the hall, the 
men on the other. After coffee we had nothing to do for an hour except 
to stand around and see the new arrivals, or go walking up and down 
the road. Mamma and I preferred the latter, so we walked up and down 
until time for dinner. Dinner was served in the large hall on the second 
floor, which has a stage at one end and is sometimes used as a theater. 
On this occasion hall and stage were filled by long tables. The room 
was very prettily decorated with evergreens and ivy. At one end of the 
room was a table for the bridal party, above which was the motto “Leve 
lykkelg” (Live happily). We sat in a corner at the end of a table, next to 
a Sonderburg merchant, an acquaintance of Papa’s, who speaks some 
English. Dinner lasted about one and a half hours. It was tiresome toward 
the last but would have been more so if the band (from Gravenstein) 
had not played almost the whole time. They play very well, too!
 Dinner over, the time for standing around or going walking came 
again. As Papa has an aunt living not far from the hotel, we decided to 
go there to pass away the time until supper time. We found several other 
A Trip to the Old Country
81
visitors there when we came. Among them was a cousin of Papa’s, who 
speaks good German and with whom we talked a great deal. We remained 
a long time at Papa’s aunt’s, yet we had some time to wait when we re-
turned before suppertime. Supper was the most tiresome part of the day’s 
ceremonies. We sat there two hours and a half at least, or until long after 
dark. Over half of the time was spent in proposing and drinking toasts. 
Mamma only tasted the wine they gave her, and I of course did not even 
taste. So we sat and listened to the Danish speeches. During the intervals 
between toasts, the whole assembly sang, which was a great deal more 
interesting than the speeches, although the songs were all Danish. I 
doubt if they know any German songs here. “All things must have an 
end,” and supper ended at last, after which we went below and waited 
until the hall was cleared of tables and benches, and made ready for the 
dance. We danced some half dozen times, and then went downstairs for 
another queer ceremony. In a small room the bridal pair sat in state, with 
a table in front of them, on which stood a large basket. Each one who 
brought a present came and laid it in the basket, then congratulated the 
couple and drank a glass of wine given him by the groom. Naturally we 
did not drink and Papa was obliged to make apologies for us.
 This ceremony over, we returned to the hall. After about an hour’s 
dancing, the bridal couple came in. At once the floor was cleared. The 
bridal couple took their places at the head of the room and three other 
couples at the sides. The band played several short dances, waltz, polka 
etc., in succession which the four couples danced, after which the crowd 
resumed their dancing. There were so many dancers that it was impossi-
ble for all to dance at once, so at a signal half would form a circle in the 
center of the room, leaving the other half to dance a while, when they 
in their turn formed a circle and the others danced. Mamma was tired 
and danced only once or twice with Papa. Papa danced a great deal. I 
danced about every other dance, but as I knew only Papa and Lorenz, I 
danced mostly with them. We only stayed until one o’clock, as Mamma 
became too tired to stay longer.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
82
Thursday, 3. 29
 Nothing happened today. We are all very tired from yesterday.
Saturday, 3. 31
 Nothing yesterday or today.
Sunday, 4. 1
 This forenoon we sailed over the fjord to Alsen, to see a large carp 
pond on the island. The pond is separated from the sea by a high dyke, 
and extends a quarter of a mile inland. On one side the bank is high and 
covered by a growth of bushes, under which we found more and prettier 
wild flowers than we had ever found there before. Tayblumen, which are 
a species of wild primrose; wild violets, anemones and a species of bell 
shaped flowers, pink when first opened and turning purple with age, we 
found in abundance and each soon gathered a large bouquet. About noon 
we sailed back. Part of us came to Ravnskoppel to put up dinner, as we 
wished to eat out-of-doors. On our return to the boat Ingeborg and Grete 
accompanied us. We sailed this time to the “Grosserholz,” of Sandberg. 
Directly after landing, we ate our dinners, then proceeded to explore the 
wood. The trees are yet of course bare but the ground through the entire 
wood is literally covered by the nodding white anemones. I had never 
before seen so many flowers in one place. We all filled our hands as full 
as they could hold. We walked along the road which runs through the 
wood to the other side, then Papa and the boys returned to the boat to 
sail to the “Schloss,” Mamma and we girls preferring to go by land. The 
greater part of the way we went by a wide, well kept footpath through 
the trees near the shore. The path leads through a gate into the garden 
of the “Schloss,” which is now large and pleasant. After wandering about 
for some time we met Papa, the boys, Lorenz and the tailor’s son, named 
Christian Stangaard, which two latter had followed us in another boat 
from Aunt Sophie’s. On the return sail Ingeborg, Grete, Lorenz, George, 
Alpha and I went in one boat, the others in the other one. We stopped at 
Aunt Sophie’s and left the boats, walking back to Ravnskoppel.
A Trip to the Old Country
83
Monday, 4. 2 - - - - - - - - -
Tuesday, 4. 3
 This morning came a letter from Doris, with an invitation to come to 
Stranderott on Saturday. On Sunday we are to go on a visit to a family in 
Bau, near Kollund, friends of Doris’s. We shall go by steamer to Kollund, 
and from there walk to Bau, going through the Kollund Woods, said to 
be some of the finest along Flensburg Fjord. I am sure we will have a 
fine time.
Wednesday, 4. 4
 Have been busy all day making ready for my visit.
Sunday, 4. 8
 Ugh! Here I am in Ravnskoppel yet and here I am to remain, I think. At 
least, it seems as if it were to be some time before I go back to Stranderott. 
I had of course been expecting to go yesterday. Well, Thursday evening 
I was taken sick with chills, fever, and sore throat and was obliged to go 
to bed. Friday I was in bed most of the day. Yesterday was a little better, 
but of course it was impossible to go. Today I have been up all day, and 
I expect to be quite well by to-morrow. Oh dear, this is the first illness 
I have had for two years, and that it should have come just in time to 
prevent this visit. I am inclined to quarrel with my unlucky stars. - - - -
 Today Uncle Christian and Lorenz’s singing club have had their 
meeting here. They are all men, and sing very well, if their songs were 
not mostly so doleful sounding.
Monday, “Nix.”
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
84
Tuesday, 4. 10
 Today came the letter summoning Papa to Jutland, which we have 
been expecting ever since his last return. He is to go Saturday, and I 
am to go with him, as it will be probably my only opportunity of seeing 
Papa’s relatives there. There is quite a colony of them there, from what 
I hear; Papa’s brother George, with his wife and two children; his sister 
Christine, her husband and two children, and the family at the mill, 
consisting of Pete’s father, Uncle Jörgen, with his son Jacob and wife, 
and his daughter Ingeborg.
Wednesday, 4. 11
 This afternoon we had a very nice trip across to Alsen. Papa had for 
a long time had an invitation from an acquaintance of his, Mr. Jensen 
by name, to come over and make him a visit. So this afternoon we went, 
Papa, the boys, Uncle Christian, Ingeborg and I. We went across in a 
sailboat then walked to Mr. Jensen’s place which is almost on the other 
side of the island. We did not know the road although we could see the 
house, and at last the road we were following led us into a plowed field. 
We struck across this, and kept on over the plowed ground almost the 
whole way. After a long tramp, we came to the house. This place is said 
to be the largest and finest farm on Alsen. The house is very large and 
well furnished, and best of all they have a piano. I had a good time with 
that piano this afternoon. They seem to be a nice family; all speak some 
German, and there are two grown-up daughters. They showed us all 
over the place, even into the barns. I noticed especially the order and 
cleanliness of the barns; everything, cattle stalls, pig stalls and all was 
perfectly clean and free from any unpleasant odor whatever. It forms a 
favorable contrast with some farms I have seen here; but these people 
do not seem to be “in the rut,” of old customs, like most people here, 
and have everything done in a modern and practical manner, instead of 
doing as their ancestors have done for hundreds of years.
A Trip to the Old Country
85
Friday, 4. 13
 Yesterday and to-day spent mostly in working to be ready for the trip 
to Jutland.
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, 4. 24, 25, 26,
 Well, we have been to Jutland and are back again. I did not take this 
book along, so could not write while we were away. I will try and write a little 
about it now. Saturday morning we started by the seven o’clock steamer for 
Apenrade, at which place we arrived at ten. The scenery all along the shore 
was very picturesque, the grass fields were all green, although there was not 
the slightest sign of a leaf on the trees and hedges. In some places where the 
land sloped gently up from the sea we could see a long distance inland, and 
the little fields, some green, some black, outlined by the dark hedge looked, 
as Mamma expressed it before, “just like a crazy-quilt.” Apenrade, where we 
were to take the train for Jutland, is situated at the head of Apenrade Fjord, 
and is about the size of Sonderburg. As we had two hours to wait for our train, 
we went to the home of a cousin of Papa’s, Hans Peter Hanssen, to spend 
the time. Hans Peter is an editor, and is more interested in politics than in 
anything else, being ambitious to become a member of the Reichstag.5
 His wife is almost as much interested in politics as he is himself, and helps 
him with his editorial work. They have three children, the eldest five years 
old. Their house is said to be one of the best in Apenrade, and they have more 
books and papers than in any other place I have seen here. It was interesting 
to hear he and Papa talk, he can talk so fast, and Papa so long. They talked 
the whole time we were there, hardly stopping long enough to eat or drink. 
Everything was either politics or America, or the two together. Hans Peter 
has the most curiosity regarding America of anyone I have seen yet.
5Hans Peter Hanssen, uncle of Kate Hansen, was well known in Denmark. He 
was a famous national leader who headed the movement to return the southern part 
of the Jutland to Denmark after 1864. During the time that southern Jutland was a part 
of Germany, the Danes were permitted two representatives in the German Reichstag. 
When it was announced that only German would be spoken in the Reichstag, Hans Peter 
Hanssen pulled himself to his full height and said, “I am Danish and I will continue to 
speak Danish.” This is a phrase that all Danish children learn about him.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
86
Our Trip to Germany
By Kate I. Hansen
Volume III
 At twelve o’clock we took the train for Börkop, the station nearest to 
Bröndsted Mölle, Pete’s old home. Our journey was uneventful, except-
ing that we changed trains three times and waited half an hour at one 
station. It was five o’clock when we arrived in Börkop, and the distance 
between there and Apenrade is not more than seventy miles. We were 
met at the depot by Pete’s father, Uncle Jörgen, and we all went to Uncle 
George’s, where we remained until dark, then went on to the Mölle. The 
first person we met there was Pete’s eldest brother, Jacob. Papa stopped 
to talk with him, and Uncle Jörgen took me to the house, which is part 
of the same building with the mill. He went in and opened a door, telling 
me to go in before him. I found myself in a great square room, containing 
no furniture excepting two tables, a large pine one covering the entire 
length of the room, and a smaller one, some long backless wooden 
benches, and a chair or two. The inmates of the room, four girls and a 
woman, were all engaged in knitting. When I came in, they all stopped 
work and stared as if they had seen a ghost. Uncle Jörgen pointed out 
Pete’s sister Ingeborg, then left, giving no further introduction. Not one 
of the five could speak a word of German, and the Danish they speak 
is very different from Schleswig Danish. They jerk out their words as 
if it were hard work to speak. It made me almost nervous at first to 
hear them talk. Ingeborg invited me to be seated, so I brought out a 
piece of work I had with me, seated myself on the bench, and began to 
work. We worked until dark, when the men filed in to supper. We were 
quite a crowd: the family here, the two hired girls, the three mill men, 
a carpenter who is working here, and Papa and I. We filled up the large 
table completely. Uncle Jörgen sat at the head, Papa & I next. Supper 
consisted of course of “Grutze.” This was brought in in three or four 
large dishes, and several people ate from the same dish. We ate from 
wooden spoons, about twice the size of an ordinary tablespoon. Supper 
over, we went directly to bed, I sleeping with Ingeborg.
A Trip to the Old Country
87
Hans Peter Hanssen, Peter Hansen’s 
cousin, was a well-known Danish 
leader. He served as one of the two 
Danish representatives in the German 
Reichstag and led the movement to have 
the southern part of Jutland returned to 
Denmark after 1864.
 The next morning and several succeeding ones I spent in exploring 
the surroundings. Of course, we went first of all to the garden, which is 
at the end of the house, but with no door opening directly out into it. It 
is quite large, and even now, early as it is, contains a great many flowers, 
especially pansies and double red daisies. One thing I thought very pretty 
was this—in a shady corner of the garden was placed a table made of an 
old millstone, supported by a stump. It was a quite novel table. At the 
end of the garden, close by the house, flows the stream which comes 
from the water wheel, and only a few steps further is the main stream. 
The two streams unite a short distance farther down and the creek (for 
it is nothing more) forms a pretty picture as it flows softly over its stony 
bed, between its high banks covered with trees which hang far over, 
forming a long vista of green arches over the water. On the other side 
is a small wood, which when we were there was completely filled with 
wild flowers. Violets were in full bloom, besides the common blue ones, 
like ours, there were large purple ones, growing several flowers on one 
stem, after the manner of the Rocky Mountain violets. “Tayblumen” are 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
88
also very numerous, and unusually large. I have found some as large 
as a silver dollar. Another flower not so common was the wild prim-
rose, which is exactly like our tame ones, and of a highly yellow color. 
Anemones were of course the most numerous of all the flowers. I found 
a great many red ones, something which I had not seen in Schleswig. 
The wood is full of bushes, the black plums and hawthornes forming 
the greater part, and as both sorts have long thorns it is not very easy to 
come through without leaving a part of one’s clothing behind on them. 
The plums had just begun blossoming, when we came but when we left 
woods and hedges were white with them.
 The millpond of course is an important part of the surroundings. 
Although much smaller than the millpond in Logan, it is quite pretty 
with trees all around it and containing a small islet with two large trees 
standing up out of the water. When we came there they had no boat, the 
nearest approach to it being a barrel sawed in two lengthwise, the two 
pieces fastened together at the side, and a board laid over them as a seat. 
They had no oars using old shovels instead. Ingeborg wished for a boat, 
so Sunday morning Papa, assisted by the carpenter and the mill men, 
made her one of the flat bottomed ones, like ours at home. They had 
it ready to use by noon, and since that time I do not believe an hour of 
the days has passed without someone’s using it. I have been out a great 
deal by myself too. About a quarter of a mile from the mill is another 
mill, and it is a fine place for rowing between the two places. It requires 
some skill to row this stretch without running ashore for the stream is 
only a few feet wide, and twists and turns in and out the entire distance. 
The trees also hang so low over the water in some places that it is almost 
impossible to pass under. However, despite these slight drawbacks, it 
is a very nice row from Bröndsted to Börkop Mölle and back again. In 
rowing, walking, or in the house with Ingeborg, I passed my mornings 
at the Mölle. Each afternoon we two took a walk to some place or other, 
sometimes accompanied by Hannah, Maria’s sister, who is also here on 
a visit.
 Sunday afternoon we paid a visit to Uncle George in Börkop. I had a 
long talk with him and Aunt Berthi, who, being from Schleswig, of course 
speaks German. I managed also to talk some with my two little cousins 
A Trip to the Old Country
89
there, Hendrick, about seven years old, and Ogneta, about three. Ogneta 
is very pretty, with great blue eyes, and pale complexion, but she is the 
most vain child I have ever seen, I believe. She and Hendrick talked of 
course nothing besides Danish.
 Monday afternoon we walked to the town of Bröndsted, about two 
miles I think, from the Mölle. The village is very prettily situated in a 
little valley, with hills completely surrounding it. We could not see the 
village until we were almost upon it, then on coming to the top of a high 
bank, there lay the village almost at our feet, with its little white houses 
almost hidden by trees. We stayed only a short time there, only long 
enough to see Ingeborg’s old teacher, who lives there.
 Tuesday afternoon we visited Aunt Christine, who lives only about 
a mile from the Mölle. She reminded me very much of Aunt Marie. Her 
two children are very nearly of the same ages as Uncle George, and both 
are lively and not at all bashful. Her husband we saw little of, as he was 
out at work in the fields. Aunt Christine showed me the “King’s Mound” 
while there. It is a hillock on the top of the high hill on which the house 
stands. From thence one can see on the one side over the land to the 
Lille Belt, and across that channel to Funen, and on the other side as 
far inland. It was slightly foggy that day, so we could not see it so well 
as we wished. The clouds continued gathering, and we were caught in 
the rain before we reached the Mölle. Fortunately, the shower passed 
over in a short time, or we would have been wet through.
 Wednesday was an eventful day. At eight in the morning came a new 
miller to the Mölle, in the shape of a baby boy born to Jacob and Maria. 
Uncle Jörgen is “Bedstefaar” now, and thinks his new grandson the most 
remarkable baby that ever lived. It is amusing to hear him talk to it, with 
his great deep voice. Ingeborg too is so interested in her nephew, that 
she has no time to do anything else but attend to him. Maria’s mother 
was at once telegraphed to, and she arrived at the Mölle Thursday. They 
had no room there then for me, so I slept at Uncle George’s during the 
remainder of our visit.
 At nine Wednesday morning Ingeborg, Papa and I started for Fred-
ericia, a city about fifteen miles from Börkop, going by rail. Her brother 
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Chresten, who is in the Danish army, is stationed there, and it was 
principally to see him that we went. Fredericia is a fortified town, being 
surrounded by walls of earth. Chresten was busy when we arrived, so 
we went up on the walls to pass away the time until his regiment should 
have finished drilling. The walls resemble a park more than a fort, in 
my opinion. Grass covered, with trees, seats and walks on the top, it 
seems as though they were only a cool pleasure ground for the city’s 
people. Yet in time of war they form a strong defense as well. It was very 
pleasant there, the walls overlooking the entire city, and on the other 
side commanding a fine view of the surrounding country. It was not far 
to the one end of the wall where we ascended; we walked to the end and 
back, then descended into the city again. At his lodging place we found 
Chresten, a great big quite good-looking soldier. After taking dinner at 
a hotel near by, we all went up on the walls again, this time taking the 
opposite direction. It was even finer there than on the other side; espe-
cially on a long stretch running along the sea, rising almost directly out 
of the water. At last we came to the end, when we descended into the city. 
We walked along the water for some distance, noticing the many ships 
in the harbor, then we turned and went through the city. Fredericia is 
more modern looking than any other old country city I have seen. The 
streets are wide and comparatively straight. The principal ones looked 
almost as well as Topeka streets.
 By the time we had reached Chresten’s boarding place, it was time 
for him to go again to his duties. We followed him to the parade ground, 
and watched the drill. Some of it was comical. Chresten is an under 
corporal, and has charge of a company of nine men. He and several 
other under corporals lead their companies out on the parade ground, 
and each company formed in a circle. Then came some marching and 
counter marching, after which began something which looked just like 
one of those bear dances we see sometimes at home. Each man stood 
up straight and rigid as though on stilts, and then all began hopping 
sideways around the circle. Some times a man would not do it exactly 
right, then the officer would take hold of his arms and, holding him out 
at arm’s length would dance around with him, both as stiffly as though 
moved by machinery. This “bear dancing” with the marching, contin-
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91
ued almost two hours. After that time the companies formed in line, 
marched to another part of the ground, and formed ranks their places 
being taken by others. At a word of command from the officer, each man 
began swinging one arm around like a Dutch windmill. This continued 
some time, after which they began with the other arm. They kept up this 
exercise the rest of the time we remained, about an hour. We could not 
stay longer, as it was nearly train time. On our way back, to the station, 
we passed through a very old churchyard, situated in the very heart of 
the city and containing many interesting old inscriptions. They were all 
Danish, naturally, but I could understand the meaning of most of them, 
and Papa explained the others to me. We reached the station in good 
time for our train, and arrived in Börkop at five. That night I was at the 
Mölle. Thursday I went to Uncle George’s, and remained there most of 
the time. I enjoyed myself very much there. Uncle George and I talked 
English the whole time, excepting when we would explain something to 
Aunt Berthi about America. She has a very old-country way of thinking, 
and we shocked her sadly sometimes with our stories of America, I am 
afraid.
 Friday we were at the Mölle and at Aunt Christine’s. Saturday it 
rained all day. In the afternoon however, we called on a neighbor, an old 
maid school-teacher who speaks German and English, and has a piano. 
She is a very good player, and I enjoyed very much listening to her.
 Sunday we started again for Ravnskoppel. We came as far as Apen-
rade, that afternoon, then passed the night and the next forenoon at Hans 
Peter’s house. The next morning we took a walk through Apenrade. 
We went out of the town some distance, then climbed a steep and lofty 
hill, formerly used as a place of execution. The hill is so steep that one 
ascends by several flights of stairs. The hill is covered with woods, but 
there is an open space at the top. From thence we had a fine view of 
Apenrade and the surrounding country. Apenrade lies in a valley at the 
head of Apenrade Fjord, surrounded on all sides by wooded hills. The 
woods are principally of beech, and have all leaved out since we were in 
Jutland. The foliage is of the tenderest green imaginable, and presents 
a lovely contrast to the sere brown of the other woods. On the trip by 
steamship in the afternoon, we noticed all the woods which when we 
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left had been leafless had become covered with this same light green. 
The “Grosserholz” was especially pretty. We arrived at Ravnskoppel at 
about four in the afternoon. All had gone well during our absence, but 
Mamma had long been wishing for our return.
Friday, 4. 27
 Tomorrow I am to go to Stranderott. I should have gone today, but 
it has rained all day. I shall go by the eight o’clock steamer, and reach 
Stranderott at three. I shall have several days there before the first of 
May, and Inger does not leave until the 2nd or 3rd, so we will be several 
days together yet.
Saturday, 4. 28
 In Stranderott at last. This forenoon I missed my steamer, but did not 
allow such a little thing as that to detain me, so walked to Sonderburg. I 
found the way not at all long, and the steamboat voyage afterward was 
almost the finest I have seen yet. I found all at Stranderott naturally very 
busy preparing for Inger’s departure. This evening Inger had a farewell 
party.
Sunday, 4.29
 We had a fine time yesterday evening. Almost all of our acquaintances 
were here; the entire company from the Ofen, with a couple from Bekin, 
and several others from the surrounding country. We passed the evening 
as usual in talking, singing and dancing, the company not leaving until two 
o’clock. We shall all come together again tomorrow evening at Kathrine 
Bladt’s farewell party. Both she and Inger seem very glad to be going 
away. I cannot understand it at all. The Holebüll people where Inger goes, 
seem very nice, but they are almost absolute strangers to her. It seems 
strange to me that she should like to go out to work in this manner. It is 
not so bad for Kathrine as she goes to her grandparents. I am glad that 
Doris is not to go away entirely, as she is to pass the nights at home.
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Monday, 4.30
 We had a good time again this evening. We went at seven o’clock 
and were among the first to arrive. We three and Christine Ebsen went 
together, Friedrich not coming until later, as he was detained by his 
fireman’s drill at Rinkenis. All of the girls, a dozen or more, were there 
before any of the boys came, and we played all sorts of wild games out in 
the field. The hill on which Bladt’s house is situated, commands a good 
view of Stranderott and the Rinkenis Road, and when Friedrich appeared 
on the road, way down below, we all climbed up into the hedge and waved 
our handkerchiefs. At last we went in to coffee, and before we had been 
in long, the others came stringing in one at a time. This evening we had 
music, and dancing the entire evening until three o’clock. When at last 
the goodnights were spoken, they all closed with the hope of “[?].”
 Today we worked all day and were very tired by evening. Inger 
had intended to go to the Ofen this evening with Christine Ebsen, but 
Christine did not go, so poor Inger must stay at home. It was hard, that 
she must go without saying goodbye to “C[?].“ This evening about dark 
Friedrich got a boat and we rowed out to a large Swedish vessel anchored 
near [?] Hoff. It was comical to hear their strange talk of which we could 
scarcely understand a word. When we left, we sang, “Spinn, Spinn” (A 
Swedish Song) at them, and the sailors all came to the side of the ship 
and waved at us as long as we were in sight.
Thursday, 4.31
 Well, we are alone, that is, Inger has left us as well as Doris. Inger 
left shortly after noon, her employer Herr Lornzen, coming for her. It 
does seem a little lonesome with both of the girls gone and the children 
in school at the long days. However, I am expecting Alpha almost any 
day, as she is to stay with me while the others go to Jutland. She will 
make it interesting enough for us all, no doubt.
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Saturday, 5.4
 Alpha has come at last. Mamma and Papa brought her with them 
from Broacker where they, with Uncle Christian’s family, had gone to 
the yearly fair. They remained here until the afternoon boat, by which 
they returned to Sonderburg. It has been very windy today, and the 
Fjord is covered with whitecaps. The smaller boats on the Fjord go up 
and down, and tip from side to side, until it seems as though they would 
surely go over. But they never do. I am told that it is very seldom indeed 
that a sailboat is sunk in Flensburg Fjord. Despite what they say of the 
perfect safety of these boats, I should not care to venture out in such a 
sea as there is today.
Sunday, 5.5
 This morning we all went to church. On our way we met Matilda Delff 
and her mother, with whom I had a very pleasant conversation. Alpha was 
an object of much curiosity to the people at church, as they had never 
seen her before. On our way back, we went past the Ofen, as usual, and 
through the woods. The way seems to become lovelier every time we 
go. Now all the fields are literally covered with the purple and white and 
yellow heartsease, and look like great gardens of pansies rather than 
commonplace wheat or oats fields. In the woods the [?] are beginning 
to blossom, and also a very sweet scented little flower much like a lily 
of the valley. Each of us gathered great bunches to carry home with 
us. The children had a great time this afternoon. All of the Stranderott 
children, Amalie, Magda, Heinrich, Henning, Andreas, Margrethe, and 
little Mete Clausen, with Kathrine and Marie Böysen from Beken, had 
a great “children’s ball” down in the packing house. It was amusing to 
watch the way in which they imitated their elders. Each of the girls had 
adorned herself with flowers, the heads of the elder ones being so cov-
ered they looked like great bouquets. They had cut out stars to be given 
to the boys, as at our Christmas ball. They were a pretty sight as they 
went through their quaint dances, with faces as earnest as though they 
were on parade. Little Mete, only five years old, was as pretty a picture 
as could be imagined, as she danced the Hamburger with Andreas. It 
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95
seems to be as natural for these 
children to dance, as for Amer-
ican children to walk. They do 
it more gracefully than many a 
grown-up American.
5. 6. to 5. 11
 This week has been quiet, 
being the week before Fingsten 
but very pleasant. We have been 
out two or three times; Alpha, 
Friedrich and I. One evening we 
went to the Kostors in Rinkenis; 
another evening to the Pastor’s. 
At the latter place especially we 
enjoyed ourselves greatly; Alpha with little Mete and Martin, we others 
in talking with the Pastor and in seeing all his antiquarian treasures. One 
which he has lately acquired, is an old cup, about a foot high, which once 
belonged to a King of Denmark. I enjoyed the great honor of drinking 
coffee from it; an honor indeed for he prizes it so he scarcely allows any-
one else to touch it. Alpha behaved pretty well, except that she shocked 
everyone by calling the Pastor “Du.” He, with Mete & Martin, has also 
been to visit us. The little ones brought their violins along, and sang and 
played. Truly, that five-year-old Mete is a genius; her playing would do 
credit to a grown-up person, and her voice is wonderfully strong, clear 
and sweet.
Sunday, 5. 11
 First day of Fingsten. Mamma & Papa and the boys are here from 
Jutland. This forenoon we went to church, we have quite a joke on Mam-
ma about it. She and Papa were of course together, we others a little in 
advance; we were a little late, so walked somewhat faster than usual. In 
looking back, we discovered them far behind us. We kept on until we 
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reached the church, then waited some time until their arrival. I have 
never seen anyone before so disgusted as Mamma. How she did scold 
us for telling them it was but a little way. But it is really not far; only about 
two miles. We generally walk there in half an hour. However, she thinks 
that a dreadful distance; I suppose she will never go walking with us again 
after this. This afternoon part of us went by steamer to Glücksburg. But 
how different it was from the day we four went! I suppose I ought to have 
enjoyed it, but Glücksburg, crowded with people, filled with noise was 
very different from the solemn silent woods and lovely castle we saw 
that day. And our return by steamer to Randershof, with the long walk 
back in a drizzling rain storm, compared with that moonlight sail! But 
I made a resolution today, which, if I could only keep it, would make 
all this better; as a reminder of which, I have placed some yellow sage 
blossoms gathered today, in this book.
 Only one fortunate thing has happened today. At Glücksburg we met 
some of Doris’ friends of Bau, who have invited us to visit them next 
week. So I am to have a few more days here. How near the parting seems 
now! But I will not think of it now, for I will enjoy what time I have yet.
Monday, 5. 12
 Second day. We have been resting today, preparing for the last and 
greatest day, tomorrow. Lorenz arrived here today, and Papa, Mamma, 
the boys & Alpha left.
Wednesday, 5. 14
 What a day yesterday was! A day so filled with new happenings, I shall 
never be able to tell all. This morning we went by steamer to Kollund. 
Thence we walked through the Kollund woods to Wassersleben. The 
place was filled with people in gay attire; even in the remotest depths 
of the woods we would come upon gay groups of people, who gave a 
touch of color to the rather sombre evergreens. The Kollund woods are 
lovely, with deep ravines cutting them in several places. In the evening 
we proceeded to Süderhoff, where many of our friends were gathered 
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97
for the grand ball. Never had I enjoyed one as I did this; the dancing 
lasted until about two in the morning. Lucie was here, her first ball. 
During the evening, we missed Inger, and spent a long time searching 
for her, but without success. Finally she reappeared, and we managed to 
find out that she had been in the garden with C[?]. Things look serious, 
indeed. Our walk home was the best of all. It is about four miles from 
Stranderott to Süderhoff. A part of the way lay through dense woods. 
Never, so long as I live, will I forget those woods, so deep and dark that 
the moonlight could be seen only here and there through the branches. 
We were a merry party: Christine Ebsen, Anna Böysen, Doris, Inger, 
Peter & Christian Hansen from the Ofen, Friedrich and I. But this is 
probably the last time we shall be so together.
 This week has been quiet but happy. I have been at home most of 
the time; the best place. One day I went with Aunt to Gravenstein; and 
on the way she told me something which has occupied me ever since. 
Dita Thaysen is engaged to a cousin of hers, one of whom I never heard 
before. I wish I had known this awhile ago, for I have been puzzling my-
self very much with certain mysteries, which this news clears up very 
nicely. Doris says she does not believe it. I would pass over our visit to 
Bau. It was quite pleasant, but I would rather have been at home. I have 
spent a day with Inger, that too was quite pleasant.
 In Ravnskoppel, again. Papa & Mamma on the Rhine, and I keeping 
house for the children. If this were only Stranderott, I could desire noth-
ing more. Papa & Mamma returned, bringing news. We start for America 
in a few days. We have had one grand day here; all of Papa’s old friends, 
and many of our family were here as were all the Stranderott people but 
Uncle & Doris. All afternoon we wandered about the country, excepting 
for a short time, while sitting for a picture. And how lovely everything 
is! I never discovered half the beauty of the hawthorne and the violets 
and the hyacinths, the marguerites and the poppies, until this day. Best 
of all, in the evening I returned to dear Stranderott. It almost made me 
forget the parting so near.
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98
 It is over now. I have said goodbye forever, no, not forever, but for 
years at least. I tried to bear up when they all crowded around with their 
farewells. All farewells; except a single Auf Wiedersehen. May it be so. 
May we indeed meet again in our own country, and never part as we 
have today!
 The day was dull and gray; and it seemed fitting that my last glimpse 
of dear, dear Stranderott should be through a veil of falling rain, nature’s 
own tears. - - - -
 All afternoon, until five o’clock we were on the train. Almost as soon 
as we had left Flensburg, the country became a barren waste, covered 
with sage brush. Scarcely a tree was to be seen, the hedges were re-
placed by low walls of earth, the houses were few and mean-looking. 
Here is the place where a great part of the turf burned in Germany is 
procured. Field after field we saw, in some of which the land had lately 
been broken while in others the turf was piled all over the fields, in little 
cone shaped piles. For miles this continued, a dreary desert in the very 
heart of Germany, stretching away on either side on a dead level, the 
dull brown of the sage brush only relieved here and there by the lurid 
glow of its yellow blossoms. It was a dull, cloudy day, with rain every little 
while. We arrived in Hamburg in the midst of a shower, and hurried to 
the office of the steamboat company. There we were delayed until almost 
seven, at which time we went on board our steamer. At ten we steamed 
away from the pier.
 Threading our way in and out among the vessels in the harbor, we 
soon left the [?] behind us. The night was dark, but clear and still, and 
as we went farther out, the numberless lights, in the shipping and city, 
were seen shining out of the darkness, a beacon to all who enter the 
harbor. Directly behind us were the lights of the [?], seemingly arranged 
in long rows down to the water on either side on the banks of the river. 
Here and there appeared a solitary sailing vessel’s red or green light 
with its reflection in the water like a fiery dragon coming up from the 
depths, ever striving to reach the surface never succeeding.
 At last the lights on the vessels began to be but few and far between. 
Those on shore had already become a shimmering mass of light. Soon 
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99
they faded from sight entirely leaving everything still and dark, and 
then, with a last “Goodbye to Germany” we left the deck and sought our 
cabins.
 I will pass over the next day and the forenoon of the day following 
as four of us were seasick during that time, and seasickness is not ex-
actly pleasant to write about. Sunday at noon we arrived in the port of 
Hartlepool, England. It rained during the entire afternoon, so we were 
obliged to remain on board the ship.
Monday, 6. 11
 This morning at seven we left the ship for the railway station accom-
panied by a number of our fellow passengers and by the agent of the 
Company, who led us through the worst streets and alleys I have seen 
for some time. On arriving at the station, we found that we had almost 
two hours to wait, but we remained there until train time. Our train went 
first to Newcastle. The scenery along the route was not very pretty. The 
land is quite flat, and everything has a smoky, blackened appearance. 
The coal-mines, of which there are so many especially around Newcastle, 
do not improve the appearance of the landscape. In Newcastle we again 
waited two hours for our train. We took a walk through some of the 
streets, but everything here looked so dirty and smoky that we did not 
care to go far. From Newcastle the ride was not far to Berwick, where we 
saw a portion of the old wall of the town. Out of Berwick, we were soon 
in Scotland. Everything, in my imagination at least, improved greatly in 
our crossing the Border. The land became more rocky and hilly, with a 
great deal more woods. Every little while we would catch glimpses, as 
we whirled by, of the loveliest ferny glens, with brooks rushing down, 
forming mimic cascades and waterfalls. Here, too, I for the first time 
saw a number of real old ruins, old crumbling walls, many ivy covered, 
peeping out from among the trees. For a long distance, almost to Edin-
burgh, our route ran near the sea, and we often caught glimpses of the 
shore. Once, away out in the water, we saw a high rock island, the dark 
cliffs almost perpendicular. A great part of the time the road ran through 
great walls of dark rocks, and tunnels were quite numerous. It became 
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100
more and more rocky as we neared Edinburgh. In that place we were to 
change for Glasgow. Of course, as soon as we left the train we all looked 
for the Castle. “There it is!” exclaimed Mamma, pointing to the right 
and there, up on the hill, was a structure with towers and battlements, 
very much resembling a castle, although a little modern in appearance. 
We all stood, however, in rapt admiration, until Mamma, for certainty’s 
sake, asked the guard if that building were not the Castle. He laughed 
as he replied “That is the jail.” Our disgust can be imagined. “Look to 
the left when you come out of the first tunnel,” he added “and you will 
see the Castle.” We did as directed on emerging from the short tunnel, 
and it was a grand sight which we saw. There, rising directly from the 
railway, was the Castle Hill, seemingly formed entirely of black rock, 
the ancient gray walls and towers of the Castle crowning the summit. 
We were not allowed to enjoy it very long, however. It seemed only a 
minute after leaving the tunnel before we rushed into another long one, 
and when we emerged from it the Castle was lost to view, and we were 
out in the country again. We went very swiftly the rest of the way, only 
stopping a few times. Midway between Edinburgh and Glasgow we 
caught sight for a short time of the distant hills of the Highlands, rising 
dark and frowning above the fertile plain. At last, after passing through 
the longest tunnel of our journey we arrived in Glasgow. We were met 
by the Company’s agent, who conducted us to our hotel. This evening 
after supper we took a short street car ride up the street a little way and 
walked back.
Tuesday, 6. 12
 This forenoon we spent in the hotel. Directly after noon we started 
by rail for Stirling. The ride took only three quarters of an hour, and was 
through the most picturesque of Lowland scenery. It seems as if we can 
never tire of this ever changing panorama of hill and valley, wood and 
field, resting so quietly under the summer sun, and seeming to speak of 
peace and contentment. But the Highlands, almost surrounding Stirling, 
tell a different tale; these rocky, wooded mountains speak of the days of 
war long past, of the fierce Caledonians whose home it was in the days of 
the Romans, and whose descendants became the Highland clans of later 
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101
date; of the wars with the Northmen of Scotland’s long, long struggle 
with England for independence, during which so many bloody battles 
were fought about Stirling; and of the bold Scottish clans who for so 
long upheld the claims of the unfortunate Stuarts to the throne of their 
ancient kingdom. A wonderful locality is this Stirling. It has been a field 
for battles since the Romans built the first castle on the bold jutting rock, 
the strongest place in all Scotland. It would be useless to try to describe 
the Castle, for all we saw there would fill a volume in itself. The old church 
of Stirling is very interesting, here the ill-fated Mary was crowned, on 
her return from France, when her future appeared without a dim spot 
on its brilliancy; here her son, the Baby James, was crowned, while his 
mother, was raising armies against her rebel lords. Unhappy Mary! As 
we stood there where she had stood, it almost seemed as though we 
could see her there, in all her splendor, youth and beauty. And yet she 
was fated to spend her later years in prison to be finally executed. The 
instability of human greatness!
 Everything has seemed like a dream today. The old heroes of Scot-
land have seemed almost as living beings, while this practical age has 
seemed far away. As we lingered in the room where the King of Scotland 
slew the Douglas, it seemed as though I could see the King and the 
Douglas standing there, the King trying to persuade Douglas to aban-
don the league against the Crown, the haughty refusal of Douglas, the 
rising passion of the King, and the sudden thrust with which he ended 
forever the rebellion of the dark Earl. Even the atmosphere of the room 
was damp and musty, like a burial vault, while the semi-darkness added 
to the eerie effect. I think we were all glad to pass from it into the open 
air, and to gaze from the walls upon the beautiful landscape spread out 
before us. Almost at our feet the sparkling Forth went winding in and 
out between its bright green banks, here and there connected by an 
ancient bridge. The plain, dotted here and there with cheerful looking 
farm houses, stretched away to meet the horizon, while on the verge we 
could just see the city of Edinburgh. As we looked in another direction, 
we saw the rugged Highlands closing the view. In one place the rock 
descends almost perpendicularly from the Castle walls. In the valley 
were the lists just as they had been in the days of chivalry. Outside the 
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Castle, almost directly above the lists, was a spot slightly elevated above 
the rest, which was called the Ladies’ rock. Here the ladies of the court 
stood and watched the tournaments in the olden time.
 I jotted down some of the principal places, as I was not sure of hav-
ing time to describe them. I should have liked to remain in the Castle 
all day, but we were obliged to return to Glasgow, the same afternoon. 
Rain began falling soon after we entered the train, and on our arriving 
at Glasgow, it was coming quite hard. Nevertheless we started to walk 
to our hotel, but the way being longer than we expected, we were quite 
drenched before we reached it.
Wednesday 6. 13
 Today we have spent in wandering about the city. We visited the 
Glasgow Cathedral this morning, a very interesting building, although 
not very old as compared to Stirling Castle. We have also visited one of 
the parks and the Glasgow Museum. While there, I saw several very 
interesting objects, one was the original paper of the Covenant, with 
many signatures of the early Covenanters attached; another was Burns’ 
“Scots wha hae” in the poet’s own writing, and an autograph letter of his. 
There is quite a display of modern curiosities there, but they were not 
especially interesting to one who has seen the World’s Fair.
 The next day our steamer sailed. The “City of Rome” is a very large 
ship, carrying a thousand passengers when filled. There were not so 
many, however, on this trip, which made it more pleasant for all. We sailed 
down the Clyde, between miles of shipping, until at last we left smoky 
dirty Glasgow far behind us, and were sailing between green hills. Far 
down the river we passed the great rock of Dumbarton, which stood 
boldly up out of the water, crowned with the ruined Castle. It seemed 
almost perpendicular and it is a great mystery to me how it could ever 
have been scaled by a hostile force. But soon we left “bonny Scotland” 
behind us, and shortly afterward we were nearing the Emerald Isle. 
We put in at Donegal to take on some new passengers, then we started 
out across the Atlantic once more. Before we were out of sight of land 
I began to be seasick and went below. This time my sickness was very 
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103
much worse than ever before, so were all of us. Even Alpha kept her 
berth for nearly a day. I was in a very bad place, being directly over the 
screw, which, as I lay there unable to raise my head from the pillow, 
seemed forever turning, turning in my brain itself. I was sick nearly the 
whole way across. When we neared the Banks of Newfoundland, a fog 
covered us, so dense that we could not see the ship’s length ahead of 
us. It was inexpressibly dreary; that cold damp veil hiding everything, 
the foghorn blowing continually, with its dull, hoarse sound. Still, it was 
quite lively among the passengers. There were about a dozen of us who 
were together continually, and such talking! Everything was discussed. 
Most of the passengers were Scotch and there was several in our circle, 
also a German, a California sea captain, and a young American couple, 
who had seen nearly all of Europe. A great feature of our daily life was 
the promenading on the deck. Up and down, up and down we would go, 
two or three together to keep from falling. One evening I was on deck in 
this way until eleven o’clock. It was of course damp, and the decks were 
dirty; my dress and hat were a sorry spectacle when I finally descended 
to our cabin. Two evenings we had entertainments to which each con-
tributed anything he could. A young Scotchman, by name Mr. Hamilton, 
was our principal performer. He spoke several comic Scotch pieces in 
a way I have never seen equaled. Altogether, it was a pleasant voyage, 
sea-sickness of course excepted. I was almost sorry when we arrived in 
New York. Our last day was beautiful. I have never before seen the water 
so dazzlingly blue as then. We entered New York in the evening, when 
the city was one blaze of electric lights. Directly before us lay the city 
itself, one mass of light; nearer, the light in the Statue of Liberty shone 
like a great star, while at our right, the double row of lights on Brooklyn 
bridge made great archways over the water. Our Scotch friends were all 
enthusiasm. Mr. Hamilton declaring that “if America were all like that, 
it would be the most beautiful place in the world.” I think he will make 
a good citizen; he is certainly too much of a radical for Britain.
 Our last evening on board was a very lovely one. We anchored down 
in the bay. All the evening gayly lighted steamers kept passing us. The 
passengers were all on deck, and we had a great deal of singing. Everyone 
seemed very happy to be so near the journey’s end. Tomorrow we shall 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
104
separate, probably never to see each other again. To what different lots 
are we all going. Many to begin life in a strange country, some among 
strangers, some among friends who have preceded them; all with high 
hopes for the future in the land of opportunity. May they be realized!
 The next morning we left the ship. The tiresome waiting at the Cus-
tom House while our baggage was examined being over, we drove at 
once to the station, from whence we started for Philadelphia. Our railway 
journey home would almost fill another volume, did I describe it fully. We 
passed the night in Philadelphia, also the next morning, when we went 
shopping. It seemed very queer, after the old country. At noon we started 
again passing through Washington, then into Virginia, through Harper’s 
Ferry (a very beautiful place), thence direct to Kansas City, thence by a 
round about way to Topeka, where we stopped for some days, over the 
Fourth of July. I do not especially like the way they celebrate the Fourth 
in cities. On my birthday, the fifth, we went to Beloit, here we remained 
a few days, and from there we went home, finding everything in good 
condition there. Needless to say we are glad to get back.
105
 Education began to transform Kate when she was quite small. With 
an ideal learning environment, the needed supplies, and encouragement 
by her parents, she took advantage of every learning opportunity. From 
her earliest years she had a determination to excel and a desire to 
achieve. This desire was never stilled and had far-reaching implications.
 From early childhood on, her life was filled with music, foreign lan-
guages, travel, flowers, literature, and writing. These activities delighted 
her with a realization of wonderful possibilities. She loved her family 
and her country and exhibited a deep interest in both government and 
politics throughout her life. The power of the education that took place 
in the Hansen family of Logan, Kansas, is evidenced by the productive 
lives of the Hansen children. Each in his or her own way eventually 
became a towering figure. Kate’s beloved parents instilled a dedication 
and constant striving in their offspring that would lead to achievement 
of worthy goals and making a real difference in the world.
 The Peter Hansen household provided Kate a rich learning environ-
ment. To this was added the various extended periods of more formal 
schooling that polished and enhanced her talents. She attended the 
public elementary school in Logan. There she was a rapid learner and 
loved school work. She kept notebooks on each subject and learned the 
art of careful study of a subject. She supplemented formal study with 
related activities and extracurricular activities as she applied her lessons 
Chapter 3
An Education and a Calling
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
106
outside the school room setting. At the age of twelve, she graduated in 
1891 from the grade school in a class of three boys and eight other girls.
 A half century later, Kate would remember her early educational 
experiences and would compare them with later developments in the 
schools of America:
 Looking back after over 50 years in the teaching profession in Kansas, in 
Denver, Colorado and in Sendai, Japan, I think that my six years spent in com-
pleting the eight grades of the Logan school of that time were well spent in a 
very good school. Every once in awhile, I recognize in some supposedly new 
and very up-to-date idea in educational circles something which the still active 
pioneer spirit and the good common sense of those pioneer teachers led them 
to do in their schools, quite naturally and with no fuss about it. There was less 
of mass-education, less of the jargon of present-day pedagogy, more attention 
paid to individuals and more responsibility put directly on individual pupils 
for getting lessons with a minimum of help. Years later, when I was beginning 
work as a teacher in the grades in District One, Denver, in their advice to new 
teachers, we were told among many other things, to look for students who 
seemed capable of doing the work of the next grade above them, and after 
The Hansen home in the early twentieth century. Kate’s brother, Dane, is shown driving 
his 1907 Reo, the first automobile in Logan.
An Education and a Calling
107
making sure, to recommend them for special promotion; and I remembered 
how my teachers in the old frame schoolhouse in Logan had done that same 
thing to me twice. There are still, in schools just out of the period of the one-
room pioneer school, much of the real pioneer spirit, with all that that implies.1
 Continuing her education, she went to Topeka to start high school 
at the College of the Sisters of Bethany. There she enrolled in several 
courses including instrumental music, vocal music, scripture, reading, 
writing, spelling, rhetoric, algebra, physical geography, and history. In 
the ten courses, she earned either a “perfect” or near-perfect grade. She 
didn’t like the school, however, so she transferred to the public high 
school in Beloit, Kansas, where her Aunt Kate Troup Cookingham lived.
 When Kate and her family traveled to Denmark in 1893–94, her high 
school education was interrupted. She attended school in Schleswig 
while the family was abroad. This experience permitted her to learn Ger-
man and acquire a perspective on political issues of the late nineteenth 
century. It was a good prelude to further high school education.
 Back in Beloit, she lived with her Aunt Kate. She enrolled for a heavy 
load of courses: algebra, English, natural philosophy, German, zoology, 
drawing, writing, and rhetoric. Again her grades were near perfect and 
her deportment was 100%.
 In the 1894–95 school year, she took geometry, English literature, 
natural philosophy, German, drawing, and writing. Her deportment re-
mained at 100% and she had perfect attendance. Her grades were near 
perfect.
 In her last year at Beloit High School, 1895–96, she enrolled in ge-
ometry, English, Constitution, German, geology, and writing. As in the 
past, her grades were near perfect and her attendance was 100%. She 
graduated from high school in the class of 1896.
 In two previous summers, she and her brother George had attended 
the Normal School at Phillipsburg to prepare for applying for a teacher’s 
1Kate I. Hansen, “Early Schools of Logan,” Kanhistique, Vol. 3, No. 6 (October 
1977), p. 4.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
108
certificate. As a high school graduate, she took the county teachers’ ex-
amination. She passed easily with relatively high scores on the subjects 
covered: orthography (spelling), reading, writing, English grammar, 
composition theory, geography, arithmetic, U.S. history, Constitution of 
the United States, bookkeeping, physiology and hygiene, and elements 
of natural philosophy.
 The minimum grade required to pass was 60, but Kate’s lowest score 
was 85. The required average grade for all the tests was 80, but Kate’s 
average was 94 2/3. She received her license to teach on August 1, 1896. 
It was numbered 102, indicating that more than a hundred certificates 
had previously been issued in Phillips County. The license was good for 
two years.
 Her first teaching position was at a rural school just east of Marvin 
in Phillips County. Her mother had also taught in this school initially.
 The following year, 1896–97, Kate taught and served as assistant 
principal of the grade school in Logan, her hometown. One of her sixth-
grade pupils was her brother, Dane Gray Hansen, who later became a 
successful entrepreneur in northwest Kansas.
 Kate worked in her Aunt Kate’s millinery store in Beloit and taught 
private music lessons in 1898. Kate’s mother, Alpha Hansen, operated 
a millinery shop in her home in Logan, Kansas. It was located on the 
southwest corner of what is now the Hansen Plaza block. In 1899, Kate 
and her brother George moved to Lawrence to attend the University of 
Kansas.
 With mixed emotions, Kate left the University in 1901 after earning 
a music teacher’s certificate and took a teaching position in the Denver, 
Colorado, public schools. Her assignment was teaching music and Ger-
man.
 She returned to KU in 1903, and in 1905 Kate completed all work at 
the University. By that time she was well known as a scholar and for her 
love for music. She was active in religious organizations, particularly the 
Young Women’s Christian Association, and various other extracurricular 
activities. In February 1905 she was awarded a Phi Beta Kappa Key.
An Education and a Calling
109
 One KU professor, Carl Preyer, exerted great influence on Kate. 
Professor Preyer, a gifted teacher and musician, was highly respected 
by his students. He confirmed and supplemented Kate’s fierce determi-
nation to strive for excellence. Exposure to such an outstanding teacher 
caused his students to aspire to greatness also.
 Preyer had the traits and the skills of a superbly successful teacher: he 
was clear minded, orderly, painstaking exact, and acutely sensitive to causes 
of technical and subsequent emotional security. This last trait allowed him 
to compliment a student only on rare occasions, praise being limited to the 
very best work. He supplemented his great natural gifts with a studiousness, 
a devotion to truth, an expenditure of energy in his teachings, that made his 
lessons and his analyses of the complicated facts of his specialty live as dramatic 
realities in the minds of his students. The suppressed enthusiasm, the elevated 
tone, the sense of responsibility, the tenderness and delicacy—all of which he 
Kate worked in her Aunt Kate Troup Cookingham’s millinery store in Beloit in 1898. 
This photo is of the store’s exhibit that won a blue ribbon at the Kansas State Fair in the 
early 1890s.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
110
conveyed so eloquently by word and manner—made his students understand 
how much he himself valued the lessons which he tried to teach, and feel the 
implications that his manner and conduct conveyed. His teaching was of such 
quality that his pupils could readily accept college faculty positions.2
 Kate mirrored Professor Preyer’s valuable contributions to her 
sense of perfection and love of music in her own lifestyle and teaching 
practices.
 During her University years, and especially some months before 
her graduation, Kate struggled with her own ambiguous, uncertain, 
and shifting grounds of desire and outlook for her own life. Noting the 
decisions and plans of her friends, she entered into a wrenching period 
of lonesome soul-searching for the answer to a real life dilemma. Slowly 
but surely she saw the light and came to a firm decision on what she 
wanted to do with her life. It was a rebirth intellectually for her that 
resolved most major issues and problems.
 Deborah Spector, a young KU student who discovered Kate’s writing 
in the late 1970s, commented on the intensity and importance of Kate’s 
soul searching and subsequent spiritual awakening:
[Kate was] a student searching for her identify and her place in the world—a 
young woman of unusual intelligence and sensitivity who, in her second year 
as a University of Kansas student, pledged herself to a life of Christian service 
in the foreign mission. . . . In the pages of Kate Hansen’s private diary written 
during her sophomore year of college [is] a poem in which she expressed her 
sense of blossoming into womanhood with a clear identity of herself and of 
what she wanted to do. But in that poem Kate also recognized that she had 
come through a time of deep inner turmoil and confusion about herself before 
she experienced what was for her a deep spiritual awakening. She titled her 
poem in German—almost her second language—“Blüthezeit,” a word which 
refers to the blossoming stage of a flowering plant. And the third verse of the 
poem shows clearly her progression from a time of self-doubt to a time of more 
certain knowledge about herself:
2Howard F. Gloyne, The Story of a Kansas Musician. The University of Kansas, 
1949, p. 59.
An Education and a Calling
111
It is the Blüthezeit, (she writes.)
After long years of hesitating, doubt,
Of trying this and that, of wandering about,
Of seeking for an aim to satisfy—
To make it worth the while to live at all;
Of self-contempt that turned to bitterest gall
The slightest thought of nobler end—to die
Would be no gain, since I must surely be
My miserable self through all eternity!
And after all these things has come the light . . .
For Kate, the “light” meant her decision to join the Student Volunteer Move-
ment for Foreign Missions, one of the most influential campus Christian youth 
organizations of her day.3
*  *  *  *  *
This [struggle for self-knowledge] was especially difficult for a person such as Kate 
Hansen because she knew that she would never be content with the usual or the 
mundane. No “monotonous round of domestic duties,” she wrote in a college 
essay; no being a “secondary person following the fortunes of some man,” she 
insisted; no “submitting to the whims of a Petruchio,” said our Kate who even 
liked to call herself—like the untamable Kate of Shakespeare’s play—“Kate the 
Shrew.” To Kate Hansen, all of the advantages were to be found quite literally 
in the life of the “Old Maid” as she called it or “career woman.” For such a 
woman was open the “broadness of culture,” “the opportunity for a career,” 
a “life in the world,” and above all, the “power of independent thought.” Kate 
Hansen may have been ahead of her times but she stuck to her convictions 
and lived the life she always dreamed of.4
 From the time she made her decision to become a Student Volunteer, 
Kate lived rather creatively. She met life’s challenges head-on with cour-
3The student movement “to win the world for Christ in this generation” was a pow-
erful influence for late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century young people all across 
America. Many idealistic college and university students heard the call. Local campus 
chapters and societies kept the fires burning as the opportunities opened up around the 
world. The local churches and congregations also supported the young Christians with 
special services and revivals. The emphasis was placed on making “your life count by 
volunteering for a life of service to promote Christianity and bring the light to peoples of 
foreign lands who were in darkness.” Songs and hymns were used effectively in getting 
“decisions” and commitments for lifelong service.
4Deborah Spector, graduate student at the University of Kansas, speech delivered 
at the 100th birthday celebration of Kate Ingeborg Hansen, Dane G. Hansen Memorial 
Museum, Logan, Kansas, July 8, 1979.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
112
age and imagination. Ill at ease unless she was growing and flourishing, 
she constantly surveyed new possibilities in her daily routines. While 
her activities did not always meet the expectations of others, including 
her parents, she nevertheless pursued her dream and her destiny, not-
ing progress from time to time. Among these departures from general 
expectations were not remaining as a school teacher, nor working in a 
business of some kind, nor getting married, and surprisingly, electing 
to become a Christian missionary in far-off Japan. Her actions clearly 
showed that she realized that she had to prepare specifically for the future 
she desired: a combination of music, teaching, and Christian service.
 After graduating from KU, Kate returned to Denver to teach. She 
was, however, still determined to qualify as a missionary teacher. And 
in due time she was appointed by the Reformed Church in the United 
States to teach at a girl’s school in Japan. She left the United States in 
1907 to start her missionary journey to Sendai, Japan, 200 miles north of 
Tokyo, the capital city. There she would work for nearly half a century.
An Education and a Calling
113
 Kate wrote the paper “Advantages of Being An Old Maid” for a com-
position class in her second semester at the University of Kansas. In her 
first semester she had written on the subject “The Disadvantages of Being 
an Old Maid.” She followed the course described in the second paper. She 
never married. As an educated single person, she would enjoy the power of 
“independent thought, speech and action.” Ultimately, she would influence 
for the good not one or two lives but rather hundreds.
The Advantages of Being an Old Maid
Ingeborg Hansen
January 31, 1900
I am ashamed that women are so simple
To seek for rule, supremacy and sway,
When they are bound to serve, love and obey.
 Such was the conclusion worthy of that age of woman’s bondage, 
which was forced upon Katherine after all her valiant struggle for inde-
pendence. Could she be living in this age, instead of meekly submitting 
to the whims of a Petruchio, we might imagine her now explaining the 
“advantages of being an old maid.” First of all, she would speak of liber-
ty, the dearest wish of every enlightened mind. How she would enjoy, 
even as we are enjoying, the power of independent thought, speech, and 
action, which we can now claim as our right!
 No longer the “lesser man,” no longer forced to be his echo, at last we 
have vindicated our right to our own individuality. All the broad culture 
which comes from living in the busy world, is ours for the taking. She 
who is gifted with special talents, may now develop them to their utmost, 
confident that her career need not be fettered by any other obligations. 
We are not tied down to the monotonous round of dish-washing, cooking, 
scrubbing, and the like which, even if performed in the most cheerful 
self-sacrificing spirit, cannot possibly be said to give broadness of mind.
 If this were all, we could justly call the old maid’s life a selfish one; 
we could say with truth that the real beauty and glory of life had escaped 
her. But her power of independent action for good is greater than all the 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
114
others. She is found everywhere, from the “old-fashioned old-maid aunt, 
always called in when sickness or trouble comes to the household,” to 
the modern business woman, with her keen mind and large heart using 
every opportunity to do good with her wealth. There is the trained nurse, 
the woman physician, the reformer—the stock joke of every would-be 
comic paragrapher—, yet where is a man who has been a greater pow-
er for good than our reformer, Miss Willard? Even that much derided 
individual, the old-maid school ma’rm—who can measure the good she 
can do, not to two or three, but to hundreds of young lives?
 We may grant that the home is the natural field of labor for the ma-
jority of women; we may grant also, that her path to happiness is more 
easily followed there than elsewhere. But let us not be disheartened. 
To us is given what is denied to our sisters in the home—the power to 
devote our whole lives to the cause we choose. Only let that cause be 
worthy, let its aim be outside of our own selfish ends, and we, too,
Shall behold a something we have done,
Shall of the work together we have wrought,
Beyond our aspiration and our thought,
Some not unworthy issue yet receive.
An Education and a Calling
115
 In her college years Kate led a good-natured student protest5 against a 
strict and difficult examination in a music course. Although her classmates 
supported her position, she reported that when they presented their petition, 
“the hard-hearted professor instead of being moved to compassion, seemed 
only amused at our suffering.” The examination proceeded.
Miss President, Ladies and Gentlemen:
 It is indeed a sorrowful occasion which calls us together. For nearly 
9 months we have toiled and suffered together. Our brains have vibrated 
in unison as we labored to calculate the ratio of vibrations in a chord 
the seventh upon the leading tone. The most violent discords have not 
disturbed the concord of our relations with our esteemed instructor. 
Without a word of complaint, we have robbed ourselves of sleep while 
striving to rid our exercises of parallel fifth, augmented seconds, and 
doubled leading tones. We have strained our ears to learn the difference 
between consonances and dissonances, until our whole existence seemed 
to be moving to the tune of a diminished seventh.
 With unmixed patience we have striven to understand the mysteries 
of mixed chords. With unalterable determination we have wrestled with 
the difficulties of altered chords. Dominated by the one desire to excel 
we have not shrunk from the multitudinous array of dominant discords.
 These were easy. But what shall I say of our last month’s work? It 
is unnecessary to remind you of that; the pale faces in which the lines 
of care are all too deep, the tired eyes, the attenuated forms before me 
bear a far more eloquent testimony than I could ever do, to the devotion 
with which we have given ourselves to the subject of modulations.
 We have succeeded. Even our instructor admits it. The family of 
keys is to us as our own kindred. The relative minor of the dominant, 
the opposite mode of the relative minor of the subdominant, present 
no more difficulties to us. Direst extraneous modulations, consecutive 
dominants, enharmonic exchanges, have become integral parts of our 
 5Dane G. Bales has called this “The Original Student Protest.”
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
116
minds. Nothing has been shirked because of the seeming impossibility 
of comprehending it.
 At last, our labors seemed ended. Only one week and then freedom, 
for had not the faculty decreed it. Do you remember our rejoicing? Alas, 
that it was in vain, for soon there came to us the awful news, that when 
all other schools had ended their work, when all other students happy in 
their release from quizzes and cramming were hastening homeward, we 
alone are to be forced to remain to prove this dearly bought knowledge 
which our instructor already knows we possess.
 Classmates, it is unnecessary to tell you that this cruelty must not 
be. For the sake of our health, which must surely give way under the 
strain of that extra day, for the sake of our faithful work this year; for 
the sake of Harmony in every sense, I move that we present a petition 
to our instructor most humbly begging and entreating him to spare us 
that last ordeal.
An Education and a Calling
117
 In this long diary excerpt, Kate reflects on the years 1895–1900 and 
then provides an important window on her intense emotions and guiding 
experiences as she struggles with her decision to become a “Student Vol-
unteer.” She also chronicles her typical student activities at KU: parties, 
sledding, an expedition to Blue Mound, YWCA meetings, and her profound 
efforts to master difficult music.
December 5, 1900
 I, Katharine Hansen, spinster of uncertain age, commonly known 
as the Shrew, having destroyed, by fire and other means, the records, 
written and otherwise, of the past five years of my life, do hereby begin 
a new one which shall be of such a character as to escape destruction. 
To this end, there shall be excluded from it every action which proves 
too strongly my natural idiocy, every thought of which I hope to be 
ashamed at some future time; every trouble which should not be a trou-
ble, and every pleasure which should not be a pleasure. It shall be of 
such a character that I shall not hesitate to show it to my dearest friend, 
should she be so good as to be interested in it. Therefore, here, in the 
reading-room of the library of the University of Kansas, in the scene of 
more than one of those things to which I have bidden defiance, I begin 
the new record. May it be a true record of not unworthy struggle and 
life!
 Perhaps it would be well to set down very briefly those things from 
these five years which I least wish to forget. It is not an especially in-
teresting outline, yet there are some things connected with it which I 
would not willingly lose. Let me see—’95. After a year of books and little 
else, I had been promoted to the dignity of school-ma’am. Four months 
I wielded the rod in a country school. Result—I began to get a faint 
glimmer of the fact that this world is not made of books. After Christmas, 
five months in the Beloit High School, ending with a diploma tied up 
with ribbons, declaring to all men that K. I. H. had satisfactorily passed 
the course of study; a deal of “fuss and feathers,” graduating and being 
congratulated. Result of all—one friend. The rest is gone; some day I 
shall forget that it ever existed, perhaps; things and people are different, 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
118
books are forgotten. But she—for all these years her steadfast friendship 
has been one thing on which I could depend absolutely. I know now that 
it cannot fail, no matter what other ties may claim her. I know that there 
have been times when but for the thought of her I should have hated 
the whole world. At this time, when changes are coming so rapidly, I 
feel even the more deeply my debt to her, and resolve to do anything I 
can do to repay the least part of it—even to take the second place now, 
cheerfully and willingly, recognizing that other claims more strong than 
friendship, other duties that are the crown of happy women’s lives, must 
now be first with her. If ever I do some good deed, if ever I pay my debt 
to the world which has nurtured me—the credit will be hers, for without 
her I had never been led to another Source from whence comes this new 
strength. I am glad to write this of her; should she ever read it, she will 
know that I could not write the half of it.
 So ’96 was not a failure. ’97—work as a teacher in our home school, 
doing my best and waiting. It was the chrysalis stage, with the awaken-
ing in the spring. That record is burned. But there was another interest, 
little as I knew it then. Machta! I can write it now—it is a long time since 
then—our own “lille Machta,” the one of us all who never knew sin or 
sorrow, although she knew untold suffering. Do you remember now, I 
wonder, the awful misery of those two weeks’ struggle with Death?6 Do 
you know what your sister prayed for night and day for all that time? 
Do you know now why those two prayers were not granted? Do you 
know that she, not knowing the reason, can at last say “It was His will, 
therefore it was best”? I think you do, and are glad.
 But it was a long time and a weary one. Outwardly there were chang-
es. I left the school-room. I was not a success, I did not love it. Business, 
Aunt Kate’s training, anything to be out in the world and doing. I went 
back to Beloit for almost two years, and worked in Aunt Kate’s store. It 
was a strange combination of forces—I do not yet know all its results. But 
one I do know—the greatest blessing my life will ever know. For there, 
6When Kate was eighteen, her mother gave birth to her sister Machta, who died soon 
after she was born. Another of Kate’s sisters, Doris, who was born in 1900, died in 1905.
An Education and a Calling
119
in a little church, among a band of earnest Christians, I found what had 
been lacking. First it was Ruth—she believed before I did. I did not see 
her often in those days—she was away most of the time. To Lizzie first 
among those Baptist friends, to Mr. Bingham and to Mrs. Jacobs, to all 
of those who took me in when I was so lonely and told me how never to 
be lonely again—to each and all, greeting and thanks!
 Somewhere in those years, I do not know where, there came the 
thought which may be more than all the rest—the thought of the millions 
and millions of people who never have heard of that Friend Who was so 
good to me. Many times I have thought it forgotten, but it comes back. 
The end I do not know yet.
 Another spring, at home, and there came to us one to fill, if anyone 
could fill, the vacant place—Doris, the Nis, the brightest, most mischie-
vous little brownie that ever ruled a household of admiring elders. Also 
there came work, and some degree, I hope, of usefulness outside of 
home. With the autumn came the “perfect week” at Beloit, and afterward, 
the realization of a very long-cherished hope. I had tried teaching and 
business—they did not satisfy. There was music, which I loved. The old 
desire for study came back. I felt that at K. U. would be the solution of 
the problem—that there, if anywhere, I would find my mission. Of last 
winter there I will not write. It is too soon to sum it up; it would make too 
long a record to put down events. It is past, and this is a new year. May 
it be better than the last! A summer at home, filled with hard work and 
contentment—was it another chrysalis stage, I wonder? And now K. U. 
again, and this winter will be a happy one, for I feel always a new strength 
outside of myself, which bears me up when at another time I must have 
fallen. There is growing what I have wished for for a long time—interest 
in other people simply as people not because of something which they 
know or some principle for which they stand.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
120
II
 This evening was Y. W. Miss Ewing led. What a winning yet earnest 
way she has. She seems to be talking directly as a dear friend to each 
one of her hearers. Everyone was so eager to speak, too—it was not 
like speaking in meeting, it was like a family telling their experiences. I 
walked down with Miss Stafford, our president—a rare pleasure. She is 
so perfect,—so pure, so noble, so above the small things of our nature. 
When I am with her, I feel almost awed, yet so perfectly contented simply 
to be with her. She is a strength and an inspiration to me always. Surely, 
she cannot help being a great force for good in her distant field. When 
I think of all she is giving up—home and friends and country, it may be 
life itself—she is as one set apart, as one sanctified by sacrifice. It will 
not be for nothing.
 Thou, to Whom a heart that loveth not can never be acceptable; 
Thou, Who hast sanctified as Thine the name of Love; help me this day, 
that I may not hate any of Thy creatures. Amen.
 Go, and go, and go again, and this evening, after the merriest “go” 
of all, I feel just the least bit inclined to say “Vanitas Vanitatum.” Only 
When Kate attended the University of Kansas in the early years of the twentieth century, KU 
was in a significant expansion phase. In this photograph Dyche Hall is under construction, 
and old Fraser and Blake halls are to the south of Dyche.
An Education and a Calling
121
a little bit, however, and that because I am, as is natural, a little tired. 
So much dissipation has been crowded into these two months, I can 
scarcely count up all the places. Best memories of all, the Country Club 
“Go’s”—especially the last one, out to Blue Mound; a day of perfect rest 
in action, of harmony within because of being out among those things 
which are always in harmony with the will of their Creator. Results of the 
CC—well, they are numerous and decidedly varied. First health—not 
physical health alone, for mind and soul seem stronger and less bitter 
for each one. Perhaps Katherine may reform yet—but never as Shake-
speare’s Katherine did. When I write the story of the Shrew, I shall make 
Nature her Petruchio, and the sign of her reformation shall be
But fern it is not, when thou sayest it is not—
Call’t oak, persimmon, e’en the pungent onion,
And onion it shall be for Katherine.
 One other quotation, dedicated in respectful memory to “Billy Bil-
liams,” otherwise Mr. W. Williams, manuscript reader to the English 
department and quondam guide to the C. C.
Mud is real! Mud is earnest!
Yet the mud is not our goal.
Mud thou art, to mud returnest
Was not spoken of the Go.
 Although that was not the guide’s fault, considering the miles and 
miles of mud we waded through on our way to Blue Mound. Poor Miss 
Peak! Junior, but never in her course did she go on such an expedition 
before. Even Mr. Williams failed to sustain her fainting courage, although 
he did his best, especially on the footbridge.
 My dear ferns! If only they grow, that I may have a part of that day 
of happy self-forgetfulness left.
 Other results of the C. C.—happy, fortunate ones—are the new, 
pleasant acquaintances, some of which may one day be friends. I hope 
so. I hope that I may one day be deserving of friendship that does not 
need to stoop or pity or “make allowances.” Yet such friends cannot be 
like the one who did stoop.
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122
 Miss Boyle comes next—another Y. W. and missionary girl, gravely 
severe, yet not sternly so, a fine student, but not all of books. Miss Peak 
too I have just begun really to know, although we were at North College 
together all last year. I will just mention Mr. Babcock, Mr. Harris, Mr. 
Morscher and Mr. Logan—each is an interesting acquaintance in his 
different way. These are really results of the C. C.
 Entertainments have crowded each other so fast they are almost 
forgotten. Yet they were all enjoyed. Roxanna says I have the faculty of 
enjoying everything—I wish it were so, and work for it. Concerts have 
given me such intense delight this fall—more than they did before, 
because I believe I forget everything else but the music, as I did not do 
then. Just to note one or two of the best entertainments this year, there 
were, the Newton Quartette with Mr. Leon Felgar, almost the best bass 
singer I ever heard; four lecture-recitals by Mr. Lauder, a pupil of Liszt, 
on Chopin, Wagner, Beethoven and Liszt;—Penny’s playing and some 
fine church singing must count here too.
 Of all the other dissipation, the B. Y. P. U. A. expedition to the country 
was the longest—seven p.m. to three a.m., and uproarious mirth all the 
time. The Y. M. and Y. W. party was likewise—hilarious. A dissipation 
just beginning is Snow Literary. Tonight was my second night. From now 
on it will claim every Saturday evening. This was the annual Christmas 
party, with the reading of the Snowball and presentation of appropriate 
gifts by Santa Claus—Mr. Harris. That is one scientist who is not dry. 
Everybody was there, and everybody was thoroughly amused all the 
time.
 A week from this day, and I shall be starting home again. What it is 
to have a home! Dear people all, I wish it were today. And Ruth, my Ruth 
no longer, but always first to me, what will you tell me at this Christmas 
time, and how very different it will be from last—happier for you, I hope 
and believe, albeit with just a little lingering of jealousy that somebody 
else can have the power to give you greater happiness than I could. Yet 
it is just and right, and you must know how truly glad I am for you.
 Breathe it to nobody, but I fear we girls are growing too hilarious. It 
begins to leave an uneasy feeling afterward. But after all, why shouldn’t 
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girls at school have their good times together and make a little noise? We 
are reversing the natural order of things in this house—the girls make 
the noise and the boys make the complaints. Just to free my mind, I must 
’fess up that I don’t care much about all their opinions put together. I fear 
I grow uncharitable—seeing every one of them with something crooked. 
There is Mr. Lemmon of comic memory last year—may it ever be as 
sovereign a remedy for blues as the thought is now! He is undoubtedly 
a good student, if one should judge from the time he works; he is a good 
Y. M. boy and he does not lack for positive ideas and words to express 
them. But that ridiculously would-be impressive way in which he always 
looks at a girl! I feel like speaking my mind occasionally—and what a 
shock it would give his conceit, to be sure! There is Mr. Braerton—also 
a good student and a Y. M. But he is too young yet to understand the 
difference between teasing and rudeness, and he says things I do not 
like. Mr. Allmon too—he cares too much for novels and light plays, and 
besides he is so insignificant looking. Then every one of them seems 
possessed of the idea that they are the important personages of the 
household, and we are some secondary inferior beings. Mr. Lamaster 
I omit from that list, for I really think he is not conceited. He is a fine 
specimen, physically—walked down to Baldwin and back and thought 
nothing of it. But, oh, dear, he is so stupid! He doesn’t even know when 
one is laughing at him!
 There, having freed my mind, I begin already to repent. Never mind—
some day I will write them all a grand panegyric by way of atonement. 
Meanwhile, the girls are a great comfort, and I am not going to write a 
single fault for any of them—not even the cake-walks and rag-time music. 
Leola, my room-mate, ought to be a Prof. some day, so devoted she is to 
her beloved Theory of Functions. Ray certainly ought to be First Lady 
of something or other, so much she loves Society. Roxanna—I hardly 
know what to say of her, so full she is of undeveloped possibilities. She 
is a strong character, and should make a mark in something some day. 
Meanwhile we are all sworn allies against all the remainder of our little 
world.
 And Schumann attempted to set Faust to music, and the effort cost 
him his reason. No wonder! Yet the man who could adequately set that 
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124
epitome and symbol of all life would surely be the master musician of 
all ages. Honor then to Schumann for even making the attempt!
 I wonder if anyone can fully interpret Schumann without having 
experienced, in some degree, that peculiar, fantastic, imaginative mel-
ancholy which so gained upon him that at the last he could not control 
it? I wonder if anyone can understand Schumann without being, for the 
moment, half-mad?
 Practiced seven hours this day, and feel not at all tired. O Cram-
er, Cramer, could you but know the trouble you have caused us poor 
stumbling students! O Bach, could you but look down from the seventh 
heaven and take pity on those who are striving so faithfully to show the 
meaning of your “voices”! O for some elixir to put strength and certainty 
into my blundering fingers, that they might tell what I see so plainly in 
my soul!
 Not Bach alone, I too have been in the seventh heaven—translated 
at the Christmas concert. Our Professor Preyer outdid even himself. He 
is wonderful; he is grand.
 Mr. Henry did better than ever. That boy will be—is already for that 
matter—a great honor to the music school. Some day he will be a great 
artist, we all believe. The house fairly went wild over him tonight.
 The St. Cecilias did very well, especially in the Spinning Chorus. 
Miss Van Cleef has a voice I like—it is so rich and mellow for a soprano. 
It was all so good, it is indeed difficult to say what was best. Any one of 
the numbers would have redeemed an ordinary concert. O, but I am 
glad I am at K. U.!!!
 “The night before Christmas,” so it seems to me, (oh, dear, I shall 
die!). We have been to Haskell (Ha! Ha!). I never saw anything so fun-
ny!! “Miss Hansen, truly you have a friend that sticketh closer than a 
brother!!” Thus the one witness. “Well he’s a sticker and no mistake.” 
Thus the other witness. (Oh dear, I shall die!!!). A Prof., or a sort of a 
one, and too bashful to ask to take a girl home! (Ha! Ha!).
 It was the Christmas entertainment at Haskell. My one and only 
classmate, Mabel Doerfus, who lives out there, her mother being one of 
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125
the instructors, had asked me to come out and hear her play. So I asked 
the C. C. and a few others, to make up a crowd and go. Some could not 
go, and when we met at Miss Boyle’s there were only Miss Bennett, three 
or four Misses Boyle, Mr. Harris and Mr. Boyle. We went decorously as 
college students usually do. It was a perfect spring-like night, and the 
two mile walk was just long enough to be pleasant. The entertainment 
was excellent—better than the average “white people’s” entertainment. 
The kindergarten drill was the prettiest of all—twelve little Indians in 
nightgowns and little Dutch caps, carrying candles and dolls. They were 
too pretty for anything, and they marched and sang so well. The orchestra 
would have done credit to any college; likewise the chorus. Miss Do-
erfus did exceedingly well—I knew she would. Altogether it was very 
good—except the sequel. (O dear, I shall die!) Shall I write it? Perhaps 
not; the story might lose something of its ridiculousness in the telling, 
and also it might sound unkind. So let it rest—but four people, perhaps 
six, will not forget very soon, I fancy. My conscience begins to prick me 
just a tiny bit, but yet, I could not, or would not, do otherwise—and it 
was so funny! (O dear, I shall die!)
 Tomorrow is the beginning of the journey. By this time tomorrow 
night I shall be with Ruth. Everything is like Christmas; everybody in 
the house is gone but me. Holly and K. U. ribbons deck my jacket and 
my table. Christmas presents are scattered all over. Books are closed, 
music is put away, and tomorrow is the flitting. “And lead us not into 
temptation, but deliver us from evil.” May tomorrow bring no trouble 
and no danger that the Christmas spirit cannot overcome!
 Goodbye for two weeks, old journal. Merry Christmas all by yourself, 
and Happy New Year with something worthy on your pages!
 “Hello!” “Why, hello!” “Had a good time Christmas ?” “Oh, fine! Went 
nearly every night. About dead now, though!” “Here too. Haven’t gone 
to bed before midnight for a week.”
 Thus the jaded merry-makers, returning from the two weeks of 
dissipation. A good time? Well, I suppose so. At least, I have had scarce-
ly one moment to think, and most of the time has been spent either in 
festivities or in planning of more. What could have possessed the good 
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126
people of Logan anyway? There was Matthew’s party for Hazel Branch, 
and old and young were there, and everybody danced; Gertrude Dun-
ning’s party and everybody danced again; Dyes’, and another dance; 
Mrs. Emery’s, and still another; and now they have agreed to have at 
least one every week. There were Christmas trees and marshmallow 
parties, and a grand New Year’s conglomeration of celebrations. And I 
made not a single resolution—only a half a one, which will probably end 
in nothing. The Philippines!
 It was very good to be at home again, and very good to work some 
with my hands. Doris is so bright and so pretty! If I would and had time, 
I could make the rest of this book one chronicle of her brilliant sayings 
and doings. I wonder if anybody appreciates home until he knows he 
probably has not long to enjoy it.
 Ruth! Shall I say anything about the visit there? I think not. Only I 
was not mistaken a week before. It is not well to try to put into words 
what one has seen in the Holy of Holies.
 Truly I should be thankful for pleasant friendly acquaintances. There 
were so many of them to make the journey a pleasant one. It was talk 
and laughter all the way, home and back. Mr. Babcock chiefly on the way 
up—he is such an altogether sensible and not prosaic, but altogether 
unromantic acquaintance. Clifford Spain too—he has improved, and I am 
very glad too, for Mary’s sake. Elsie Lowry coming back—she is such a 
friend of Alice’s, and I am beginning to like her much for her own sake. 
Such a pleasant, quiet visit it was at Alice’s, too! O dear, I wish she were 
here now!
For mother’s love, and child’s caress,
For ties of kindred Thou dost bless,
For life, and health, and happiness,
I thank Thee, O my Father!
For reconcilement with my kind,
For doubts and struggles left behind,
For quiet faith, and tranquil mind,
I praise Thee, O my Savior!
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127
For constant guidance on the way,
For strength new, granted every day,
For cheer and courage, come what may,
I bless Thee, Holy Spirit!
Henceforth may my life-purpose be
To serve Thee, blessed Trinity!
 So, this is the result of vacation—a lesson this afternoon, and that 
awful recital piece is just as bad as ever. Not only that, but Bach is worse, 
and I have not had time in this morning’s practice even to touch Cramer. 
But that piece—I cannot get the idea whole—it just comes in little scraps. 
The notes are sure enough—I cannot forget them—but the meaning, 
the soul! I almost believe the crashing thing hasn’t any anyway! What a 
relief it was to wander through three or four of those clear, simple, sweet 
Kinderscenen! Only that is not lesson.
 Praise to the shade of old Clementi! At last I have discovered a tune 
in him! It took seven hours’ work yesterday to do it, though. Yesterday 
was an ideal “musician day.” I practiced all forenoon, mostly memory 
work; practiced until three in the afternoon; practiced duets with Roxy 
until four; went to choir practice until five; “loafed” in the library, mostly 
up among the painting students, until suppertime.
 Two Cramers memorized and played for Preyer; also one Clementi; 
and the verdict “Very good.” I feel better now for recital. If I could only 
do something—the old failing is back again—I want to do something 
out of the ordinary. B. I.!!!
 I am reading Edwin Arnold’s poem, “The Light of the World,” and 
here is his paraphrase of the angelic chorus:—
Peace beginning to be,
Deep as the sleep of the sea
When the stars their faces glass
In its blue tranquility;
Hearts of men upon earth
From the first to the second birth,
To rest as the wild waters rest
With the colors of Heaven on their breast.
Love, which is sunlight of peace,
Age by age to increase
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
128
Till Anger and Hatred are dead
And Sorrow and Death shall cease;
“Peace on Earth and Good-will!”
Souls that are gentle and still
Hear the first music of this
Far-off, infinite, Bliss!
 The last meeting of the Y. W. cabinet “by ourselves,” as our dear and 
honored president said. A significant meeting of representative girls—but 
one, who was ashamed, when she thought how little she had done, to be 
among that company. O that I had that year, that almost wasted year! That 
I might be among the girls and do something! I have gained so much by 
being on this cabinet, but how I have lost my great opportunities! One 
more thing added to the list for atonement—but all I can do now will be 
no more than present duty, let alone making up for the past.
 Miss Dean of the calling committee—another sunny, pleasant girl—
was discouraged. Miss Bamford was to the point as usual—the member-
ship committee will work among the music students now I hope. Miss 
Woodin, poor girl! has had the original sweetness of her nature turned 
to bitterness against all human-kind, by the trials and tribulations which 
only the treasurer can know. Miss Drake, as usual, has been busy writing 
letters, and Miss Dunn, in keeping the record. I should not leave out our 
general secretary, Miss Meredith. Although she has been here only this 
year, she is a wonderful help to everybody. And I must not forget Miss 
Hodgson.
 We had such a strong, helpful meeting, and the most pleasant of 
little social times afterward. I had forgotten to say that it was at Miss 
Stafford’s. I am sorry it will be the last, for my own selfish reasons; but 
very glad that my work will be in far better hands than mine could be, 
even now, if it goes to the one I recommended.
 Went skating all forenoon with Roxy, and made a spectacle of myself 
generally. Well, it is acting the part of public benefactor to provide amuse-
ment for the public I suppose. We went up past the first island, on the 
snow mostly. Mr. Lester was there and helped me with my skates—would 
have helped with skating too, only I wanted to learn alone. O dear if I 
could only stroke with that left foot! And O dear, I am so sore and lame 
An Education and a Calling
129
all over now! But I will learn, if it takes all winter. For a wonder, none of 
our particular crowd were down—a fact which did not cause me much 
regret, either.
*  *  *  *  *
 “Poor E. M.! Poor everybody that sighs for earthly remembrance in a 
planet with a core of fire and a crust of fossils!” (One of the best sayings 
in that creepy, unearthly book, “Elsie Venner.”)
 One day of music from morning until night—a very satisfactory 
day on the whole, pleasant, every thought on something not personal. 
In the morning, I began practicing at half past seven and kept it up 
until half past eight—it seemed like five minutes. Then came the quick 
walk up the hill, helping Roxy with her study of the “Recessional,” on 
the way; the hurry through the crowded main hall and up the stairs to 
the chapel. Prof. Olin, the “man of sunshine,” led. The anthem was fair. 
There were only three of us girls, Jennie Walton, Ida Stern, and I, while 
the boys had Mr. Sams and Mr. Burress on the tenor and Mr. Shipman 
and Mr. Smith on the bass, beside four or five people I did not know. 
Mr. Burress sang a solo, also Mr. Shipman. The voice of the former is 
rather a disappointment at close range, but Mr. Shipman did extremely 
well—he has gained very much since last year.
 Chapel over, the next thing was the rush down the hill again, stopping 
a minute at the studio to talk with Florence Harrington and get the duets 
we promised to play sometime for Snow. At home again, and practicing 
went briskly on until after twelve. Clementi and Bach never went better.
 Immediately after dinner I went to North College, and found there 
Kate Leis with a new song and nobody to accompany her. We went up to 
the recital room and spent a pleasant half-hour in practicing, after which 
I had one of those rare half-hours of practice on the Grand. My piece 
really had some spirit in it then.
 Harmony went well. It was the first lesson on analysis, and we had 
it so well that Penny made the next one just twice as long. O well, it can 
be done, I suppose, especially as Maud Brown and I intend to study it 
together.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
130
 Lesson went better than usual, and, most happy of all! Preyer has 
at last given me permission to work on the Sonata Pathétique! Not only 
that, but Mabel and I are to learn the arrangement for two pianos! I can 
hardly wait for morning to begin work.
 Mabel came home with me after lesson, and we had a “musical se-
ance” comparing notes and playing little tunes, etc. I went part way with 
her through the park—such a delightful place even in winter. Coming 
home, I practiced until dark.
 After supper Roxy and Leola took me down to the church for my first 
appearance at choir practice. I surprised everybody, even Prof. Hopkins, 
whom I had promised so many times and then broken the promise, that 
he had thought I intended never to come. Two hours of singing—not 
play singing either, for Prof. Hopkins is an excellent choir master. Mr. 
Lester brought me home and talked ice and study all the time. Then a 
little teasing of Roxy and Leola, and the day is done, and I must go to 
bed. Tomorrow comes more music and the Y. W. reception to the Fine 
Arts. I do so hope it will be a success, and that some of the girls may be 
won for the Association and what it means.
 Well, it was a success—that long-planned, half-hoped-for and half-
feared party. I am so glad. At last the ice is broken, and the music school 
is recognized as part of our K. U. life; and not only that, but the music 
girls realize that the Y. W. is interested in them and wants them. Not only 
that, but I hope I have one new girl for the Y. W. as the result of today’s 
work.
 It was a truly delightful party. The house was beautiful, the hostess 
was gracious, the reception committee put everybody at ease at once. 
The faculty women were out in force, and helped not a little. It was a 
crowd such as has seldom been together in K. U., I fancy—the music, 
painting and oratory schools, and the leaders of the Y.W. I did so enjoy 
having them together—my own schoolmates and classmates, and those 
strong, helpful girls who have done so much for me. There were beautiful 
faces and forms and beautiful gowns—the Fine Arts are noted for all 
that, and for their grace and self-possession. But of them all, there was 
not one to compare with our own Miss Stafford. I saw her face during 
An Education and a Calling
131
one of the best of the piano pieces—and it was as the face of an angel. 
All about her was something different from any of us—surely, something 
not of this world. Dressed simply, almost severely, but in perfect taste, 
her tall, slender figure had a wonderful grace and dignity. Her very form 
expresses what she is—but if one sees her face, all else is forgotten. But 
dear me! even this long-suffering journal must surely rebel at so lengthy 
a rhapsody—and yet it is true, every word. I envy those heathen she will 
teach!
 Have just returned from the joint temperance meeting of Snow, 
Burke, X. Y. Z. and the Temperance society. It was very good—even 
Roxy and Leola, whom I dragged off against their wills, must admit that. 
Although I refused two, no, three invitations for their sakes, they persist 
in bearing malice and talking reproachfully about “problems.” As if they 
could not even take Saturday evening off!
 Prof’s Hopkins and Carruth, Miss Meredith and Mr. Hanson, the 
Y. M. secretary, made short but vigorous and sensible speeches. A 
debate on the army canteen question was decided, as usual, for Snow, 
Mr. Moore and Mr. McMath being our speakers. Mr. Smith sang better 
than I ever heard him sing before. He can go lower, with perfect ease 
and a full tone, than any other bass singer I ever heard.
 At the recess I had a good time, as usual, talking to Miss Lyon and 
Miss Griffith principally. They have various jokes on me for this evening, 
but I don’t care. O yes, a certain person before mentioned in this journal 
was there, but did not appear to recognize me. Strange!
Under the Juniper Tree7
 It was spring in the old, abandoned cemetery. The hedge of peach 
trees on the one side, the thorns on the other, the almonds around the 
empty grave, were all in the full beauty of their spring resurrection. 
Only one gloomy spot was there, where the dark, drooping branches of 
a juniper tree shaded a fallen grave stone.
7This short fantasy, apparently a story of Kate’s own creation, described her strug-
gle—her search for identity and her place in the world—metaphorically.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
132
 Three people were wandering in search of spring blossoms, two of 
them all gladness with the sweetness of the spring. But one was in the 
midst of struggle and doubt and pride and anger. She left the others 
in the glory of the spring sunshine, and came to the fallen stone in the 
shadow. It was a simple inscription that it bore, half obliterated by the 
elements:
Angelina
Beloved Wife of Simon Ritter
 Died 1858
Aged 21 years.
 Why did she sit and gaze at those words? Why drop the fair spring 
flowers on the neglected grave? Why the bitter thought as she left; “Other 
people may say ‘How sad!’ but she knew happiness before she died”?
 Again, it was one of those mild days which sometimes come even 
in January. The flowers were gone, the thorns were bare in their cruel 
sharpness, the other trees had lost even the passing glory of the autumn. 
Only one spot was yet green—the juniper tree over the prostrate stone. 
Again there came a merry party of country walkers. Again one sought 
the grave, now the only place which showed the constant green of im-
mortality. Again the dust was reverently cleared away from the worn 
letters, but it was no longer the fading spring flowers which were placed 
above the dead. It was nothing but a twig from the evergreen tree; but 
from a soul there came the prayer, “Father, I thank Thee that this one 
did know happiness, and that she has entered into the joy of her rest.”
 There is a thorn hanging from the ceiling in a certain room I know 
of. It is brown and polished, and the branching ends are very sharp. It 
is not a comfortable object to look upon. A blue ribbon holds it in place, 
and upon a long end one may read the words: “Jan. 26, 1901. Pass’ auf!” 
It is nothing but a fancy, but it suggests things that are about as pleasant 
to think about as the ends of those thorns.
An Education and a Calling
133
 A “Go” out to Blue Mound again, and very delightful it would have 
been if it were not for some things—like thorns. I have not time to write 
it up, and anyway I could not express the real charm of the place. Roxy 
went for the first time and appeared to enjoy herself thoroughly. So did 
a certain Briggs. O, Roxy, my boasted man-hater! There were eleven of 
us this time—Miss Peak, Minnie Reno, Miss Vermond, Roxy and I, Mr. 
Babcock, Mr. Williams, Mr. Briggs, Mr. Whittaker, Mr. Easton and Mr. 
Morscher. Of the new people Miss Vermond is a former Logan girl—I do 
not really know her yet—. Mr. Easton is a musician, one of the brightest 
boys I know. Mr. Briggs—Oh, his mouth is too little and pinched-up, 
and Mr. Whittaker is too little to be interesting. I believe I shall like 
Mr. Williams very much. He writes verse and stories, and understands 
some things the other people do not. That was proved, I think, at the 
last “Go” to the old cemetery, when everyone else made or consented 
to the making of frivolous and irreverent remarks, or at least careless 
ones.
 Miss Elizabeth Harrington is a new friend—almost. She attracts me 
greatly. She might be called a “society girl,” but she is very different 
from the type. She has the most pure, child-like face, her eyes are so 
clear and innocent looking, her voice and manner is so full of gentle 
friendliness. She is in the painting school, also she is a good musician. 
We played a duet at Snow last time. I was at her house for supper and 
we went together. From Snow we went to the Y. M. and Y. W. reception, 
where “everybody” was. We had a good time too, except the end when 
a “crazy” fellow from Snow asked to take us home, and followed it up by 
a request for our company at the Snow party next week. Neither of us 
had met the Idiot until that evening. Both of us “declined with thanks.”
 “If there is a moral wound, it must be healed, leaving perhaps a scar 
behind it; but it must not be kept as an open sore. The chronic inflamma-
tion of remembrance and remorse must be avoided. The true atonement 
for a wrong committed does not lie in nursing the pain it leaves, but in 
restoration to cheerfulness and courage and hope, for the sake of others.”
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
134
Thine am I, Father! rescue me!
Ye angels, holy cohorts, guard me,
Camp around, and from evil ward me!
Henry! I shudder to think of thee.
When on an idler’s bed I stretch myself in quiet,
There let, at once, my record end!
Canst thou with lying flattery rule me,
Until, self-pleased, myself I see—
Canst thou with rich enjoyment fool me
Let that day be the last for me!
The bet I offer.
Done!
And heartily!
When thus I hail the Moment flying:
Ah, still delay—thou art so fair!
Then bind me in thy bonds undying,
My final ruin then declare!
Then may the death-bell chime the token,
Then art thou from thy service free!
The clock may stop, the hand be broken,
Then Time be finished unto me!
 For the last time, I have met with the Y. W. cabinet as one of its 
members. I am sorry in some respects—and yet, so glad that my work 
will be in so much better hands. Miss Boyle will have general control. 
Such a noble character she is developing. Perhaps, in time, if she contin-
ues to grow, she may be like my—our—ideal of a Christian girl—Miss 
Stafford. Then Miss Lyon will have especial charge of the study work. 
When I think, how she was brought in—under the influence of what 
motive I first sought to be with her, and how this was all so over-ruled 
that it became the means of bringing to us one of our best workers—I 
feel so ashamed and humble, and wonder at the Infinite Goodness.
 The old and the new cabinets met together in the room of the new 
President, Miss Ewing. Some of the new people are strangers to me—oth-
ers are old acquaintances, whom I gladly see in their new responsibilities. 
Miss Walton, our sweet singer of last year’s choir, will be chairman of 
the music committee. Ida Stern, another of the singers, will have the 
calling committee. That makes four Snow people on the cabinet.
An Education and a Calling
135
 I was touched and pleased and humbled all at once, by Miss Ewing’s 
request that I remain on the cabinet. It is far better, however, as it is. I 
will be a drag no longer. Perhaps some day, when by continued working 
I am able to do something, I may have yet another opportunity, and then 
not waste it. Meanwhile there is enough to do, and more.
 Each of the old cabinet made a short report, and at the end told what 
it had meant to her, the work she had been doing.
 Down again from the upper regions to—not exactly the lower ones—
but at least, from the Y. W. cabinet meeting to the Snow party. Did I have 
a good time? Well, not exactly. Thereby hangs a long tale, of an Idiot who 
has not even enough to him to be classed as a Freak. O dear, it is time to 
go to the desert island now, to be sure! But this time I don’t care, except 
to be disgusted and to be Katharine the Shrew with a vengeance. How 
Miss Harrington did laugh and say “I told you so!”
 The party committee, “of whom I was which,” worked long and faith-
fully all afternoon, planning the entertainment and decorating that great 
barn of a room at North College. It really looked well, too, when it was 
finished. “Our worthy president,” Mr. Logan acted the part of general 
critic. Mr. Babcock and Mr. Cramer put up bunting, Mr. Harshberger 
attended to “cosy corners,” Miss Reno draped blackboards, and Miss 
Walton and I tramped all up and down Tennessee and Ohio streets, 
gathering up sofa pillows. We must have looked funny, as we came back 
with armloads of pillows of all sizes and colors.
 Part of our object with this party was to help the Snows to get ac-
quainted, so each one was given a card and each boy was told that he 
must talk for four minutes to each girl, at the end of which time she was 
to write her name on his card. Of course, if he did not know her, he must 
hunt up someone to introduce them. At the end of the allotted time, the 
cards were collected, and any boy not having the required number of 
names was obliged to pay a forfeit, said forfeit consisting in making a 
speech, explaining why the card failed to be satisfactory. As usual, Mr. 
Lemmon had something absurd to say. Afterward we had music and 
more speeches and games, which would have been pleasant enough if 
that Idiot had kept out of the way. As it was, it was intensely disagree-
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
136
able—and so was I. Moreover, our president seems to have observed 
some things, and read me a lecture coming home. What a fine place that 
island would be!
 It has snowed for nearly two days and nights, a heavy, wet snow, that 
loads the branches of the trees until they nearly break. The long grape 
arbor, with its regular squares along the top all outlined by the heavy 
snow, looks like a long piece of marble lattice-work. The plum bushes 
under the window are snow-drifts. The pine tree shows great patches of 
white with only a little dark green underneath. The long, curved rose-
shoots look like white serpents. In the park, as far as one can see from 
our window, everything is white and black. It has been the most sleepy, 
shut-in Sunday. None of us girls have been out of doors today. The boys 
indulged in a snow-ball fight this morning. Roxy played, Leola read, Ray 
read or slept, and I translated a German poem on Hope. In the afternoon 
Ray had company, and the rest of us stayed downstairs and were sociable. 
Roxy and I played, Mr. Lemmon and Lee read and recited, and everybody 
discussed various things. It was a very home-like afternoon, altogether.
 Of all the drivelling idiots that ever lived, of all the hopelessly crazy 
creatures that ever pretended to be human and rational beings, Katharine 
Hansen, you are the worst.
 Roxy is playing Bach, and how the “voices” are quarrelling! They 
dispute and bicker and almost come to blows—and yet they are of the 
same nature, and could make such perfect harmony! But now they almost 
hate each other, just because one persists in saying his say first, and the 
other is not willing to let him finish, but must interrupt—only to say the 
same thing, which the first one might just as well have said alone.
 This is to signify that at least, I have not forgotten how to study. It 
is to be accepted for what it is worth—no more. It knows nothing of the 
important thing, the application of knowledge—hence it is not much.
 Miss Kate Hansen, of the Music School, was a special student in German 
1899–1900 and an excellent one. I recommend her for continued privileges.
W. H. Carruth8
8This note from W. H. Carruth was pasted into the diary.
An Education and a Calling
137
 Well, I think it is about time to give the boys that long promised 
eulogy, after the way they have been behaving. Really, they have made 
a noble effort to be “nice.” We haven’t quarreled for three days—a most 
remarkable occurrence.
 We have been coasting. I wonder what certain of my friends and 
acquaintances in Beloit, or worse still, in Logan, would say if they could 
have witnessed those proceedings. Saturday night Lee, Earl and Mr. 
Lemmon hired three youngsters’ sleds, and took Roxy, Leola and me. 
We did look funny when we started, with short skirts and bloomers, 
with leggings and overshoes, and with our heads bundled up until we 
could hardly see. When we got to the sidewalk each of us girls got on a 
sled, and the boys pulled us to Adams Street—regular child fashion. I 
had trouble then all the time. My sled was very small, and I had to keep 
a death-grip on the sides to keep from falling off. Then something was 
the matter with the rope, so it did not always pull straight. Several times 
I ran into the snow-bank on the side of the walk. Arrived at Adams Street 
we found too many bob-sleds to make coasting safe, so, after sundry 
wranglings, we started toward North College along the “path for one.” 
Roxy and Lee explored on the way—they seemed each to be trying to 
get into the deepest drift. After a long wade through the snow, we found 
a hill that had a slight sled track, and that was unoccupied. Then the fun 
began. We girls tried going down.
 Those two weeks were very full, but they were all things which are 
not just easy to write, even if there were time. So let them go—I hope 
they were not wasted, at least.
 I have seen the end of a long and useful life, one which has been a 
kindly influence in this town for many years. One more man, “old and full 
of years,” is gone to his reward. It was such an ideal spring day, just such 
a day as he loved to spend in the garden with his flowers. And now, they 
will come, and he will not be here to see their well-loved beauty. Yet, why 
sorrow, when he sees now such infinitely greater beauty? Never have 
I seen a face more peaceful than his, in death. The troubles of seventy 
years seemed all gone—his face was as serene as that of a little child in 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
138
sleep. One could not help feeling that death is very far from the worst of 
human evils. Everyone sorrows, yet it is with a chastened sorrow, like 
the broken strength of the winter. Only, poor Mrs. Anderson, how she 
will miss him! So little, so frail she looked today, literally bowed down 
by her weight of sorrow. We must be very, very kind and gentle with 
her; if only we may do a little for her, to help her just a little!
 There were flowers everywhere about him. Surely, if his spirit could 
know, it would be pleased. I cannot feel that he is entirely gone. I like to 
think that when his beloved roses are again in their full beauty, he will 
know it and be glad, even among the unfading flowers of Paradise.
 All the girls here know there is something wonderful that I cannot 
tell, and I do so want to tell Roxy, for she would be so glad! Roxy is de-
veloping all the time. There is a grand nature there; she is young yet, 
and does not know herself, but if she does not become a very great force 
for good, then I do not know.
If I could know the end of all this strange, bewildered groping,
This searching into things I do not know,
To what this questioning, this almost hoping,
This longing, yet despairing, yet may grow—
That I might go!
My friends will go! In gladness, nothing doubting, nothing fearing,
With holy peace and joy as martyrs know,
With perfect love and trust in His appearing,
With every selfish hope or aim laid low—
My friends will go.
I would not stay! When of His grace he has to me forgiven
Far deeper wrong than they could ever know,
And I have thought and prayed and toiled and striven,
That the great gift He might on me bestow,
That I might go.
It were not much to give up all the joy in friends and kindred
To lose the art once loved and cherished so,
The thought of home and country never hindered,
And death for Him were honor, that I know,
If I might go.
An Education and a Calling
139
But oh! I am not worthy! His own highest, last commission
Demands the grandest, noblest souls that know
His love; what then am I, to seek permission
To bear His message? I, so weak, so low,
How can I go?
Yet I would go! O, Thou that savedst one so hopeless, teach me
What Thou wouldst have me do, Thy love to show;
If ’tis Thy will, let this one prayer reach Thee—
Let this great longing die, or let me know
That I may go!
 Astonished, glad, sorry, ashamed, undecided, remorseful, weighing, 
reasoning, feeling—all these at once, and more, are what I experience 
this evening. One more life-secret that I know, and this time one so very 
different from the others—this time one so nearly parallel with another 
one I know so well, that I am astonished. It was very strange that she 
should tell it to me, of all people in the world. To think that she, gay, 
bright, sociable, and withal so strong and serene a Christian girl, should 
know this most bitter of sorrows,—that under all of it should be the strug-
gle, almost worse than death, with this very worst of griefs! And now, 
to think what all may come of it—at last—how this removes one of the 
most important, perhaps the most important consideration against her 
coming to her life decision—to think how this seeming terrible calamity 
has transformed her life, has brought it out of its narrow groove into a 
broad love of and sympathy for all mankind if anyone could know these 
things, he surely must be convinced that indeed an all-wise Intelligence 
does direct every slightest part of this great chaos of events we call life. 
“He that ruleth his own self is greater than he that taketh a city”—joy to 
you then, my friend, and peace, and a wise and speedy decision of your 
great question, which is also mine. Truly you were—are—brave—you 
have been a heroine, and I feel that you will be a still greater one.
 You must love these people. You must forget all about race prejudices, 
and their being so far your inferiors. You must love them—that is the 
only way you can do them any good. I wish I could write down all the 
other things Miss Stafford said this day in Mission class—but if I could 
they would not be the same without that voice, that absolute certainty 
that spoke through it, the wonderful love that shone in her eyes. She 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
140
knows these things—to the very depths of the strongest, most perfect 
nature I ever knew, she knows them. We know why, too—we know Who, 
because that she gave herself utterly to Him, has taught her all these 
things. Help us to do so also, we who need this help so much just now!
 My music! I shall never be a great musician, that is certain. I have 
not the Divine call of genius.
 Yet I love it. Yet I understand some of it, until it seems a part of my 
very soul. Yet I can make some people understand good things through 
it. Yet I can make of it a good and honorable profession.
 Whether it would be better to keep to it, doing all the direct good 
possible through it, and using all the money earned that could possibly 
be spared, for this other cause.
 Perhaps, some day, I might even have the power to send one far 
higher and better than I—perhaps a girl like Mabel Stafford.
 Yet, would it be enough?
 I have been at a party this evening—only a small one, of Y. M.’s, and 
Y. W.’s, to which Lee invited me as a substitute. I did not want to go, not 
feeling like enjoying anything of the kind—but when we arrived, the first 
person I saw was Mabel Stafford, and all the reluctance vanished that in-
stant. Strange, very strange, the wonderful power that girl possesses. Only 
to look into her face is enough to redeem a whole evening of insipidity. 
Lee, who met her this evening for the first time, has risen very much in 
my estimation because he seemed to realize faintly to be sure, the wonder 
of her character. How anyone could fail to realize it, I cannot imagine—yet 
I know that there are those who do. If I were a Catholic and worshipped 
saints—but there, I shall have to turn to the Litany, I fear, and ask,
From all inordinate and sinful affections,
Good Lord, deliver us!
 I want to talk with her, so much, on the subject, yet I almost fear, 
lest the words and above all the example of the almost idolized human 
friend influence me when I should think only of the Divine One. That 
light may come, if it be His will, and soon, that I may know what to do!
An Education and a Calling
141
 It was exceedingly good, I suppose. Only, Chopin goes on and 
on, very beautifully to be sure, but he never decides anything. I wish 
somehow, it had Beethoven or somebody who did come to a decision 
sometimes, instead of wandering always in vague imaginings. I wish he 
would decide something.
 The deed is done. I have given up the Sonata Pathétique. Not because 
I did not like it—liking is not nearly strong enough for the fascination that 
piece has for me; not because it was too difficult—that was only another 
incentive to learning it; not because I could not play it—I never played 
anything better in my life. That was it. Preyer said, “You play it not only 
with your hands, but with your mind and your heart”—he did not know 
how truly he spoke then. It was too much—almost it made me come 
to its own despairing conclusion—all hope of any positive good being 
utterly gone, nothing remained but exhaustion; the last prayer was for 
“rest, only rest”—and the last flicker of strength was exhausted in the 
sudden bitter cry, “No, for such as I there is not even rest.”
 I cannot believe such things; I will not. Yet, such was the power of 
the evil spirit that surely dwells in that work that gradually, in spite of all 
I could do, that awful darkness was coming over everything. And so, at 
the risk of being laughed at for a coward by Preyer and the rest, I have 
given it up.
 Well, that was a success. Thirty-five signed the agreement to sing—
thirty-five of the very best singers in school, too, with Lucia Van Cleef 
at the head. I am so glad she is one of us. One of these days she may be 
one of us in another sense—truly “one.” If only that may be soon!
 Frances Norris and I went together. She is such a queer girl, I think. I 
believe we have some things in common—love for music and for writing. 
I am glad, too—I am always glad to find some link between one of the 
girls and me. I wish I could have some little influence over her. Florence 
Porter, her room-mate, must wield a very great influence there, and yet, 
even she has failed thus far, apparently, in the one great thing we wish 
to bring to pass. If it could only be done before our opportunity is gone!
 If you do not know your own mind yet, your humility, your distrust of 
yourself, which make you afraid—do you not know that every true wom-
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
142
an must feel that? The revelation in those words, “I have told you what is 
in my mind night and day”—you did not realize, perhaps, how much it 
was a revelation. You may doubt yet, I do not. You must know, too, how 
truly I rejoice with you—ay, I could almost say, I am glad that someone 
else will henceforth be first; since our lives must needs be separated so 
widely, it is indeed best that someone else should fill yours. Yes, Ruth, 
I am indeed glad, more glad, probably, than you will ever know.
 It is not best to record discouragements, yet, they are surely a part of 
the great plan of life. But it seemed hard, after asking so many girls this 
afternoon, that not one would come. Yet, what is a little disappointment 
like that, compared with perhaps years spent in faithful work, with no 
apparent result? If I become discouraged over this easy task, what about 
that other one, that will call for the endurance of a martyr? Katharine 
Hansen, what are you to dream that you can ever receive the honor of 
that task? B.I.!
 And yet, think of the need of those people, and how few there are 
to go to them! What are you, that you should hold back? What are your 
little plans and purposes, compared with their need? O, to know which 
is the true way!
 “Here am I; send me!” It is decided. Weak, imperfect, full of defects 
as I am—it has come to me, even to me. He has chosen me for this honor. 
I have said, “I will go.” I cannot realize it yet. Sometimes it seems that 
it cannot be really I; that someone else must be the one for whom it is 
intended. Representative, servant, ambassador these I shall be, and not 
only that, but He, the Lord of heaven and earth, He, Who left everything 
to come to us as a foreign missionary, He, who endured what would make 
any suffering for Him seem but a pin-prick in comparison. He calls me 
“friend,” and says, “Lo, I am with you always.” He has deemed me not 
unworthy to go for Him. Henceforth my life is worthy in my own sight. 
Henceforth it will be very precious to me, since He will use it. Henceforth 
it is crowned with a glory that covers up everything of that miserable 
past. But oh, the strangeness the wonder of it, that this should come 
even to me! I cannot say anything; I can only be silent, wondering at this 
greatest goodness. O that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, 
and for His wonderful works to the children of men!
An Education and a Calling
143
It is the Blüthezeit!
All life, all being, flooded so with light,
It seems it never, never could be night,
Could never be less bright!
It is the Blüthezeit!
The very air breathes a sweet mystery,
Of happy things beginning now to be;
The winds bring joyfulness instead of strife;
The very dust is instinct now with life;
The very heavens filled with Infinite love;
One presence working underneath, above
And through it all! It is the Blüthezeit!
It is the Blüthezeit!
After long years of hesitating, doubt,
Of trying this and that, of wandering about,
Of seeking for an aim to satisfy—
To make it worth the while to live at all;
Of self-contempt that turned to bitterest gall
The slightest thought of nobler end—to die
Would be no gain, since I must surely be
My miserable self through all eternity!—
And after all these things has come the light.
It is the Blüthezeit!
All life has meaning now, and dignity,
No longer purposeless, but moving orderly,
By infinite reason planned, to its appointed goal,
And every human being, every soul,
It matters not how low, in all the earth,
Is precious now, since even mine has worth,
All life, all being flooded so with light—
I know it never, never can be night—
Can never be less bright!
 It is not the place or the time to tell all about these weeks. It was just 
one month from the time that Alice Boyle volunteered. The twenty-fifth 
of February to the twenty-fifth of March—one month, of the last strug-
gle. They helped much, those friends, and above all, Florence Porter. 
Mabel Stafford I was afraid to tell any of these things—Florence came 
into my very soul in those days of conflict. Not as one so utterly above 
my weakness, but as one who knew it all, she came, and helped me, and 
cared for me. How can I help loving her very, very dearly? It is not with 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
144
the almost worship that I must needs give Mabel Stafford; yet I must 
always recognize the beauty and the nobility of Florence’s character. But, 
for good and all, she is my friend—and that is everything, after all. And 
our bond cannot be broken—we shall go to the uttermost parts of the 
earth, if it be the will of Him who sends us, and it will but strengthen the 
bond formed in this month of struggle—for her, as well as for me. It is 
the spring vacation now, and she is gone home. If I could only know—but 
then, it will all be right, however this visit may result. Only, I do so hope 
that she may be able to sign our Volunteer pledge and come out openly 
on her return. It is so hard for her to be in a manner under false colors, 
as she is now.
 Joy, joy to you, my friends who have fought so hard a fight, who 
have overcome, who have at last made the great decision that gives 
one more life to our work, the grandest mission on earth! Ay, it is the 
grandest one—even one who believed none of these things, confessed 
that to me. But O, the touching humility of my friends, as she told me 
how she must be so very different before she could count herself worthy 
to be numbered among that band of Volunteers. She feared even to tell 
them her decision, and I led her by the hand to them as they stood all 
together, and told them, and left her with them. That was before I knew 
myself. And now, there remains but the formality of signing the card, 
and I, too, shall be a Volunteer. I wonder if a soldier in the army finds 
more in his regimental name than comes to us with those words “Student 
Volunteers.” Volunteers, not for self, not for home, not even for coun-
try—Volunteers for the great army that is to accomplish the command 
of our Leader—The Evangelization of the World in This Generation. 
“We can do it, if we will” and we will, for we know that He will help us. 
What need we fear, then, for anything? He has said “Lo, I am with you 
always”—that means with us.
 I have done the deed and told Mabel Stafford all about it at last. Why 
was I so foolishly afraid of her, I wonder, when she is so very, very good 
to me? Yet, I am glad that it was so ordered that I did not tell her before. 
She thinks I should sign at once, without waiting for the consent of any-
one; “For,” she said, “it is only the least part—the important part is done 
already.” “Then you should break it to your people gradually.” I must 
An Education and a Calling
145
think and ask guidance, for I am not sure just what is the right course. 
I want to come out openly—yet, if I could only tell the folks first—can it 
be, that I am yet withholding something?
 Spring vacation is over, the test of going back to old associations 
and old work. It was not a failure, I know. Always there was the strange 
Power leading and helping. I know He will not leave me. These days away 
from the associations of this last month have only strengthened me in 
everything. I am so glad. And now, if I only knew clearly my duty about 
the pledge—but it is becoming clear, and that very rapidly. Surely, my 
purpose could not be stronger by the mere writing of a name—and as 
for waiting to tell the folks, the decision was made without telling them, 
as it must necessarily be, and this other must be told gradually, too. I 
cannot see them now, nor for a long time, and meanwhile—O, that it 
were quite clear, what I must do! And yet, I know that in the own good 
time of Him Who sends me, it will be clear. So rest, and be content.
 A position is offered me for next winter—a very good one, too, as 
far as wages go. I must care for such things now, for henceforth I think 
it only right to make my own way, and myself meet the expenses of the 
necessary preparation for my work. But that is not much—there is a 
purpose in it all, now. The preparation may be long and difficult; the 
obstacles may be many; the trials may be severe. I did not wish for this 
work because it would be easy; it was not given to me for that end. What 
are any difficulties now, when it is permitted to me to say, “I will go”?
 I do not know yet in what capacity I shall go. It has been suggested 
to me that the greatest need of all is medical work. Whether it would be 
wise to take a course in medicine—I am not too old yet to begin it, and 
I could certainly work my way through a school—but whether the gifts 
that have been lent to me can best be used in that way—
 I do not know. That must come yet from study and thought and 
asking the guidance which cannot fail, for it is promised.
 Once more has come the answer, the direct answer. The last thing 
necessary, the last formality, is done. I am a pledged Volunteer.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
146
In 1901 Kate pledged to become a Student Volunteer. With this pledge she charted the course 
of the rest of her life.
An Education and a Calling
147
 It came so very clearly. I knew it would be but right, the decision being 
already made, to announce it formally, to become one of the Band, to give 
and to receive all the help that will bring. Yet, there were the folks, and I 
felt I must tell them, and that it would be impossible to write it. But then 
I remembered this book, written, I did not know why, which holds as 
much of the real things of this winter as I could well write. Then—well, 
I knew.
 I have seemed what I was not for too long. It is time to come out 
openly and let it be known what really fills my life. I have not so much to 
give as some of the others—I can never be as our honored leader, or as 
Alice Boyle—but all that I have must count, must be given unreservedly, 
without hiding anything. With what gladness it is given—but that would 
be a theme that would last forever. So, here let this record end for now. 
Thus far its purpose is accomplished—now let deeds be its end.
 By 1905 Kate had become an accomplished musician and student. 
Her perspectives on this final music course practical test, which she wrote 
in a pastoral setting just before graduating and leaving the University, are 
beautifully summed in this lyrical but also somewhat pensive reflection 
about a May day on North College Hill. Major and minor, light and dark: 
The last examination was over; her college years had ended.
 Up on the hill—and it was May. Even cold old North College was 
kind that day, although examination days are not usually the ones to call 
forth kindness. We were taking our final in musical composition, and 
our professor, queer little Penny, had told us we might take it where we 
would. He gave us a little theme—bare and simple, in 4/4 time. Then 
we went off to develop it. “Come out—it is too beautiful to stay in this 
dreary place.” So we went down the old foot-path which we had climbed 
every day that winter, often in snow or mud, with our heavy Bach and 
Clemente, or still heavier Beethoven with his Pathétique. No burden 
today but our little notebooks and pencils; no cold to struggle with; no 
Pathétique to dread; nothing more—it was our last day on that hill. We 
stopped where the trees stand thickly together, just before the steepest 
slope. The grass was so soft and deep there, we lay half hidden, our 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
148
books on the ground, while we wrote on and on. But the ideas could 
not be expressed. The beauty of it all—the peace, the strength of the 
hill! All afternoon we were undisturbed, save for the birds above and 
the little insects that kept running over our books as if they wished to 
help. It was not like any examination as the song grew and went on in 
the most gentle yet cheerful modulations. It was trying to say some of 
the gladness of that May Day—but that was to be our last day on North 
College Hill! and the trio dropped into a minor, yet coming back to the 
major of subdued thankfulness at times that such beauty had been. The 
sun was nearly down. Down at the Y. M. house the band began practic-
ing. The Seniors began winding through the grove and up the hill for 
their class supper. We paid little attention. We were back in the major, 
finishing the D. C. with trills and variations—nothing was glad enough. 
Down along the street below passed my two friends who were more 
than all the rest—they were nearly gone before I saw them. “Trill!” and 
away through the grove went the shrill “Rrrrrrrrrrr!” as I went by leaps 
over the bank, through the grass and the strawberries and the flowers, 
over bushes, over stones with all the exhilaration that comes after long 
sitting still, until a long leap landed me breathless on the street before 
them. They looked so stately in their caps and gowns!—yet the black 
brought back the minor. The message was nothing—it was just to see 
them; they went on, and I clambered back; the song ended with a long 
series of tonic arpeggios—“Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!”—and Rrrrrrrrrrrr! came 
another trill from below. “Well, are you going to stay here all day and 
all night too?” called out my practical guest from the west. “Coming”; 
three full tonic chords—the song was done; the last examination was 
over; the sun was down; and we climbed soberly up the hill and left the 
book in our old classroom, then walked down the path and through the 
grove to the already darkening street.
An Education and a Calling
149
 Kate knew that her family was uncomfortable with her decision to go 
far away to Japan to live in a non-Christian country as a missionary. She 
reminded them in letters home that, as soon as she had enrolled at KU, 
she had  inquired about a mission study course at the University YWCA 
and participated in this study through her whole university career. In her 
letters she communicates the particulars of her new church affiliation and 
the Miyagi Girls School in Sendai, where she and her colleague Lydia 
Lindsey have been assigned to teach. This letter to her sister expresses her 
concerns about her parents’ reactions to her plans but determinedly charts 
her course.
North College was the first building constructed at the University of Kansas. It was the 
scene of much of Kate’s education at KU, and North College Hill was the site of her final 
reflections on her university experience.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
150
Denver
January 27, 1907
To Alpha Florence—
 Certainly you did give me a turn! But it was the most sensible thing 
you could have done,—more than I had expected, if the truth must be 
told. I hope it will do you all kinds of good, and you’ll be able to finish 
your term all right, and come to stay with me in the spring.
 And now I’ve some news for you, which won’t be as astonishing to 
you as to the rest. I wanted, so much, to tell you at Christmas, but things 
were uncertain, I was determined not to bother the folks about it unless 
it was decided; and I didn’t want you to have to keep anything important 
from them. But it’s decided now, and I’ve written just now to them; I’ve 
been formally elected a professor in the Girl’s College, of Sendai, Japan, 
and intend to accept for the term of five years and go out next August. 
Also, Lydia goes to the same college. I wonder how much of this is a 
surprise to you! You’ve certainly known a few things about KU student 
volunteers; and I think you’ve known us well enough to know that most 
From the 1905 University of Kansas yearbook, The Jayhawker.
 KATE HANSEN, A. B.; Φ B K; 
College; President Y. W. C. A., 1903–4; 
Snow Literary
 Kate has spent much of her University 
life searching into the mysteries of zoology 
and seems to find her greatest satisfaction 
in persevering to the death whatever 
unfortunate bugs stray in her way, but 
apart from this work, Kate has given much 
thoughtful attention to the interests of the 
Y. W. C. A. whose advancement she has 
done much to promote. Those who know 
her best, can best appreciate the true depth 
and earnestness of her life and work.
An Education and a Calling
151
of us have meant what we said. But I’m glad you didn’t talk much about 
it, for then you’d have known so many things and either kept still, as I 
did, so as not to worry the folks any more than necessary, or talked and 
worried them still more. I think you’d have kept still, though.
 I think you are the only one in the whole family who will understand 
why I do this. I have written home all the practical things I could think 
of, but I do not have much hope of their having any great effect. I do 
believe that you understand about it; that you know it is the only honor-
able thing for me to do, as a volunteer, even if for no other reason—and 
you can imagine, I think, how much I want to do it, besides.
 It is an unusual opportunity, looking at it from every side. Just the 
school work I have always wanted, in the country and even in the very 
town (or rather city, for Sendai is second only to Tokyo) where I have 
always had the greatest interest. I can do work there, in a short time, 
that I could not do here in all my life; I can make myself count, for ev-
erything there is in me—not be one of hundreds, as I am here, with a 
dozen people, almost as well qualified as I, ready to take my position 
and do the work almost, if not quite, as well as I could.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
152
Kate Hansen graduated from the 
University of Kansas in 1905 and 
taught two years in Denver before 
being appointed by the Reformed 
Church of the United States as 
a Christian missionary to Japan 
in 1907.
An Education and a Calling
153
 There are now two hundred girls in school; half of them from 
non-Christian families, attracted there simply by the excellence of the 
school work; a large number from families of great influence in their 
country; and most of them not there for just four or five hours a day, 
and then off with no thought of school or teacher, but boarding there 
for nine months in the year. O, it will be a queer thing, if I can’t count for 
more among those girls, than I ever have before!—if something worth 
while isn’t accomplished!
 One thing will surprise you, though, I think; that is, that I’m going 
under the Reformed Church Board. Probably you’ve never heard of 
them—it’s President Roosevelt’s church, a branch of the Presbyterian, 
just like them in everything but its origin, which was Germany instead 
of Scotland. I heard of the vacancies through the Volunteer Movement 
last fall, and wrote to Lydia about it, and we agreed to inquire about 
them at least. I had been in correspondence with the Baptist Board ever 
since I had been a volunteer; Lydia and I met the president of the Board 
in Chicago after our trip to Geneva; I met all of them last spring here at 
the national convention. They made me several offers, but they were 
all for India or China; one project of theirs for a new school in Japan fell 
through, and there was no prospect of my getting to go to Japan for three 
or four years, anyway. They knew all along of my decided preference for 
Japan, and would have sent me there if there had been any opening. So 
it became a question of going under my own Board to a country where I 
thought I could not do the best work, or to Japan under this other Board, 
whose church agrees with ours in everything essential. The fact that 
Lydia could go to Japan, while of course it is the greatest satisfaction, 
did not decide the question, for the Baptist Board would have been glad 
to send her to India or China—they sent a very urgent offer to us both, 
last fall, for Henzada, Burma, and would have sent us this month, if we 
had accepted.
 When I went to Philadelphia, it was quite uncertain whether either 
of us would be elected; I was afraid that the fact of our not being mem-
bers of their church would have great weight. Of course, everybody 
thought the meeting was Baptist, and I said nothing against that—just 
kept still—for, if I had not been elected, there would probably have been 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
154
no reason to trouble the folks about the matter for two or three years, 
until our Board should have a vacancy in Japan.
 It was decidedly interesting, that examination before the Board! 
They had all my credentials, of course, beforehand; so my examination 
was mainly on theology! In the points where our churches differ, I told 
plainly my beliefs; even if the Board were nearly all D.D.’s, and supposed 
to know everything on such matters. But that frankness did not seem to 
disturb them much; I found them a very liberal, broad-minded crowd. 
They were all college men and women, too, so I felt at home—much 
more so than before a school board! My examination must have lasted at 
least three hours. Lydia’s was shorter; as a Presbyterian, they assumed 
she agreed with them in matters theological, and asked very few ques-
tions—for which she was truly thankful, for church distinctions mean 
next to nothing to her, and she joined the Presbyterian church simply 
because it was her father’s church.
 We had a medical examination also, by a Philadelphia doctor who is 
a specialist on foreign conditions. Both of us he pronounced perfectly 
sound, and of unusual endurance. So there was nothing in the way of 
our appointment, if the Board saw fit.
 We had long conversations with Dr. Schneder, an elderly gentleman 
president of North Japan College, also in Sendai, and learned a great 
deal about conditions there. There will be nothing spectacular about 
our work—no palm trees, cannibals, jungles and snakes; our manner of 
living will be about what it is here. It will be work, and good hard work 
too; but it isn’t anything to be afraid of, except for our own ability to live 
up to our great opportunity.
 Dr. and Mrs. Schneder expect to be our chaperons on the voyage; 
perhaps also Dr. Bartholomew, the Board secretary, who is going on a 
visit of inspection to all the missions. The president of the Board had 
just returned from such a tour. We met Mr. Kajiwara, one of the profes-
sors in the college, who is a Ph.D. from Princeton, and an exceedingly 
intelligent man. He may go by the same vessel also.
 Roxy is delighted over the whole thing. She has known of all the 
different projects, of course. It is possible that she may give up study-
An Education and a Calling
155
ing medicine, after all, and take a position in the Woman’s College at 
Lucknow. She has had some correspondence with the Methodist Board 
about it. She is too strong a Methodist, I think, to ever go under any 
other Board, and it will be a fine opening for her. Still, I hate to see her 
give up medicine. I suppose you will be glad—you never liked the idea 
of her being a doctor, did you?
 I wonder if you know how many KU people there are who are student 
volunteers? I think the Association cannot keep Anna Van Zandt another 
year, for she plans to go to a Bible School in New York, preparing for Y.W. 
work in some foreign country. When he has had the necessary experi-
ence and also gets a little more age added—Harry Heinzman expects to 
go into foreign Y.M. work. You know about Charlie Siler—he’s in med-
ical school now, and engaged to Grace Stelter, and both are volunteers. 
John Woodin is another; so is Mr. Herman of Quivira, who is engaged 
to Winifred Wilcox, another one. Ruby Jackson is still another. There 
are fifteen now in school, altogether, I believe. Of course, it is probable 
that some may not be able to go, they may be rejected, or their health 
may break down, like Mabel Stafford’s did, or other things may compel 
them to stay here. But KU should have a good representation in foreign 
work, out of all these. Of those who were in school with me, Effie Fisher 
is now in India, Perry and Ruth Hansen in China, Frank Smith and his 
wife in Japan.
 Some of this rambling letter isn’t much to the point, is it? But it 
is such a relief to unload, and there are any number of things I have 
wanted to tell you for a long time, but didn’t think it best. I think there 
will not be many more “mysteries” now; most of the “mysteries” you 
were plagued with in school and afterwards have had some connection, 
near or remote, with this subject. And I think we shall know each other 
better, even when I am in Japan, than we ever have before; for we shall 
be able to write freely about everything, each knowing that the other 
understands or tries her best to understand.
 More than as ever,
 Kate
Hope Aunt Kate doesn’t quite explode. I pity you.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
156
As Kate prepared to leave for Japan 
in 1907, she wrote letters to her par-
ents and her sister, Alpha Florence, 
describing her reasons for becoming a 
Christian missionary to Japan and the 
particulars of her assignment to Miyagi 
Girls School in Sendai.
157
 K ate Hansen and Lydia Lindsey were appointed to the Japanese 
Mission on December 31, 1906, by the Board of Missions of the Reformed 
Church of the United States (German Reformed Church)1  as mission-
ary-teachers and assigned to Miyagi Girls’ School in Sendai, Japan, which 
is about 200 miles north of Tokyo on Honshu island. Their work site 
would be some 10,000 miles from Kansas. During the ensuing months, 
they studied Japanese history and geography avidly.
 They learned that Japan consists of more than 3,300 islands, stretch-
ing more than 1,734 miles, of which only 440 are inhabited. There are four 
main islands: Honshu, Hokkaido, Shikoku, and Kyushu. These islands 
consist of volcanic mountain tops that rise from the Pacific Ocean floor, 
five or six miles deep. The narrow Sea of Japan between Korea and China 
Chapter 4
The Early Years in Japan
1When they began their careers as missionaries, Kate Hansen was probably of the 
Baptist persuasion, while her friend Lydia Lindsey was a Presbyterian. The Reformed 
Church of the United States of America, better known as the German Reformed Church 
to distinguish it from the Dutch Reformed Church, started its missionary program in 
1879, the year of Kate’s birth. In June 1934, when times were especially hard from an 
economic point of view for missionaries, their sponsoring church, the German Reformed 
Church of the United States, merged with a sister organization, the German Evangeli-
cal Church, to form the Evangelical and Reformed Church. This new church assumed 
sponsorship of Kate and Lydia as its missionaries in Japan. In 1957 the Evangelical and 
Reformed Church united with the Congregational Churches to become the United 
Church of Christ. By this time, the two missionaries were retired.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
158
Tokyo
TOHOKU
HO
NS
HU
•Nagasaki
Sendai•
•
Karuizawa
Map of Japan, with places prominent in Kate’s letters.

Yokohama•
The Early Years in Japan
159
on the west and Japan on the east is relatively shallow. At one time the 
land may have bridged the entire area but was submerged after the Ice 
Age and the long melting period. These enormous ocean depths and 
two-mile-high mountain tops on land cause severe strains on the earth’s 
crust and an instability that explain Japan’s frequent earthquakes—more 
than a hundred a month with minor earthquakes every three days. Over 
the years catastrophic quakes have occurred with great loss of life and 
property.
 Kate and Lydia learned that only about sixteen percent of the land 
in Japan is cultivated and that rice is the food staple. They also learned 
that there were three distinct castes or classes of people. The upper caste 
consisted of the feudal nobles who wielded immense power in the lives 
of the people. The samurai were the warrior class whose profession was 
fighting. The vast majority of the people were commoners engaged in 
the trades, professions, and agricultural pursuits. The Emperor assumed 
both political and spiritual leadership.
 The dominant religions of Japan are Buddhism, which came from 
India by way of China and Korea, and the native Shintoism. The two reli-
gions have been intertwined in the lives of the Japanese people. The gun 
and Christianity were introduced into Japan by the Portuguese traders in 
1543. From the early seventeenth century to the mid-nineteenth century, 
Japan was sealed off from Western influences and peoples, except for a 
few Dutch traders at Nagasaki.
 Religious representatives of both Portugal and Spain had been con-
tacting Japan since the sixteenth century but were soundly rebuffed. 
Catholic Jesuits, Franciscans, and Dominicans had been courteously 
received at first but were later banned, deported, or executed. In 1638 
Japan closed its boundaries to missionaries for well over a century with 
the expulsion order to the Portuguese that ended with these words:
 As long as the sun warms the earth, let no Christian be so bold as to come to 
Japan and let all people know that if King Philip himself or even the very God of 
the Christians breaks this commandment, they shall pay for it with their heads.2
2Hendrik W. Van Loon, Van Loon’s Geography. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1932, 
p. 375.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
160
 Less than a year before Kate and Lydia sailed from San Francisco, 
the Russo-Japanese War ended on September 5, 1905, with a peace treaty 
brokered by President Theodore Roosevelt. The war had been fought 
mainly in Manchuria and in the waters off the Japanese islands. The 
Japanese interpreted the treaty as a great victory. They promptly took 
over the Russian concessions in Chinese Manchuria, thus becoming an 
undisputed world power.
 Japan now became the most powerful Asian nation. In addition, 
Japan held a preeminent position in Korea, which Japan claimed as a 
protectorate, thus establishing a firm foothold in all Asian affairs.
 Gradually, after 1850, Japan had relaxed its harsh rules about mis-
sionaries. The Miyagi Girls’ School in Sendai was started in 1886. By 
the turn of the century Sendai had fourteen churches and four Chris-
tian schools. Of the several denominations represented in Sendai, the 
Reformed Church had the most missionaries.
 Kate and Lydia sailed from America in mid-August of 1907 to begin 
their long careers as missionary-teachers. Kate’s family came to San 
Francisco to see her off. Passage was on the Nippon Maru, which arrived 
in Yokohama, the harbor for Tokyo, Japan, on September 3, 1907. They 
spent two days in Tokyo receiving instructions and on the morning of 
September 5 took a train to Sendai. School started on September 10. 
Kate’s assignment was to teach English, singing, and piano music.
 Kate believed that God had called her to help Japanese girls discov-
er Christ. And He had equipped her to approach them through music 
and education in their own land and in their own school. She would be 
America’s cultural ambassador to her students. Not only was she superbly 
equipped to lead the lonely life of a missionary, but she was predisposed 
to take the steps of faith to serve the Lord wherever He would call her.
 Kate knew that few people attained their cherished goals in life. 
She believed that she would not fit the social mold of the times and was 
determined to be different both in outlook and in the course of her life. 
For both Kate and Lydia, their journey to Japan would launch a Christian 
career of heroic proportions and results. 
The Early Years in Japan
161
 Tired, but alert to new sounds and scenes, Kate and Lydia reported 
to their school’s administrator and inspected their living quarters. With 
the exception of furloughs and the World War II era, here they were to 
labor continuously until the 1950s, when they reluctantly retired.
 After settling into campus routines and responsibilities, they had time 
to assess the local and national situation. Beyond the campus and the 
immediate vicinity of Sendai, the geography of the area interested the 
missionaries. Sendai was a bustling city and a cultural center of northern 
Honshu. It was also the economic, political, and manufacturing center of 
the area and the seat of a great university. About 300,000 people lived in 
the area. Sendai was a prefectural capitol and a center of higher education.
 Although the missionaries arrived too late to observe the 1907 Star 
festival in Sendai August 6–8, they heard much talk about it and the emo-
tional impact it had had on the people. A fellow missionary’s description 
of the Star Festival sheds light on Japanese culture and mythology.
 On the seventh day of the seventh month of each year, Sendai blossoms 
with bamboo branches covered with strips of bright colored paper. Each piece 
of paper bears a Japanese poem of love, and under the bamboo branches are 
lacquer stands with food offerings. Citizens of Sendai delight in the celebra-
tion of Tanabata, the Star Festival. According to an ancient Chinese legend 
two stars, the Herdsman and the Weaving Girl, fell in love. They loved each 
other so deeply that they left their work, allowing the cattle to stray from their 
pastures and the loom to become dusty and neglected. Because they were 
so careless of their duties, the two lovers were punished by separation. They 
were banished to opposite sides of Celestial River or Milky Way. But the Lord 
of High Heaven took pity on their sad and lonely exile and decreed that they 
might visit each other once a year. So, on the night of the seventh day of the 
seventh moon, the Herdsman and the Weaving Girl are reunited in the skies 
above Sendai, and the city is made gay with bamboo branches and strips of 
paper covered with love poems.3
3Hemphill, Elizabeth Anne. A Treasure to Share. Valley Forge, Pa.: The Judson Press, 
1964, p. 30. Hemphill’s book chronicles the experiences of Thomasine Allen from Indiana, 
who also served in Japan from 1915 to 1960 with time out for World War II. Like Kate, 
Miss Allen served all of her years in northern Japan. For ten years she was stationed in 
Sendai although at another school—the Shobei Jo Gakuin—as an elementary teacher. 
Some of her experiences and memories were taped after her return to the United States 
and are quoted in the book.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
162
 In their explorations Kate and Lydia enjoyed the lovely gardens of 
Rinno-ji temple in Nikko. They were impressed with the quiet grandeur 
of the artistic rock formations, dwarf trees, stone lanterns, and the rustic 
bridges that enhanced the natural beauty of the famous garden. They 
toured the old ruined castle of Aoba Hill and experienced the beautiful 
panorama of the river, the city, the mountains, and the Pacific Ocean. In 
the nearby resort areas, Kate and Lydia inspected the many hot springs 
and spas. They saw the Matsushima pines and the moon-viewing pavil-
ions of the spring and autumn seasons.
 They were told of the Shinto myths about the creation of Japan by the 
two gods Izanagi and Izanami. From a heavenly bridge the gods were said 
to have dipped their spears in water and the drops of celestial water that 
fell to earth became the islands of Japan. As a Christian, Kate found the 
legends and stories interesting but unbelievable. Such creation stories 
would have no place in her presentations of the gospel. She would take 
the long view and be prepared for a very slow pace of change in people 
who had lived for thousands of years with such myths and traditions.
 When Kate arrived in Japan, she quickly became aware of the cultural 
mores of the people including their ancestral customs, habits, manners, 
and expectations for young women. To Kate, Japanese women’s sub-
servience to men, lack of education, and restrictions of various kinds 
seemed confining, as she unconsciously compared American customs 
with Japanese practices.
 From the start, Kate was sensitive to the social conditions of her 
students and their families. Miyagi Girls’ School, which was beginning its 
twenty-first year, had about 200 students, who represented both prominent 
and poor families. It was sometimes heartbreaking to learn of social con-
ditions in which Christian students lived during or after schooling. There 
was little American missionary women could overtly do about social con-
ditions beyond deploring them. With sincere efforts and small steps Kate 
opened their thinking to new horizons. Her personal example of giving 
up a good life in America and coming to Japan to help them was not lost 
on her students. They seemed to understand and appreciate the courage 
and devotion she displayed in her teaching and role modeling. In and out 
of class, she was committed to their educational and spiritual welfare.
The Early Years in Japan
163
 Missionaries, particularly teaching missionaries, sought to evange-
lize and train selected students through all of their activities, including 
secular education. Their encouragement of the acceptance and worship 
of the “one true God” helped steer their students away from “idolatry 
and heathen worship and practices.” The personal lives of missionaries 
steadily held before their young charges their idealistic commitment to 
Christ, distinctive character, and concern for their students’ welfare.
 From the beginning of her first term as a missionary, Kate was 
committed to improving her knowledge and skills, participation in policy 
making, raising funds, and recruiting students and additional teachers. 
Accomplishing the goals of her church and school meant sacrifices of 
her time and money, but she was eager to be an effective spokesperson 
for the cause of Christ.
 Correspondence with family, friends, and church officials along with 
careful preparation for her teaching responsibilities took much of Kate’s 
time. But she managed to practice four hours a day on her beloved piano, 
and she began to write for publication. There were always concerts to 
plan and prepare for, which often included her original compositions. 
As a regular part of their intellectual and musical diet, she and Lydia 
cleared away all other duties to enjoy the musical broadcasts from the 
United States on Saturdays and Sundays via short-wave radio.
Furloughs
 Foremost in Kate’s thoughts was her purpose for being in Japan. She 
earnestly sought ways of influencing the young women who attended the 
missionary school and thus leading them to become Christians. She soon 
learned that the Japanese were keenly interested in American music, and 
this was a logical opening for a missionary teacher to exploit. She would 
need more preparation and she would get it during her first furlough in 
1912–13. Because Kate suffered so much from seasickness enroute to 
Japan in 1907, she and Lydia chose to take the Siberian Railroad from 
Vladivostok through Moscow to Berlin when it came time for their 1912 
furlough. The missionaries continued on to Denmark to visit Hansen 
relatives and to renew family contacts there on their way home to Kansas.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
164
 While on furlough, Kate would specialize in music for the benefit of 
her students. The few musically inclined girls who had already acquired 
skills played the koto, a long-stringed zither with silk strings. To Kate’s 
ears, the product of their playing was something less than musical and 
harmonious. These students were serious in their pursuit of musical 
education, and Kate set out to meet their needs with the piano and great 
patience in individually teaching them to use a modern instrument. Her 
early years in Japan were focused on supervising their practice sessions 
and providing sheet music for their use. Always a composer and arranger, 
her contributions to her students were priceless. She grew into a com-
manding figure in their estimation and a model for their lives.
 It soon dawned on Kate—early in her first tour while she was study-
ing the Japanese language, culture, and society—that American music 
would be an excellent and acceptable avenue for reaching the girls and 
winning them to Christ. She thought it was an inspired solution to a 
puzzling situation that required building awareness of the principles of 
Christian enlightenment before presenting the claims of Christ to the 
girls. Kate soon began to see how well the plan was working and what 
its future possibilities might be. Eventually, most of Kate’s students were 
baptized into the Christian faith as a result of her dedicated instruction 
and the example she provided for them.
 Even during vacations and furloughs Kate’s heart was with her 
students. While in the United States, she actively sought scholarships, 
advanced degree placement, and speaking appearances on behalf of 
missionary endeavors.
 When Kate returned to Logan on her first furlough, she brought a 
touch of her adopted country to friends and family at home. In social 
gatherings and more formal presentations, she found opportunities to 
teach Midwesterners about life in Japan.
The Early Years in Japan
165
A Japanese Party4
 Those who attended the Japanese party given by Mrs. Hansen in honor 
of her daughter Katie last Thursday afternoon, have pronounced it the best of 
its kind ever given in Logan. The invitations, about 60 in number, were of the 
Japanese style—printed in Japanese characters on dainty Japanese stationery. 
People were requested to wear their kimonos and bring bedroom slippers.
 Upon arrival at the Hansen home, the guests were ushered in by Misses 
Nancy Cookingham,5 Marie Emery,
 and Alpha Hansen as Japanese maids, and 
greeted by the honorable hostess who repeated, “Welcome to our humble and 
dirty little home,” as the Japanese custom is. The maids removed the guests’ 
shoes, putting on their slippers.
 On entering the rooms, no chairs were found, but cushions, and the guests 
were to sit in such a manner that as each new arrival came in, the entire assem-
bly went through the usual bows and greetings. Japanese games were played 
as a part of the amusement, the first game rather like our American tennis. 
Mabel Noel won out in this, and Mrs. A. C. Davis the game of “Big Lantern and 
Little Lantern”, which followed. She was given a Japanese doll as a prize. Miss 
Alpha Hansen sang the National “Hymn of Japan” in Japanese language in a 
very pleasing manner, even if none were able to understand. Miss Katie then 
gave a “Congratulatory Oration” and after a selection on the piano as played 
by the Japanese girls on a stringed instrument called the “Koto.” The latter 
was a most weird tune of sameness and Miss Katie said we might learn to like 
it if we heard it as many times as she has heard it rendered by daughters of 
the Japanese families.
 The lunch was excellent. The first course, bean cake, made from rice and 
beans and a sort of molasses with millet seed might not be considered very 
palatable by our Americans. After came fancy wafers of two varieties and small 
biscuit-looking cakes, another of oatmeal variety, large chocolates and mints 
and tea served at the last.
 Before leaving, the guests, about forty-five, viewed the fine collection of 
curios6 brought by Miss Katie from Japan.
4The Logan Republican, October 17, 1912.
5Nancy Cookingham was Kate’s cousin; Marie Emery and Mabel Noel were family 
friends; Alpha Hansen was Kate’s sister (and, later, mother of Dane G. Bales); and Mrs. 
A. C. Davis was the wife of a local physician.
6Some are on display at the Hansen Museum in Logan, and others are in the Bales’ 
home.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
166
While on furlough in 1912–13, Kate participated in the wedding of her sister, Alpha Flor-
ence, to Elles Everitt Bales on October 30, 1913. Alpha Florence is shown here seated with 
Kate and her mother.
The Early Years in Japan
167
Summer Vacations
 At the end of their first school year, Kate and Lydia decided that 
they needed a change of scenery for relaxation and recreation during 
the summer vacation months. They chose a popular spot in the Japanese 
Alps, the Yatsugatake Mountain Range northwest of Tokyo. Karuizawa 
was a little town 3,000 feet above sea level where affluent Japanese, as 
well as many foreigners, had long come to enjoy the cool, refreshing 
mountain air and the numerous attractions. Here they found a little 
cottage to rent in a quiet, secluded area.
 Why Karuizawa? Kate had been told that it was “the place” to go for 
a summer vacation. The Crown Prince, Hirohito, spent time there even 
as a child. Here upper-class Japanese congregated for the ideal climate 
and social atmosphere. Foreign nationals visited this area during their 
business or vacation tours of Japan. The rich and famous arranged to 
host their important guests in Karuizawa during summer months. It 
was, in short, an ideal place to rest, relax, and meet people as well as to 
access the arts and natural wonders of the mountains.
 Soaring above the city to the northwest is Mount Asama, the tri-
ple-cratered, live volcano always threatening to erupt. And just outside 
Karuizawa are the 200-feet-wide Sirato waterfalls. The area was heavily 
forested with maple, birch, and larch trees. Kate and Lydia especially 
liked the opportunities to shop in the hundreds of Tokyo shops that 
opened branches in Karuizawa each summer. Sporting activities such 
as archery, skating, tennis, and horseback riding were available. Short 
tours could be taken by bus, bicycle, or walking to nearby popular spa 
resorts or the scenic spots such as the Usui Mountain Pass, a wild bird 
sanctuary, where 120 species could be observed. There was a large ski 
resort at Shiga Heights, which featured a dozen ski areas, scores of lifts, 
gondolas, and ropeways.
 In Karuizawa the missionaries not only enjoyed the cool weather, which 
contrasted with the muggy summer months of Sendai, but they could also 
visit the tea houses, attend a wide variety of concerts and parties, and shop 
to their hearts’ content. Here Kate and Lydia could host their friends and 
touring Americans in the only home the two missionaries ever owned.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
168
 Kate’s students were a delight and sometimes provided lighter 
moments for the hard-working missionary teacher. She received, for 
example, the following postcard during the summer of 1908:
 July 17, 1908
 My dear Miss Hansen:
 How are you, Sir?
 You are looking well?
 K. Hashimoto
 5-2 Yamogi Machi
 Sendai
The Early Years in Japan
169
 Kate wanted her family to know about her adopted country. She wrote 
long, weekly letters and sent hundreds of picture postcards. Professor Thom-
as Ryther, who cataloged some twenty filing drawers of her papers for the 
University of Kansas Archives, commented, “Probably few ‘children’ have 
been so faithful in writing home. These letters . . . comprise several thousand 
pages. It is doubtful if a more complete account of a teaching missionary’s 
experiences in a foreign country has ever been written. On her travels Miss 
Hansen frequently wrote letters on continuing postcards, mailing then in 
an envelope. Sometimes they were numbered, sometimes not. It hasn’t, in 
some cases, been possible to fit the pieces together.”
 In response to her father’s initial inquiries, she sent an illuminating 
letter about Japan and its people. It covers a wide range of topics and por-
trays her progress in understanding the Japanese culture. The letter was 
written, Japanese style, on a single long sheet of rice paper rolled into a scroll 
measuring nine feet in length. Dated about five months after her arrival in 
the country, it shows her rapid learning and growing appreciation of the 
cultural, economic, historical, and business climate in which she would 
labor for nearly half a century.
Miyagi Jo-Gakko
Jan. 19, ’08
 Dear Papa!
 For this long time I have been waiting to answer your letter, not be-
cause I didn’t want to write, but because I couldn’t answer most of your 
questions. I can’t yet, but I’m tired of waiting so I’ll do what I can.
 The Japanese seem to live on little, or nothing. For instance, ser-
vants get from three to five dollars a month in foreign households, and 
generally get a house for their use. From this salary they get their board 
and clothes, and whatever else they need. They generally get lower 
wages in Japanese families. Servants seem to be one of the necessities 
of life in Japan. People we would call very poor still don’t seem to be 
able to get along without them. It’s much worse than the Old Country 
[Denmark], and they’re slower, too. Lately we had matting put down on 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
170
two stairways and three halls in our house. It took three men and a boy 
two whole days to do it, from early morning until dark. They got about 
fifteen cents each, a day. From these wages, the men probably supported 
their families—practically all Japanese men are married, for they have 
ancestor worship, you know, which teaches that if a man fails to have 
children to keep up the offerings to the spirits of the ancestors, he will 
suffer in the next world all kinds of privations, and all his ancestors will 
blame him, too. The raising of a large family seems to be one of the 
chief religious duties of a heathen Japanese. If he can’t support them 
that doesn’t matter—his relations feel bound to do it. Sons who marry 
are expected to bring their wives to their home, to wait on their moth-
er. About the first question a Japanese girl asks is not “What kind of a 
man is he?” but “How about his mother?” It wouldn’t be any use for me 
to tell you the tales about mothers-in-law that I’ve heard from our own 
girls—nobody in a free country would believe them. The chief hope of 
the girl seems to be that some day she too will grow old, and have sons’ 
wives to wait on her. There’s one advantage—Japanese women are never 
ashamed of growing old!
 The regular price for a rickshaw by the day is twenty-five cents. How 
much of that goes to the man, and how much to the owner of the stand, I 
do not know. For shorter times, the price is a little higher in proportion.
 As I said, Japanese provisions cost little. Our own provisions cost 
somewhat more than they do in America. For us, provisions, light, 
fuel—all expenses except servants’ wages—amount to about $3.90 a 
week. The servants’ wages bring this up to about five dollars.
 For the industries of the town, I don’t know all about it, of course, but 
some I’ve seen. First, Sendai is a great military station—there are several 
regiments of soldiers here and it takes a great many people to supply 
their wants. It is also an educational center. Beside the Christian schools 
is the Koto Gakko, something like a German Gymnasium, which has also 
a medical department—one of four in the empire; the Koto Jo Gakko, 
a government higher school for girls, a normal school (government), 
and any number of private and semi-private higher schools. There are 
altogether about five thousand of these students, largely from outside 
of Sendai.
The Early Years in Japan
171
 The city has the trade from the rice-country between us and the 
ocean. There are numerous little rice mills—in fact everything is little. 
There are some silk-factories on the outskirts of town not so very large, 
however. There are little sawmills, and little shops where all kinds of 
Japanese furniture are made—everything by hand, of course. The most 
noted product is the fossil wood—there are numerous places where it 
is manufactured into all sorts of things, especially trays and boxes for 
cakes. There are many tailor shops—men are more and more wearing 
European clothes. And geta and zori places are legion. They’re shops all 
manufactured here and by hand in little bits of shops. Then there’s the 
wicker and matting industry—they make baskets for all kinds of things, 
kori (a kind of wicker suit-case), mats for all the floors, straw sandals 
for rickshaw men and country people, coarse mats for drying fruits and 
things as food, larger mats to wear as raincoats. Each of these things 
is made in separate little shops. And it seems to take about three times 
as many people to do anything as it does with us, even setting aside the 
question of machinery.
 There are, of course, all kinds of stores, the little shops I’ve told about 
before each keeping one thing. I had the most provoking time the other 
day. I wanted to get some of the Christmas pictures framed, so I asked 
my Japanese friend if he knew any places where I could get it done. He 
said “Yes” that there was a good place where they both made and sold 
them. The next day, although the mud was like soup, we started out with 
our girls and the pictures. They had just one frame and that wouldn’t 
fit and they said that it would take thirty days to make another! We 
wandered around in the “soup” for an hour or so, and finally did get to 
a place where they had some and the coarsest soft pine would be lovely 
in comparison. Then we quit and went home.
 Bakeries are especially numerous. The Japanese do no baking 
in their own homes, as a rule, and they use quantities of cakes of all 
kinds—most of them beautiful to look at, and pretty bad to eat. Then the 
tea industry—we seem to be a little north of the main tea country, but 
there are tea fields around the city and in the suburbs, and any number 
of tea shops. The lacquer business, too, is important although Sendai 
isn’t one of the noted lacquer places of Japan. They lacquer everything 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
172
wooden excepting coarse kitchen utensils, trays (they use trays in every 
conceivable way), boxes of all kinds, chop sticks, rice and soup bowls, 
plates etc. including little tables and I don’t know what all else.
 About Sendai history—Dr. Schneder7 told me a bit. The town was a 
little village, like thousands of others, until about three hundred years 
ago. At this time, the founder of the present Date family, whose lovely (?) 
picture I sent you last time, having conquered the neighboring petty lords 
and driven back the Ainu (aborigines from the north), asked permission 
from the Shogun who ruled Japan for the Mikado, to build a castle. He 
was required to submit three sites for the Shogun to choose from. The 
others were bluffs on the seashore. Sendai was the hill defended by the 
canyon on three sides, really about as strong a place as one could find 
inland. The Shogun was afraid if Date had a place on the shore that he 
would grow too powerful, so he chose Sendai. The later history must 
have been very much like that of the European towns of the Middle Ages.
Kate and Lydia, dining with Japanese and American colleagues at a Japanese hotel (about 
1912).
7Dr. David B. Schneder was the senior missionary of the German Reformed Church. 
He had been in Sendai twenty years and had served as president of Tohoku Gakuin 
since 1902.
The Early Years in Japan
173
 The Dates were vigorous, resourceful lords and leaders in northern 
Japan. At the time of the fall of the Shogunate, Sendai held out for the 
Shogun until almost the last. The Date family, in consequence, lost the 
castle and much of their other property but they still retained enough to 
make them rich. Their representative who lives in Sendai of whom I’ve 
told you, is a sort of Grand High Mogul to the Japanese here although 
he holds no official position that I know of.  
 I can’t tell you very much about rice. Wait until spring. Rice fields 
are arranged in terraces so that they can be flooded, with raised paths 
between. They fertilize with the stuff I’ve told about before. The fields 
are always nasty looking black mire. The plants are raised like flowers, 
I am told—planted in boxes or little patches, and transplanted to the 
fields after they are flooded—the people working up to their knees in 
mire and water!
 It grows about as high as wheat—rice-fields a little way off would be 
taken for wheat fields. The straw looks like wheat straw, and the heads 
like wheat heads, except that they don’t have the beard or whatever you 
call the long projecting parts. Rice has a hull on each grain but the hulls 
fit closely and don’t have long ends. The only information I’ve been able 
to get about the yield is that it’s more than the average yield of wheat.
 I don’t know if they feed it to stock—they don’t have any stock to 
speak of anyway. They do make quantities of it into sake—something like 
whiskey. The drinking here is one thing to make a person glad to have 
been raised in Kansas. The farmwork they do themselves and nearly all 
of their hauling also. It’s terrible to see the loads they pull—especially 
women. A person of the lower classes, especially a woman, seems much 
less valuable than a horse.
 There is beef to be had in Sendai but what they feed their cattle I 
haven’t found out. The Japanese, before the arrival of foreigners, didn’t 
eat beef but some few of them do now. Pork seems to have been forbid-
den them by their religion but once in a while, now we can get it. A great 
deal of canned meat is imported.
 It looks good to see the rows of cans with “Armour” and “Swift” and 
the others with “Heinz,” at the foreign grocery store. A good deal of our 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
174
supplies comes from the Hokkaido, an island north of this, where they 
raise wheat, cattle, apples, and nuts, and make butter that is passable, 
and cheese as good as any I ever ate.
 We don’t raise any sugar in this section, but they do in the South. 
It’s funny looking—much like our brown sugar that’s almost white and 
it hasn’t nearly as much sweetening power as granulated sugar. They 
make candy out of rice and barley—I don’t know how it’s done, but it’s 
good. Some of it tastes very much like sugar taffy; another kind is like 
molasses when it is cold and thick you have to chew it.
 For fruit, up to date, we’ve had figs, persimmons, all kinds of grapes 
from this region, and apples and oranges in great quantities from away; 
rarely bananas and lemons and occasionally grapefruit. Just now we are 
almost confined to oranges. They are something like the “kid glove” 
variety sometimes seen in America; they are rather small, seedless, very 
juicy and the skin can be taken off easily in two or three pieces. I eat 
at least a half-dozen every day and like them better than any California 
oranges I ever ate. In the spring and summer, I understand there are a 
great many berries and other fruits.
 It rains a good deal, but hardly as much as in the Old Country [Den-
mark], and there are more sunny days by a good deal, so far. It isn’t 
nearly as cold as Kansas, up to date. I haven’t used that wool underwear 
at all yet, and they say it isn’t likely to get colder. Opinions differ as to 
one feeling the cold. The ladies of this school go bundled up as if for the 
Arctic region and are always freezing. Miss Bizzell, over at the Baptist 
school, never wears any more than she would at home, and has nothing 
but a small grate fire in the coldest weather. Most of the people do about 
as they would at home and don’t seem to mind the climate any more 
than the home climate. It suits me very well. I’ve had just one cold so 
far this winter.
 Rice again. They have rice fields up all the little mountain valleys, 
terrace on terrace. I suppose they must have springs for irrigation. There 
isn’t any rolling land near here; it’s mountains, then abruptly the low 
Miyagi plain only six miles wide at this point, but wider in others; then 
the sea.
The Early Years in Japan
175
 I haven’t found about the prices of farmlands. I think I’ll leave that 
until the spring vacation unless I happen to meet someone who knows. 
I’m going on a visit to the home of a Japanese lawyer in a small town, 
who knows all about such things—Lydia’s helper’s father.
 I think I can get you a map soon. One has been published in Sendai, 
and I have been trying to get you a copy. I wish to goodness that I could 
get a map of Sendai that I could read—it’s the most mixed up mess of a 
town I ever heard of. I get lost every time I venture more than a block, 
and don’t dare go anywhere alone for fear I’d never get back. Lydia, 
fortunately, has a good sense of direction, and generally manages to 
bring up at the right place, even if she gets lost a few times doing it.
 Yes, Alpha and Mama keep me pretty well informed on Logan events, 
but I wish you’d tell me occasionally about the things they don’t tell me 
Kate and Lydia Lindsey in Western winter garb, with Japanese students bundled against 
the cold (1908).
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
176
about what is going on in Kansas and national affairs especially politics, 
north and south railroads, electric light plants and such things. I miss 
those things out here. Japanese papers, even those in English, don’t 
tell much about America, and then generally not the things I want to 
know. Yes, I think I did manage to understand the financial part of your 
letter—we’d heard rumors out here, but nothing very definite or very 
clear and nothing at all about the reasons.
 The American fleet comes to Yokohama soon. Perhaps we’ll be able 
to go down and see it. I’d like to if I possibly can for it will be the greatest 
sight that has been in Japan for a long time.
 Good-bye. Write again soon.
 Kate
The Early Years in Japan
177
 From the first day of her missionary tenure, Kate was occupied with 
studying the school where she was assigned. It was a Christian school for 
Japanese girls in Sendai, Japan. She was particularly interested in the 
school’s objectives and in the students who were preparing for Christian 
service. During her second year she found time to write, for publication, 
about her work and challenges. In the following article she laid out the 
dimensions of the tremendous undertaking she was engaged in. The ar-
ticle was published in The Outlook of Missions,8 her sponsoring church 
publication.
Religious Instruction in Miyagi Jo-Gakko,
Sendai, Japan
by Miss Kate I. Hansen
 The Miyagi Girls’ School corresponds approximately to an Ameri-
can High School. It has accommodations for about one hundred each 
of boarding and day pupils. These come from all classes of society, and 
from widely different homes, which are alike, however, in that the great 
majority are not Christian. During a school course of five or six years 
these girls must complete a course of study equal to that of the best 
Government High Schools. If the purpose of the school is to be attained, 
they must at the same time be taught the truths of Christianity, often 
from the very beginning; must learn in a practical way, from teaching and 
especially from example, what being a Christian really means in life and 
conduct; must be led to desire these things for themselves, to confess 
Christ and to become members of His Church; and must be trained in 
Christian leadership, to fit them for their lifework, whether directly in 
the service of the Church as Bible women or ministers’ wives, or in other 
positions of opportunity for influence, such as Christian teachers in public 
or in mission schools, and last, but far from least, Christian wives and 
mothers. It is the object of this article to describe briefly the religious 
instruction by means of which the school is attempting to accomplish 
8The Outlook of Missions (June 1909), pp. 6–8. This article was also published in the 
Reformed Church Messenger, June 17, 1909, pp. 11–12.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
178
these ends. Much of it cannot be described, for, like Christian influence in 
any country, it comes through the personal work and the daily example of 
the teachers and Christian students. A Christian room-mate, class-mate, 
or teacher, here as elsewhere, often has an influence which cannot be 
measured. The school dormitory is especially fortunate just now in the 
number of earnest workers living in it, and in their spirit of harmony 
and helpfulness. The amount of regular religious instruction compulsory 
for any pupil depends upon whether she is a boarding or a day pupil. 
Every school morning all pupils must attend the fifteen-minute chapel 
service conducted by the acting principal, Rev. H.K. Miller, and consist-
ing of an English hymn, a brief Bible reading and prayer in Japanese, a 
doxology and the benediction. Every day each class has a half-hour of 
Bible instruction. Rev. Miller teaches the Juniors, the Seniors, and the 
Post-graduates, using the English Bible as a text-book, but explaining it 
in Japanese, since their knowledge of English is naturally too limited to 
enable them to grasp much of the real meaning of the English version. 
The school has just secured as teacher of the Japanese Bible for the lower 
classes one of our own graduates, who, after serving three years as a 
Bible woman, went to Tokyo for further training, and has just graduated 
from a three years’ course in Miss Ume Teuda’s English Institute.
 All pupils in the dormitory attend evening prayers, which are much 
like the morning prayers, but are conducted by foreign and Japanese 
teachers in turn. Both Japanese and English hymns are sung, and the 
service is as much in Japanese as the linguistic knowledge of the lead-
ers will permit. It is a source of great joy to the two latest arrivals from 
America that, after being obliged for over a year to read the Bible in 
English to pupils many of whom could not understand a word of English, 
they are at last able (imperfectly, it is true) to begin reading it to them 
in Japanese.
 On Wednesdays all pupils are required to attend the school prayer 
meeting which occupies an hour in the afternoon. It is entirely in Japa-
nese. Teachers (Japanese and foreign) and girls from the upper classes 
are the leaders, and any one is free to take part, as in an American 
meeting. Usually prayers, Bible verses and testimonies follow each 
other rapidly, and there is always a great deal of hearty singing. Indeed 
The Early Years in Japan
179
the hymns, as a part of the religious instruction, deserve an article by 
themselves. Every pupil has her own copy of the Japanese Union Hymnal, 
which is used in nearly every Protestant church in Japan; and at almost 
any time outside of school hours the girls can be heard singing Christian 
hymns in the music rooms, in their own rooms, or around the campus. 
With such constant repetition, it is not strange that the truths they teach 
should make a profound impression, and become a powerful force for 
good. Once a month the meeting is in charge of the school Y.W.C.A., 
which includes in its membership nearly the entire school, and has a 
great influence, sometimes winning girls to Christ when all other means 
seem to have failed. Once a term there is a sermon by some prominent 
minister for the purpose of helping girls to decide to become Christians.
 On Sundays all dormitory pupils are required to attend church 
and Sunday-school services, and day pupils are also urged to do so. 
The older girls do a great work, which cannot be described here, as 
organists and Sunday-school teachers, supplying nineteen churches 
and Sunday-schools connected with the Mission in and around Sendai. 
Once a week these girls attend a Workers’ Class taught by Rev. Miller in 
Japanese. Various day pupils belonging to other denominations do the 
same work in their own churches. The younger and non-Christian girls 
are all in Sunday school classes.
 On Sunday evenings, all of the dormitory pupils attend a song service 
in the home of the foreign teachers, who act as leaders and give Bible 
talks in Japanese whenever possible. Occasionally speakers from outside 
address these meetings.
 Such is the present regular religious instruction. The girls’ schools 
in Japan are changing rapidly, and the question of obtaining Government 
recognition, which gives schools official standing and permits their gradu-
ates to take the examinations for teachers’ certificates, is a pressing one in 
girls’ schools all over the country. It was feared at first that this recognition, 
however desirable in other ways, would defeat the fundamental purpose of 
this school, by curtailing its freedom to teach the Bible. Happily this fear 
has been proved groundless by the experience of other schools, notably 
the Methodist Girls’ School of Tokyo, which has obtained recognition 
without any restrictions whatever upon its Christian instruction. Should 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
180
our school obtain the same kind of recognition, the amount of religious 
instruction could be increased, if the school so desired.
 There is a very large field for religious instruction in connection with 
the school, which is at present almost untouched because of lack of work-
ers, namely, work with the families of the day pupils. With only three regular 
missionary teachers in the school, one of whom is doing double work as 
principal and in charge of an evangelistic field, and the other two of whom 
are obliged, for the sake of their whole future usefulness, to devote all of 
their time outside of school hours to the study of Japanese, it is impossi-
ble to visit the homes. The teachers of the daughters are welcome where 
no other missionary would be. If there could be as many as five regular 
teachers in the school, this work could be done. It would often mean the 
gaining of a whole family for Christ, instead of one member, and it would 
multiply greatly all over the city the Christian influence of this school.
Miyagi Girls’ School graduation 1910. Kate is seated in the front row, third from left.
The Early Years in Japan
181
 In this letter, which was also published in The Outlook of Missions, 
Kate stresses the need for new missionaries to be well prepared in the lan-
guage of the culture in which they are to be immersed. She also stresses 
the need for more missionary teachers to be placed in her school in Sendai 
to relieve the severely overworked staff. The shortage of staff meant, she 
asserts, that they are not able to attend to their real duties, which center 
on training the school’s students as Christians.
Karuizawa, August 13, 1910
Dear Mrs. Dotterer:
 This letter is written from the midst of the most furious storm I 
have seen in Japan, a typhoon, which has flooded half of Karuizawa and 
washed out several houses, besides cutting us off entirely from railroad 
or telegraphic communication with the outside world. It has lasted for a 
week now, although the worst part has been only about two days. For-
tunately for us, the house where Miss Lindsey and I are staying with 
Dr. and Mrs. Seiple is on rather high ground, and we have been in no 
danger. We are very anxious to hear whether the storm has been general, 
for if it has, it may ruin the rice crop, which might mean a famine again. 
We have heard such terrible tales of the famine which occurred shortly 
before we came out that we dread another one greatly.
 We have had a year of very hard work, and I hope a prosperous 
one. The Japanese language is as hard as ever, and certainly deserves 
the distinction of being the hardest in the world. We have finished four 
out of the six mission examinations, and find every bit of increased 
knowledge a great help in getting into real touch with the people. The 
missions seem to be realizing more and more the absolute necessity of 
a thorough knowledge of the language. The Presbyterian and Reformed 
Council Committee have just brought in a uniform course of study, which 
is even more comprehensive than our mission course, although follow-
ing the same lines. The Standing Committee of all the missions is also 
making a course. It looks as though in the course of a year there would 
be uniform examinations for all missions. That will mean a lessening of 
the great temptation to new missionaries, to get into the work which so 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
182
urgently demands to be done, and neglect language study; for it will be 
a kind of disgrace to any mission for its missionaries to be below the 
standard, and the older members will see to it that the new ones study, 
instead of practically discouraging them, as some do now.
 I am sorry that there seems to be no one coming out for the school 
this fall. Miss Mosser, as you know, was in the school for one year only, 
and expects to give up her teaching in the fall to go into kindergarten 
work. That leaves only three of us to do the work for which four people 
are absolutely necessary. Mrs. Seiple, who has given us such efficient 
help with the singing, has been sick this summer, and may not be able 
to resume her work. We hope she may, but it looks very doubtful. Miss 
Lindsey broke down from overwork this spring. She has had the house-
keeping all winter, in addition to school and language study, and they 
were too much. She has had treatments all summer and is better, but 
certainly cannot take up more work this winter than last. I am thankful to 
say I have not been sick, but I know I should be if I attempted any more. 
We can do the hours of teaching and must: but the real work for which 
we came, the getting into touch with the school girls, training them as 
Christians, helping their families—all those things which we want to do, 
and for which our hard language study is fitting us to do, must still be 
largely left undone, if we are to keep our health and stay in Japan. And 
the opportunities outside of the school—they come over and over, and 
we have to let them go, because we dare not take them up.
 Two new people ought to be sent, so that both could study, and 
so that the school would not again be left short of teachers; but one is 
absolutely necessary, just to fill Miss Mosser’s place, unless we are to 
become not missionaries, but teachers only, teaching English, when we 
want to teach Christ. Can’t the Women’s Society help? I am sending you 
a picture you may wish to use, although it is a very funny one.
The Early Years in Japan
183
 Most foreigners look ridiculous in Japanese clothes.
 With best wishes for you in your work, I am
 Sincerely yours,
 Kate I. Hansen
 Note: Our faithful workers need the help of two women teachers at 
once.
 R. S. D.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
184
Kate wrote on the back of this photo: “Isn’t this a sight? Most foreigners look perfectly ri-
diculous in Japanese clothes. The photographer fixed me, and I didn’t dare move a muscle.
 “This was taken in the garden of the home of the little piano pupil I wrote you about, and 
it shows you a bit of what the real Japanese garden is like. They have flower-beds but they 
keep them out of sight behind the house. There is no grass in this garden, but miniature 
hills and rivers, rocks, twisted pines, azaleas, and stone lanterns. The dress is her mother’s 
ceremonial dress, with the family crest in five places. It is of a beautiful black silk crépe—
you never see such silk in America—and the obi—sash—is of red and black silk and satin 
brocade, heavier than you ever saw at home. It was very uncomfortable; there were any 
number of tight strings wound around me, and the obi was so heavy that it gave me a bad 
backache. You can’t step but a couple of inches without the front flying open either. I prefer 
my own clothes, thank you!”
The Early Years in Japan
185
 In a short story written about 1913 under a fictional guise, Kate de-
scribed conditions in Japan from an American woman’s point of view. This 
story summarizes the life and times of a young Japanese girl’s home and 
school experiences over a twenty-year period. The story was submitted to 
the Board of Foreign Missions of the Reformed Church of the United States 
as “The Story of Miss Pine-bough” by a “Friend of the Family.” Many years 
later, Kate acknowledged that she was indeed the author when she gave a 
copy to the Logan Library with this inscription “Presented to Logan Library 
by the Author, Miss Kate Hansen, Miyagi-Jo-Gakko, Sendai, Japan.”
 The narrator describes the influence of Alice Burns, the fictional mis-
sionary teacher, on a Japanese student, Matsue (Miss Pine-bough), who 
becomes the teacher’s assistant and later a faculty member in the missionary 
school. Her description of Matsue’s early years provides a clear picture of 
the customs and culture of Japan and the treatment of women, along with 
insights into the work of the American missionary school.
 “The Story of Miss Pine-bough” illustrates Kate’s power of observation 
and analysis, as well as her determination to make a difference in the lives 
of her students.
The Story of Miss Pine-bough
by A Friend of the Family
 On a certain day in February, twenty years ago, there was a great 
commotion in the modest home of Mr. Miyagawa, near Tokyo. Neighbors 
came wading through the snow on their high wooden clogs, and passed 
through the little gate and along the row of stepping-stones, bordered on 
either side by bamboo fences, that led to the tiny entrance porch. Here 
each visitor, instead of knocking, called out, “Excuse me, please!” At that, 
the paper sliding doors opened and a member of the family appeared, 
seated on the matted floor, and bowing until her head touched the mat. 
Greetings exchanged, a question asked which, literally translated, would 
be, “Honorable child as for, male is it; female is it?” With an air of apology, 
manifestly sincere, came the answer, “It is female.” Here followed many 
polite condolences from the neighbor. “Too bad! The first child, too, and 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
186
her father is the eldest son! But perhaps the gods will be more gracious 
next time, and grant you a son!”
 Sometimes a visitor, slipping off his clogs, went into the little parlor, 
bare of all furniture except the mats on the floor, a few cushions, a single 
picture-roll hanging in a recessed place of honor, and a brass brazier, like 
a jardiniere, containing a few coals. As he sat on the floor, warming his 
hands over the scanty fire and drinking tiny cups of tea, he continued 
to express his polite regrets at the misfortune which had come to the 
house, and his hope that the gods would be more propitious next time.
 Meanwhile the cause of all the excitement was in the next room, 
separated from the garden, with its snow-covered pine trees, by only a 
row of paper sliding doors. She had been dressed in the brilliant yellow, 
scarlet and purple dresses proper for a girl baby, and was lying beside 
her mother on the floor in her bed of heavy comforters. Her father’s 
mother was installed as absolute ruler over the baby and her mother, 
as became her position in her own household.
 It was a restful room, as bare of furniture as the parlor, but with a 
tea-kettle singing on the brazier. Just behind the bed, however, a row 
of chests of drawers had been built into the room, even with the wall. 
Above their shining, red-lacquered front there was a long recess, forming 
a kind of shelf. Here stood numerous wooden tablets, each inscribed 
with the name of a dead relative of the family. With them was the row 
of household gods, looking down at mother and baby with their ugly 
expressions of ferocious cruelty or of cruel indifference.
 Some days had passed, and the baby was seven days old. It was time 
for her to have a name. In consultation with his parents, her father had 
selected that of Matsue. This made her name Miyagawa Matsue, and 
to the world she would henceforth be known as Miyagawa Matsue San 
or Temple-River Pine-Bough Miss. On this lucky seventh day this name 
was written out, and with great ceremony it was presented to the row 
of ancestral tablets on the god-shelf, thus announcing to the glorified 
spirits of the ancestors the arrival of a new member of the family.
 On her twenty-first day, little Miss Pine-Bough had her first journey. 
Dressed in her gayest dress, a wadded kimono, with large scarlet peonies 
The Early Years in Japan
187
on a purple ground, she was tied to the back of a little nurse-girl. A heavy 
wadded kimono was put over both baby and girl, and, with the father and 
some of the family, they went through the muddy village streets to the 
temple. Here they presented the baby before the gods, and announced 
with due ceremony that the temple had now gained another worshipper.
 On the hundredth day, there was a gathering of relatives and friends 
at the Miyagawa home. Each guest brought a present, usually either a 
fish or a piece of bright cloth for the baby. With all due solemnity, little 
Matsue San was given her first solid food, three grains of rice from her 
grandmother’s chop-sticks. Then the company feasted on red rice, so 
called because it was cooked with red beans, to give it the lucky red 
color.
 The first six years of little Matsue San’s life passed quickly enough in 
the little matted house or under the pine trees in the garden. She played 
quietly with her dolls, carrying them on her back as she had been carried 
when a baby. She learned to sit properly on the floor, her feet crossed 
behind her, and her little kimono perfectly straight and smooth over her 
knees. She learned, too, how to make a polite bow, putting her hands to 
the floor and bending until her forehead almost touched it. Continually 
she was trained in obedience to her father, to her grandmother, and to 
the little brother who had come a year after her birth. Every day she 
helped her mother to put the offerings on the god-shelf, and every day 
she went through the offerings on the god-shelf, and every day she went 
through the formulas of worshipping the gods and the ancestors. One 
more ancestral tablet had been put on the god-shelf. The old grandfather 
was dead, and little Miss Pine-Bough’s father was now the head of the 
family, the holder of the family property and the ruler of its members.
 He was a stern descendent of the ancient soldier class, the samurai, 
the finest product of Old Japan. In the world of modern ideas, unfolding 
all around him, he held fast the ancient code of the samurai. For him, the 
twin virtues were courage and loyalty, with loyalty as the greater of the 
two. Above all things, he must be loyal, he believed; loyal to his Emperor, 
to his feudal superior and to his ancestors. Whatever interfered with this 
loyalty was wrong; whatever loyalty required was right. If the service 
of his lord should require plotting and lying, that plotting and lying be-
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
188
came a virtue. If it should require the sacrifice of his whole family, that 
also was right. If it should demand the selling of his little daughter into 
slavery, that would not be wrong. If it needed the sacrifice of his own 
life, suicide became the height of heroism. Without the great ability of 
General Nogi, he had the same spirit which, last summer, made the old 
general take his own life, that he might follow his Emperor into the land 
of spirits.
 Matsue San’s mother served her stoical husband with the submission 
due from a model wife. Even the grandmother seldom opposed him, 
and the little daughter never thought of such a thing as gainsaying her 
stern father. Yet he was fond of the pretty little girl in his peculiar way, 
and she knew it, and preferred her father to all the rest of the family.
 It is the law in Japan that all children must attend the public schools, 
and no others, for at least six years. Accordingly, when she was six years 
old, little Miss Pine-Bough, with about sixty other children of her age, 
entered the public school of their town. During the next eight years she 
learned to read and write the four to six thousand Chinese characters nec-
essary for the comprehension of ordinary Japanese books. She learned 
something about arithmetic and geography, a little sewing, singing and 
gymnastics, and a great deal of drawing.
 But above all, she was trained in manners and morals. For her these 
consisted in the two womanly virtues of politeness and obedience, already 
inculcated at home, with the addition of what to her was the worship of 
the Emperor. On every national holiday and every other great occasion, 
the picture of the Emperor was brought in state from its place in the 
fireproof storehouse in the school-yard, and teachers and pupils alike 
bowed before it. On the frequent occasions, when the Emperor’s rescript 
on education was read before them, the children learned to stand with 
heads bowed in reverence. Not a head must be lifted until the venerated 
object had been carried with all due ceremony from the rostrum back 
to the storehouse.
 Matsue San soon learned the story of that fireproof building, that 
looked like a little shrine. Before she entered school there had been a 
great fire, which destroyed the school-house. The most sacred posses-
The Early Years in Japan
189
sion of the school, the Emperor’s picture, was then kept in the school-
house itself. It was the janitor’s duty to save this picture before anything 
else, but the roof fell in before he could gain his object. In despair at his 
disgrace, he killed himself. This saved his good name; he was praised 
by everybody, and his family were given enough money to make them 
comfortable for years. When the school-house was rebuilt, this fireproof 
shrine was added to it to hold the new picture which the sacred Emperor 
himself presented to the school. Matsue San and her mates were proud 
of their school hero, and looked on the little shrine with childish awe.
 With awe, too, and the ready faith of childhood, they listened to the 
old stories of their history teachers. They learned how, many centuries 
ago, the offspring of the great goddess of the sun came down to earth, 
and, conquering all who opposed him, became the first Emperor of Japan. 
They were taught that all their long line of Emperors were descended 
from this same divine ancestor.
 They learned that the Japanese were a “chosen people,” a nation 
under the direct protection of the gods, and especially cared for by all 
the imperial ancestors.
 Girls as well as boys learned that above all other beings stands the 
Emperor of Japan, and that to die for him is the greatest of all honors.
 Little Miss Pine-Bough was halfway through her course at school 
before she came into contact with the new force of Japanese life. One 
day some of her schoolmates told her about another school which they 
were attending on a weekly holiday, Sunday. The next Sunday, she, too, 
went with them to a small Japanese house, where a crowd of children 
were being welcomed by two young women. The two wore the pleated 
skirts, such as the public school teachers and a few of the elder school 
girls were wearing, the uniform recently adopted for all teachers and 
students.
 It was a strange hour for Matsue San as, with all her keen senses 
alert, she imitated what her friends were doing. With head bowed to the 
floor she listened to somebody talking in most intimate fashion to some 
superior person, evidently one of the gods. She heard all the children 
repeat in chorus a petition to this same being, whom they addressed as 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
190
“Father.” When she raised her head, she looked around for the god-shelf 
and the offerings. Nothing was there but a picture of the kindest-faced 
man she had ever seen, surrounded by children and holding one in his 
arms.
 One of the blue-skirted teachers began to play on a baby organ, such 
as Matsue San had often seen in her own school, but in a very different 
way from her teachers, who picked out their tunes one note at a time, 
while this wonderful girl played with both hands upon three or four 
keys at once. As Matsue San was gazing in wonder, the children began 
to sing a song about a person she had never heard about, whom they 
called “My Lord Jesu.” With the full power of sixty pairs of lungs, they 
shouted the refrain after each verse, “My Lord Jesu loves me.” Matsue 
San had never heard of a superior being, a god, such as this person ev-
idently was, who could condescend to love a child. She knew all about 
fearing the gods, serving them and sacrificing to them, but the idea that 
a great god would actually, without any offerings, love and help such an 
insignificant creature as a girl child, was quite new and astonishing to 
her. She listened to the teacher’s lesson, not understanding much, but 
with the strong desire to come again.
 From that time on she went more or less regularly to the little house, 
her father making no special objection, because he considered the whole 
proceeding a harmless diversion. Once, indeed, the little Sunday-school 
was broken up for several months by the principal of the public school, 
who forbade his pupils going to a place where such disloyal, unpatriotic 
teaching was being given. However, on his leaving for a better position, 
the new principal, being either liberal-minded or indifferent, said noth-
ing on the subject. The Sunday-school was reopened, and Matsue San 
attended as before.
 Meanwhile, the little girl was developing a very bright, inquisitive 
mind. When the great Commencement Day arrived, it was she who 
won the honor of making the response to the congratulatory speeches 
of all the dignitaries of the town. That meant that she was graduating at 
the head of her class. A proud little girl she was as, in all the glory of a 
bright new dress and a new skirt like those of the teachers, she walked 
The Early Years in Japan
191
demurely up before the dignitaries, made her bow at precisely the correct 
angle and read her little speech, full of hard Chinese words, in precisely 
the correct style of mournful monotone.
 That evening, she summoned all her courage to make a request of 
her father. Bowing before him until her head touched the floor, she told 
her wish in the humblest terms. She wished to go to high school. Many 
boys from the town were then attending boys’ high schools in Tokyo, 
going back and forth on the train every day. Two or three girls were in 
boarding-schools. Mr. Miyagawa was not a poor man, and could afford 
to send his daughter. He was proud of this bright, attractive little girl, 
too, although it was inconsistent with paternal dignity to show it. Also, 
he knew that high school training for girls was becoming popular, and 
that a high school graduate had a better opportunity to marry well than 
a girl without this education. He promised to send Matsue San to one 
of the government high schools for girls, in Tokyo. But the child had 
still another humble request to make. Would not her honorable father 
graciously permit her to enter the —— Girls’ School?
 This was the school in Tokyo from which her Sunday-school teachers 
came every Sunday. At first, Mr. Miyagawa refused positively to send 
his daughter to a school which taught a foreign religion, and which was 
managed in part by foreigners. He thought such a course would be un-
patriotic and even disloyal to his Emperor. On investigation, however, he 
found that the mission school had one advantage over the government 
school so important that it overcame all his objections. Every Japanese 
who aspires to culture wishes to learn the English language, and the 
mission school, with its five or six American teachers, could teach En-
glish far better than any government school with Japanese teachers only. 
Foreign music, too, was becoming fashionable, and he found out that 
this also was taught better in the mission school. He gave his consent 
and in April, with thirty or forty other freshmen, little Miss Pine-Bough 
came into the dormitory of her new school.
 She was afraid of those American teachers at first. They were so tall; 
they strode about like men, instead of taking graceful, shuffling, 6-inch 
steps; some of them had curly hair, which meant a very bad disposition; 
some even had terrible round, blue eyes, like the picture of dragons or 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
192
of Japanese devils; and they all had such big noses! One little freshmen 
from the country, on first meeting an American teacher, burst into tears 
at the sight of such a monster, and had to be taken away and consoled 
by the Japanese class teacher. However, the new girls soon learned that 
the “monsters” meant well. A series of violent attacks of hero-worship 
succeeded the first shyness and fear. Almost every child had one teacher 
whom she thought absolutely perfect, and to whom she gave all the loyal 
devotion her father would have given his feudal superior. Matsue San, 
too, had her favorite teacher, and showed her devotion in every way she 
could, from quarreling with every classmate who did not agree with 
her that Miss Burns was the most wonderful teacher in school, down 
to imitating her handwriting so perfectly that Miss Burns herself could 
not tell her own writing from that of her pupil.
 During the five years in high school, Matsue San continued her 
studies in Chinese characters and in Japanese history, language, and 
literature. Her new studies, however, introduced her to another world. 
Very soon the English work, for which she had come, put her into the 
midst of the child life, the home life, the feelings and ideals of a people 
quite different from any she had known. Her work in science undermined 
her old superstitions. In the history courses, she learned how many 
ancient nations had had stories and beliefs like those she had learned 
at home and in the public school. Gradually she learned how the great 
nations have outgrown such crude ideas.
 While such studies were taking from her old beliefs, she was gaining 
something better to replace them. Every day, in her Bible class, she was 
being taught positive Christianity, and she was associating constantly 
with other girls who were Christians. In her third year, she, too, applied 
for baptism. Her father, probably regarding it as one of the school cer-
emonies, made no objection. Immediately after her baptism, she asked 
for the privilege of teaching in one of the numerous Sunday-schools 
connected with her school. She did this work well, her brightness being 
very attractive to the children. She became a prominent figure in her 
class and in the school, being president of her class and of her literary 
society, and an officer in the school Young Women’s Christian Associa-
tion. She finished her course, the second in her class.
The Early Years in Japan
193
 Just at this time Miss Burns needed a helper to assist her with school 
work, calling, study, correspondence and the other multitudinous duties 
of a missionary teacher in a foreign country. Matsue San took the position 
and, with her old friendship for Miss Burns and her alert intelligence, 
made a valuable helper. Naturally the two were associated constantly in 
their work and, when there was time, Matsue San told her teacher the 
details of her past life and her present plans and hopes with a frankness 
unusual among school girls.
 This pleasant association had continued for two or three months 
when, one morning, Matsue San appeared at her teacher’s home with 
a most doleful countenance and asked permission to go home for the 
day, as her father wished to see her.
 “Of course, you may go,” said Miss Burns, “but is there anything 
wrong at home?”
 “No-o,” was the embarrassed reply. “No, nothing very important.”
 She seemed so distressed that Miss Burns asked no more questions, 
knowing that the trouble would be sure to come out sooner or later. In 
the evening Miss Pine-Bough returned, with her face all smiles, and 
reported that all was well. In the course of two or three weeks the same 
incident was repeated, and then Miss Burns learned the cause of all the 
strange symptoms.
 The fate of all Japanese girls was coming close to little Miss Pine-
Bough. Performing the duty of a good Japanese father, Mr. Miyagawa 
was looking around for a suitable husband for her. His go-between was 
conferring with the go-betweens of families with marriageable sons. 
Matsue San was well educated and very attractive. The proposals had be-
gun to come. The ordinary Japanese father of the old school would have 
selected the man he regarded as most eligible, probably one whom his 
daughter had never seen. Having made all the arrangements, he would 
have announced his decision to her; she would have bowed before him 
and accepted the decision with thanks and, in due time, the marriage 
would have taken place. Despite his sternness, however, Mr. Miyagawa’s 
pride in his daughter was making him indulgent. He summoned her 
home and gave her the great privilege of being consulted in the matter.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
194
 Matsue San did not wish to marry yet. Especially, she did not wish 
to marry any man she had never seen. Although her ancestresses for 
generations had submitted, although no girl in her family had ever been 
known to object to such a marriage, Matsue San was not content. In the 
most humble way, she coaxed her father to give up the first match. It 
was not especially desirable, anyway, and he consented. She coaxed him 
to give up the second also.
 For more than a year the proposals kept coming, sometimes once, 
sometimes two or three times a month. Each time, in some mysterious 
way, the demure little daughter managed to prevail upon her father to 
send a refusal to the go-betweens. Each time, however, her task grew 
more difficult. She was growing old; she was twenty. It was time for her 
to be married. Mr. Miyagawa’s friends were beginning to talk about how 
he was neglecting his paternal duty.
 Meanwhile it was time for Miss Burns to have her furlough in Amer-
ica. Through her recommendation Matsue San had been appointed to a 
good position as a tutor in the high school. Her father had not refused 
his consent. Matsue San was happily preparing for her new duties, and 
helping Miss Burns when she could. The bustle of preparation, the mov-
ing and storing of furniture, the packing of trunks and boxes, was taking 
all the time Miss Burns could spare between callers. All her Japanese 
acquaintances, according to their custom, were making parting calls and 
bringing parting gifts. She was not thinking much about Matsue San’s 
affairs.
 One afternoon, when Matsue San was away, Mr. Miyagawa appeared 
at the home of Miss Burns, bringing his parting gift. In the polished 
phrases of old-fashioned Japanese politeness he made a long speech, 
thanking the “honorable teacher” for her long-continued kindness to his 
“foolish daughter,” and asking her to accept “this poor, unworthy token 
of remembrance.” Then in another long speech, he dwelt upon the great 
condescension of the school authorities in accepting the services of such 
an altogether incompetent person as this same foolish daughter and, 
with many polite bows, he informed Miss Burns that he had resolved to 
spare them further annoyance and had obtained another place for her. 
The Early Years in Japan
195
In plain terms, he had formed an engagement for her and the marriage 
was to take place in a few months.
 Alice Burns was amazed. She had had sufficient training in Japanese 
politeness, however, to answer the speeches in kind, praising Matsue 
San and regretting that her valuable services were to be lost to the high 
school. The interview soon ended with the usual bows and polite phrases.
 The next time she met Matsue San, she said, “Well, Matsue San, I 
see I must offer my congratulations.”
 Matsue San looked puzzled.
 “Congratulations? Why?”
 “Why, I hear you are to be married.”
 “Wha-a-t?”
 Her eyes grew big, and she almost forgot to be polite as she burst 
out, “That’s the first I’ve heard about it!”
 Somehow Alice had never thought of the possibility of Matsue San 
being ignorant of the whole affair. Dropping her bantering tone, she 
said, “Go home to-day and talk with your father about it.”
 Matsue San went. When she returned, her usual bright expression 
had given place to one of abject despair. The news was true. Tired of 
being coaxed out of matches, her father had called together the family 
council. They had decided upon a husband for her, a Buddhist, a man 
she had never seen nor heard of before that time. The agreements were 
already made. The first presents had been exchanged. Everything was 
firmly settled; but she felt that she could not possibly consent. What was 
to be done?
 The days were rushing by. Miss Burns seldom had a free moment. 
There were all the farewell calls to be returned, and farewell meetings 
to attend and speeches to make. But, whenever there was an opportu-
nity, there was a conference with Matsue San. Every phase of the whole 
situation was gone over carefully, more than once.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
196
 “What would happen if you simply refused to do it?” the teacher 
asked. She knew about what the reply would be. The daughter would 
be disowned, and would become an outcast, with no recognized place in 
society, and no friends except some of the Christians. Alice knew, too, 
the injury which such an open defiance of Japanese conventions by one 
of its graduates would do to the reputation of the school.
 One day, Matsue San said, “Miss Burns, tell me, what shall I do? I 
will do whatever you say. If you say to refuse, I will do it.”
 Alice Burns knew that she would carry out her promise. She thought 
a long time. She thought of all those generations of ancestresses, whose 
only ideal had been obedience. She thought of the dependent nature of 
the Japanese girl. She thought of all the early training and teaching this 
girl had had. Could Matsue San break with all this? Would she be happy, 
even if she could break with it? Would her defiance do any good in the 
end? Could she hold out a whole lifetime? No; Alice could not say to her, 
“Defy your family.”
 But she was a freeborn American woman. She could not say to this 
girl, shrinking as she herself would shrink from marriage with this man 
whom she had never seen, “Consent, and marry this stranger.” At last 
she said, slowly, “Matsue San, you know just what an American girl would 
do in your place. But you are a Japanese girl, and you must live your life 
in Japan. You must decide your life for yourself. I cannot do it for you.”
 The next day Alice started on her long journey homeward. She went 
by a roundabout way, stopping in several countries. At each stopping 
place, she looked for a letter from Matsue San, who had all of her ad-
dresses. None came. She reached her home at last, and found numerous 
letters from Japan waiting for her. There was none from Matsue San. 
She decided that the girl must have submitted, and that her grief and 
despair were so great that she could not bear to write.
 After several weeks, there came a long letter from Matsue San. Alice 
tore it open eagerly, and began to decipher the Japanese writing. First, 
there were several pages devoted to a full account of the death and the 
funeral of the late Emperor of Japan. Alice hurried over them as quickly 
as she could. Then followed all the news about her acquaintances and 
The Early Years in Japan
197
the school. Alice paid scant attention to them. Finally came the welcome 
words, “Now I will introduce my own unworthy affairs.” In terms most 
polite and respectful to them, Matsue San intimated that she had worked 
on the family council and on her father all summer; that finally, she had 
succeeded in altering their unalterable decision, and that they had at last 
consented to give up the marriage. However, it was only on the condition 
that, among the other suitors for her hand, she herself should choose 
one at once, and promise to marry him very soon.
 She added that she had done so; that the young man was a Christian, 
and that she had seen him often at their church; that he was a brother 
of one of her friends in the high school, and that she had heard a great 
deal about him; and in short, that she really believed she liked him!
 Alice was jubilant. She knew the misery that would almost inevitably 
have been Matsue San’s lot had she, a Christian and an educated girl, 
gone into that Buddhist household, to be ruled to the minutest detail 
by a Buddhist family, and probably by a tyrannical mother-in-law. She 
knew that Matsue San’s Christianity would have been buried, denied 
all outward manifestation; that all her finer instincts would have been 
suppressed; that even in the rearing of her own children she could have 
had almost nothing to say. Even if there had been no physical cruelty, 
she knew the years of mental anguish her pupil and friend must have 
suffered.
 Instead of this, there was the certainty of complete liberty, sympathy 
and help in her Christian life; the power to bring up her children in her 
faith; the right to be her husband a helpmate instead of a servant or 
a pretty toy, the consideration of a Christian man for a Christian wife. 
And, more than any individual happiness, the news meant the beginning 
of one more center of all good influences, one more mighty power for 
righteousness, one more Christian home in the beautiful and well-loved 
country of Japan.

199
 World War I was a busy period for the Japanese leaders, who 
correctly saw that Europeans were too occupied in their own sphere to 
interfere with Japan’s expansion of its empire. In 1914, Japan declared 
war on Germany and seized some German-held islands in the Pacific. In 
1915 Japan announced its aggressive intent toward China in the famous 
“Twenty-one Demands.” The demands were modified slightly after Brit-
ish and American objections. Japan did not relax its expansionist tenden-
cies after embarking on the conquest of territories and peoples of Asia. 
A long-range program of annexation and control over territories would 
bring markets and raw materials for commercial benefits. By the time of 
World War II, Japan was ready to challenge the United States for control 
of the Pacific islands, and its people assumed aggressive approaches to 
economic problems facing their country. Treaties were abrogated, the 
League of Nations was ignored, and Japan plotted a course of conquest.
 As early as 1935, nearly half of the national Japanese budget was 
allocated to the Japanese Army and Navy, with the Navy receiving the 
most. By this time, the Japanese-conquered or -controlled territories had 
been organized into several “independent” puppet regimes controlled by 
the Japanese military. For example, the Chinese province of Manchuria 
was reorganized as Manchukuo with a Japanese-appointed ruler. The 
former Chinese emperor Henry Pu-yi Pu-yin was installed by the Jap-
anese. The propaganda from Japan talked of the “New Order” and the 
Chapter 5
Assuming the Mantle of Leadership
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
200
“Co-Prosperity Sphere” as an explanation for ruthless seizure of Chinese 
territories and peoples. Japan simply ignored international conferences 
and went its successful way enlarging the empire.
 But Japan was not the only country seizing power, overrunning 
neighbors, and enlarging its borders. The example of Germany was 
known to Japan, as well as British, Dutch, French, and American “con-
cessions” in China. Japan set out to expel foreign powers from Asia and 
take over their holdings. Japan was successful because these powers 
were occupied with serious problems at home in the 1930s. Besides they 
were far away and Japan was nearby. By threat, conquest, show of force, 
negotiation, and simply ignoring the naysayers, the Japanese militarists 
moved ahead with their dream of becoming a world power that would 
dominate not only East Asia but also the islands of the Pacific with their 
rich stores of raw materials and resources. The “New Order” in the Far 
East was launched in 1940.
 In this caldron brewing the politics of war and brutal conquest, the 
missionary teacher Kate Hansen’s task was to bring Christ to the young 
women of Japan, whose god was the Emperor and whose lot was sub-
servience to men. She sought to demonstrate that enlightenment was 
available and Christian principles were preferable to the historic pattern 
of life for millions of Japanese women. She wished to model a better 
way of life, to inspire young people to dream of American standards of 
freedom in education, religion, culture, and economic independence as 
contrasted with the old ways of organized Japanese family life, ancestral 
worship, and regimentation. She compared and contrasted her heritage 
and advantages of personal freedom and independence with what was 
available to her students and their families. Throughout her tenure she 
faced numerous setbacks and problems of wars, depression, and lack 
of funds to reach her goals for her faith, her school, and her students. 
Despite these barriers to success, she also seized numerous opportu-
nities to further her work.
 In Kate’s years between 1907 and 1951 spent as a missionary teacher 
in Japan, patterns of activities and routine are clearly observable. In the 
early years, she oriented herself to her appointed position representing 
her faith, her church organization, and always her beloved country and 
Assuming the Mantle of Leadership
201
her chosen discipline of music. She loved them all and quickly established 
routines to encompass them that time would enhance.
 While becoming acquainted with Japanese life, Kate was quietly 
working to introduce Japanese girls to the piano as an alternative to 
their traditional koto, a long-stringed zither with thirteen silk strings, 
which many of the girls played. She was a sought-after speaker in Japan, 
especially by teachers and students interested in American music. She 
treasured the radio that her brother had sent her and invited friends to 
enjoy together broadcast programs of classical music.
 Kate was granted time to acquire a working knowledge of the 
Japanese vocabulary along with the basic customs and mores of the 
young women she was assigned to teach. Naturally, Kate included her 
students’ family members in her sphere of influence and enjoyed the 
wider acquaintances that continued to grow through the years. Her con-
tacts became important and numerous. Little by little, her influence on 
her students was both enlightening and liberating. Although she was a 
conservative appraiser of the school’s impact on the lives of its students, 
she never ceased to dream and work for greater resources to support 
the American missionary movement. Her success in promoting student 
recruitment, school growth, campus development, and at times church 
support substantiated her leadership role.
 Kate always had classes to teach, students to tutor, meetings to attend, 
musical concerts to prepare for and present, church and chapel services 
to assist with, and individual student counseling to provide. She often 
provided the music for religious services. Also important were sending 
and receiving letters from scores of friends and family members. In these 
communications she delighted to describe her work and its satisfactions.
 Kate found the prospect of meeting touring Americans and fellow 
missionaries from other parts of Japan especially pleasing. One mem-
orable event was a series of lectures by Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick, 
who toured Japan in 1926. He preached twice a day, Monday through 
Friday, for the American missionaries. Kate indicated that she profited 
from the services and that Dr. Fosdick was introduced by “a Baptist.” It 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
202
was the highlight of many months of toiling patiently in the missionary 
field to be ministered to by the outstanding American minister.
 She also displayed a keen interest in the industrial development 
and scientific breakthroughs of the first half of the twentieth century, 
especially of her native land. To learn more about these matters, she not 
only asked specific questions of her correspondents, but also read widely 
in books, magazines, journals, and newspapers. She was interested in 
American politics, and she was also a baseball fan for several decades.
 A day in the life of Kate Hansen would typically include an early 
breakfast, arrival at her school office, tutoring of individual girls in 
playing and practicing the school piano, checking the schedules for 
classes, preparing for each class thoroughly, talking with the school 
administrator and fellow teachers about their work, and planning for 
upcoming school and church events. She wove lunch and dinner into 
her busy schedule, and the day never seemed to be long enough. She 
would seize the opportunity to write a short note or letter to her family in 
Logan, Kansas, or her relatives scattered around the United States. She 
also had correspondents in several foreign countries including Denmark, 
Germany, India, and China. All in all, she was a very busy woman.
Furloughs
 Six times, Kate came back to the United States on furlough. She 
used these furloughs to do advanced study in music and composition 
that would benefit her work in Japan. On her first furlough in 1912–13, 
Kate returned to Kansas. She resumed her studies with Carl Preyer, her 
former professor at the University of Kansas, and earned a bachelor’s 
degree in music in 1913. On her second furlough in 1919–1920, she stud-
ied piano and counterpoint in New York City at the Institute of Musical 
Art, which later became the Julliard School of Music.
 On her next furlough Kate studied at the Chicago School of Music, 
where she received her master’s degree with honors in 1927. Her thesis 
topic dealt with her findings in teaching Western music in Japan. One 
Assuming the Mantle of Leadership
203
of her compositions for orchestra, “The Nikko Suite,” was played by the 
college orchestra. In 1930 Kate was awarded an honorary doctorate in 
absentia by the Chicago School of Music.1
Kate Hansen’s Contributions to Music and Music Education at Miyagi
 Kate’s undergraduate degree in music and graduate work in com-
position provided the foundation for her growing influence on music 
education in Japan, her work in composition, and the demand for her 
participation in concerts in the Sendai area. Concerts and recitals be-
came a regular feature of the Miyagi Girls’ School’s programs. Kate also 
lectured widely on Western music in Japan.
This family photo was taken on Kate’s second furlough in 1919–20. Back row, left to right: 
Dane Hansen, Peter Hansen, George Hansen. Front row, Kate Hansen, Alpha Hansen, 
Alpha Florence Hansen Bales.
1See the Appendix for an abridged version of Kate Hansen’s master’s thesis and 
the letter notifying her of her honorary doctorate.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
204
 In 1916 the Miyagi Music Department was formally established with 
Kate as dean, and its course of study was registered with the Japanese 
Ministry of Education. Her colleague Florence Seiple was responsible for 
voice and choral training, while Kate concentrated on piano, harmony, 
and music theory. In her annual report to the Mission Board for 1916, 
she described how far the school had come:2
 This school year has been especially satisfactory to me, in that a long cher-
ished desire has been obtained by the formal organization of our music work 
into a higher department. It is coordinated with the other higher departments 
of the school, having entrance requirements and standing, the same as those 
of the regular courses of standard American conservatories and covering in 
its three-year course about the first two years’ work of such conservatories. 
Its immediate practical object is to raise the standard of music in our school 
by providing more thoroughly trained teachers, but along with this come the 
opportunity for a musical education of a few very desirable girls and the sending 
out of a few especially strong Christian teachers of music to other girls’ high 
schools.
 By 1924, according to her annual report to the Mission Board, Kate 
was teaching twenty to twenty-four periods a week. As the department 
head she was also directing the teaching of about 200 piano and organ 
students, and she supervised the chorus and advanced students who 
assisted in fifteen local churches.3
 In addition to her heavy teaching and music department adminis-
trative duties, Kate was asked in 1916–1918 and 1924–25 to serve as 
Miyagi’s acting president. Although she performed well in this role, she 
regretted the time that it took from her music activities.
 Kate Hansen was a noted composer4 and many of her works were 
performed over the decades of her service in Japan. Her Hymns and 
Anthems for Women’s Voices, which was published in Japan, was widely 
used in Japanese schools and colleges. The first edition appeared in 1918 
and the second in 1929.
2Quoted in Mensendiek, To Japan with Love: The Story of Kate Hansen and Lydia 
Lindsey of Kansas and Japan. Sendai, Japan: Hagi no Sato Publishing Company, 1991, p. 39.
3Mensendiek, To Japan with Love, p. 52.
4See the Appendix to this volume for samples of several of Kate Hansen’s compo-
sitions.
Assuming the Mantle of Leadership
205
In one of her Miyagi College presidential duties, Kate presented the trophies to winners of 
Sendai public-school field day competitions.
Mme. Margarethe Netke-Löwe (second from right, front row; Kate is seated next to her) sang 
at the dedication of the Miyagi College Auditorium in 1938, accompanied by Kate Hansen. 
Mme. Netke-Löwe gave several other recitals at Miyagi in the late 1930s. Kate reported 
that Mme. Netke-Löwe, a German artist, “sang Schubert and Schumann exactly as they 
should be sung, so that it is a joy to hear, and a still greater joy to play her accompaniments.”
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
206
Kate Hansen’s Hymns and Anthems for Women’s Voices was widely used in Japanese 
schools and colleges.
Assuming the Mantle of Leadership
207
 Her best-known work, the Schlesvig symphony, was performed on 
many occasions. On June 10, 1939, the music faculty of Miyagi College 
presented a concert in its new auditorium that featured compositions 
by Kate Hansen. The songs were written to poems by Emily Dickinson.
Summers in Karuizawa
 The resort area around Karuizawa was a favorite vacationing spot for 
the upper-class Japanese who welcomed the international flavor of the 
community. This was a place to meet not only the Japanese dignitaries 
but also the diplomats of many countries, important business represen-
tatives, and adventurers. Summer was a season of lively social mixing, 
featuring frequent public lectures and concerts along with standing 
invitations to the parties and teas so loved by the vacationers. Into this 
interesting milieu came the missionaries seeking rest and recreation 
along with wonderful opportunities to make valuable contacts and, in 
many cases, lifelong friendships with leaders in several fields.
 These vacations were so enjoyable and so anticipated that during 
their second five-year missionary-service period, Kate and Lydia bought 
a two-story cottage in Karuizawa that they used regularly for the next 
forty years. They called it their “Bark House” because it was lined with 
cedar tree bark. This cottage, which included a large stone fireplace, 
served the missionaries as a haven not only for themselves but for many 
of their friends as well.
 Kate and Lydia carefully planned the summer vacation months to 
make the most of opportunities and freedom available. Selecting gifts 
and greeting cards and catching up on correspondence were routine 
summer activities. Karuizawa was one of Kate’s best decisions in her 
nearly fifty years in Japan. Kate and Lydia eventually gave the Bark 
House as a donation to the Alumni Association of their beloved Miyagi 
College in 1955. It remains a valuable property today.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
208
Japanese Women’s Rights Movement
 Kate often thought about and sometimes discussed with family and 
friends her views on women’s rights. She was supportive of the goals 
of the Japanese women’s rights movement. In February 1926 she and 
Lydia attended a meeting in Tokyo organized and run by women who 
wanted to agitate throughout Japan for equal educational opportunity. 
Kate thought that such a movement would take years to succeed but 
that it was a worthy goal and the right way to start. She regarded these 
early leaders in the movement as pioneers and sympathized with them 
on the issue of opening up education beyond high school to all Japanese 
women. These excerpts from a letter to her mother describe the Febru-
ary meeting:5
 Lydia and I have been here for two days attending the national convention 
of what may develop into a real “women’s rights” movement in Japan. It is the 
first one of the kind ever held, and was most interesting. We got in on it through 
the invitations that were sent to schools. The convention was run entirely by 
women. A few men, mostly principals of girls’ schools, were present. It is a 
purely Japanese movement. We were the only foreigners there, and we took 
no official part. There were about a thousand women and girls there, for girl 
5Letter to Alpha Hansen, February 21, 1926.
Kate and Lydia escaped the heat 
of Sendai during the summer by 
traveling to their “Bark House” 
in Karuizawa. Here they hosted 
visitors, hiked in the mountains, 
and attended concerts. They were 
in the Bark House when the 
September 1, 1923, earthquake 
struck Japan.
Assuming the Mantle of Leadership
209
Kate and Lydia spent the summer of 1922 in Sendai supervising the construction of their 
Western-style home near the Miyagi campus. Earlier, they had lived in a ladies residence 
with the other single missionary women. The construction was finished in February 1923. 
Kate and Lydia took turns supervising the Japanese workmen who were “naturally inexpe-
rienced in foreign-style building.”
students were invited, to get them interested. The leaders were a small group 
of pioneer women in different lines—the woman principal of the only medical 
school for girls in this country, the dean of the largest domestic science school, 
the head Japanese woman in the W. C. T. U., a very lively newspaper woman, 
the head Japanese secretary of the Y. W. C. A., and a number of teachers—not 
a large group, but they seemed as if they meant business. They had all the 
statistics about the policy of the Japanese government for keeping women 
out of any education beyond the high school. Their first point of attack is the 
educational problem. They propose to start an agitation all over the country for 
equal educational opportunities. Of course, it will take years and years; but I 
believe it is the right way to start. As long as the Japanese women aren’t allowed 
to develop their minds, agitation for political rights isn’t going to amount to 
much. But they certainly are up against a tough proposition. Japan has for so 
many hundreds of years been a “man’s country” and nothing else, that most 
people simply think this movement crazy and dismiss it from their minds.
 While Christianity has no official connection with it, the whole thing is 
absolutely a result of our Christian schools. Nearly every leader there was a 
graduate of a Christian school. Christian schools every time have taken the lead 
and educated girls, and after years passed, the government just had to follow. 
In Sendai it was true—our school was the first, and now the government has 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
210
three high schools; our college department was first, and now the government 
is trying to start one, but in a very inadequate and grudging fashion.
 One thing that impresses me was the absence of any hostility to men. I’ve 
always thought that if I were a Japanese woman and had suffered the injustices 
they suffer, I’d be a regular man-hater. But several of them, in a real Christian 
spirit, said they didn’t want this movement to be anything antagonistic to men; 
that they wanted the men’s sympathy and cooperation, as far as they could get 
it; that they thought the men and women ought to work together as equals 
for the good of the country. And there were a few men there who were in full 
sympathy with the movement, and apparently ready to cooperate in any way 
they could.
 I realized again how fortunate I was to have been born and raised in Amer-
ica, among American men, with such a man as Papa to give me my ideas of 
what a real man is like. Very many things have brought that home to me this 
year, and my ever-present sorrow at losing him is always mixed with pride and 
thankfulness over having had him.
Hard Times
 The Great Earthquake of 1923. When the Great Earthquake hit Tokyo 
and Yokohama at noon, September 1, 1923, Kate and Lydia were in their 
cottage at Karuizawa, 100 miles away. Their cottage shook violently in 
the initial tremor and aftershocks. Telephone and train service was 
disrupted, and it was a week before they could return to Sendai. Kate 
described the effects of the earthquake in a series of detailed letters to 
her parents:6
*  *  *  *  *
 What happened to us here was only the tail end of the earthquake, but that 
was the worst I have known in Japan. I was at the piano when the house began 
to shake, but went right on, as usual, practicing, as I always do in ordinary 
earthquakes. Lydia was at the Miller’s, just below us. It went on for a couple of 
minutes, getting worse instead of better, shaking like a boat going “wolly-wolly.” 
O Hane San, in a terrified voice called me to come out and I turned to see my 
kitten with its tail the size of three tails, shooting out the door. We went into 
the woods just back of the house and stood. I never saw anything just like it. 
The whole hill rocked and the ground seemed to move under our feet with a 
different motion and the house swayed back and forth as if it couldn’t possibly 
stand. These shocks kept up, with no stopping, for twenty-five minutes and ev-
6Letters to her family, Karuizawa, September 2 and September 5, 1923.
Assuming the Mantle of Leadership
211
ery minute we expected to see the house go. Lydia rushed up from the Miller’s 
as soon as she could, and said they could see the motion of the ground even 
more, down there. But our old bark shack stood!
*  *  *  *  *
 Still no news from Dr. Miller. Reports from Tokyo grow more definite but 
no better. This morning Dr. Reischauer, who went Sunday and got back last 
night, gave a report to a community meeting. He is about our age, and athletic, 
but he was still so worn out he could scarcely speak, and had to sit down every 
once in a while. He had walked all over Tokyo, burned district and all, and told 
just what he had seen, and it was horrible. He said there was undoubted truth 
in the report that some wells had been poisoned and people had died from 
drinking the water, although who had done it, Chinese, Koreans or Japanese 
anarchists, nobody was sure. He said the people were frantic with fear and 
ready to kill any Korean at sight.
 He got back to Karuizawa by jumping on top of a car and hanging up there. 
When it was time to change trains he clambered up through a window of the 
bridge across the tracks, climbed out another window above the Karuizawa train 
and let himself down on the top of another car, where he rode until the junction 
near, where some flat cars were put on and he was able to get into one of them, 
standing up, of course. The trip took from six-thirty in the morning until late in 
the evening—midnight, in fact, it was when he finally got to Karuizawa. Cars 
built for forty passengers at most, have two hundred fifty jammed into them. 
The tops were all filled with people when the train left Tokyo, also the platforms 
and the space between the cars. Sanitary conditions are unspeakable. . . .
 The Great Depression. The Great Depression in the United States in 
the early 1930s had an adverse effect on Christian schools and mission-
aries around the world. Already in 1930 the worldwide depression was 
beginning to affect Christian schools in Japan. Enrollments dropped, 
especially in girls’ schools because families scrimped to educate their 
sons. Miyagi’s reputation helped prevent precipitous declines in enroll-
ment, but finding employment for graduates was a problem. Its music 
graduates, however, continued to find employment in the depths of the 
depression—even though the government continued its long-standing 
policy of refusing to grant Miyagi graduates teachers’ licenses. Many 
church supporters had lost practically everything and were in dire 
straits themselves. Unable to undergird their churches in sending 
and sustaining representatives to spread Christianity, church leaders 
sometimes turned to the missionaries themselves as a source of funds. 
A representative of the Board of Missions of the Reformed Church in 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
212
the United States, wrote to Kate and Lydia asking for a $500 loan.7 The 
letter asked for a “great favor” and promised to issue a bond and pay 
five percent interest. “You and Miss Lindsey are just as close as any 
two sisters,” the writer stated in suggesting the joint loan from the two 
missionaries. The two women made the “gift” to the Reverend Jacob G. 
Rupp, D.D., Field Secretary and Treasurer of the Board.
 In 1933, the Mission Board reduced all expenditures by forty percent, 
including the salaries of missionaries. The following spring the Board 
decided to recall sixteen missionaries and left it up to the missionaries 
themselves to decide who should leave. The outcome of this difficult 
situation was that the Board did not have sufficient funds to pay the 
travel expenses of the sixteen individuals chosen. Thus, all stayed and 
weathered the crisis by using frugality and living off credit.8
Miyagi Gakuin’s Fiftieth Anniversary
 On the fiftieth anniversary of Miyagi Gakuin in 1936, the school 
prepared a memorial volume of reminiscences. Kate and Lydia had each 
devoted twenty-five years to the school. In her essay Kate described how 
far Sendai and Miyagi Gakuin had come in this period:9
 It was a very different Sendai to which Miss Lindsey and I came in the 
fall of 1907—slower, less convenient, but immensely more picturesque and 
intensely interesting. Sambancho was like a country road. It had a few dim 
electric lights like people use now in their bathrooms, which were considered 
very modern. Our school buildings had recently gotten electric lights, but the 
foreign teachers’ house still used kerosene lamps, and what a task it was to 
clean them all!
 Everywhere at the gates were seen the beautiful Japanese lanterns, burning 
chiefly candles. There was no blinding glare of automobile lights, no deafening 
honking of horns, only the quiet “pit-pat” of the jinrikisha man’s feet, and the soft 
glow of his paper lantern. We all went about in jinrikishas. If we walked at night, 
we always carried Japanese lanterns. Beautiful Old Japan still lingers in Sendai.
7Letter from Rev. Jacob G. Rupp, December 15, 1933.
8Mission Proceedings, March 5, 1937, recounted in Mensendiek, To Japan with 
Love, p. 60.
9Miyagi Jo Gakko 50 Nen Shi, quoted in Mensendiek, To Japan with Love, 
pp. 62–63.
Assuming the Mantle of Leadership
213
 Telephones played no part in our lives. We sent jinrikisha men with our 
important messages, and unimportant ones were left unsaid. Everything 
moved slowly. If we went shopping for dry-goods, we sat on the edge of the 
store entrances, and drank tea while shop-boys brought down box after box of 
cloth until we found what we wanted or gave it up. If we had to move anything, 
from a trunk to a piano, it went either on a cart or on a pole, more often on a 
pole.
 City water was unknown for many years. Every kitchen had its huge pic-
turesque water jars, filled with water from the well. The Miyagi campus had 
six or eight wells, to supply the school and to use in case of fire. Every bit of 
drinking water had to be boiled. Modern sanitation was impossible. We always 
wondered why more people did not die.
 Miyagi College was Miyagi High School then, but a high school whose 
freshmen had graduated from the eighth grade, not the sixth. There was a 
Bible Course of one year. The girls all wore kimono and hakama. Only children 
of pre-school age wore Western dress and short hair. Our little girls had long 
hair, often put up over colored paste-board into two large rings on the top of 
their heads. The elder school girls all did their hair in so-called foreign style, 
in big pompadours made over frames called “rats.”
This Japanese lantern hung in 
Kate and Lydia’s “Bark House” in 
Karuizawa. When they retired to the 
United States, they brought it with 
them. It is now in the home of Dane 
and Polly Bales in Logan, Kansas.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
214
 They had no movies, no radio, almost no Victrolas, no public concerts, and 
yet they had their own very good times. The dormitory was full, and a hundred 
lively girls together could make their own fun. They studied hard. In English 
they were much in advance of our present high school. The Miyagi Library 
was already a famous institution of Sendai.
 Western music was in its infancy. Miyagi had the best music in Sendai, but 
the most advanced students were playing Clementi Sonatines. We had just one 
piano, kept in the teachers’ house, and carried, wrapped in jinrikisha blankets 
on a pole, to the chapel for Literary Presentations and Commencement. Miss 
Lindsey and I got up every morning to the accompaniment of “Home,” which a 
girl practiced for six months in the parlor just under our bed room. Practicing 
began at 6 a.m. and every girl with that practice hour was dressed and on her 
piano or organ bench, ready to begin on the stroke of six. That indomitable 
spirit has made Miyagi music what it is now.
 Nearly all the elder girls taught in Sunday Schools, and every Sunday 
morning and afternoon, a whole fleet of jinrikishas left the school, carrying 
these girls to outlying places, like Nanakita and Arai. Then, as now, the girls 
were eager to express their Christianity in action, to pass on to others the great 
gift they had received. Amid all the great changes, we know that this spirit has 
survived in Miyagi. May it continue unchanged through the long future.
Kate Hansen with several current and former helpers at the Alumnae Day during Miyagi’s 
Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration, November 3, 1936.
Assuming the Mantle of Leadership
215
 Old graduates tell me they remember how at our welcome meeting in 
1907 I had a sunflower, the state flower of our Kansas home. As the sunflower 
constantly keeps its face turned straight to the sun, so may all our Miyagi 
family, old and young, always keep our faces turned toward the Christ, our Sun 
of Righteousness, the Source of all our strength, unchanged and unchanging 
through all the years.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
216
 In an article written for The Outlook of Missions, Kate vividly de-
picts a facet of her work at school.10 The focus is on the work of the “class 
teachers” as viewed by an “American teacher.” With a touch of humor Kate 
contrasts her own state of misery with the strength of the “class teacher” on a 
boating excursion with their students. Those readers who have experienced 
seasickness will empathize with both Kate and the suffering students. Kate’s 
anecdote and narrative convincingly describe why the Japanese teachers 
who are converted Christians are of vital importance to the success and 
credibility of the school.
The Class Teacher
Miss Kate I. Hansen
 These words always bring to my mind several pictures. These are 
two of the vivid ones.
 The Miyagi Girls’ School compound was awake at five o’clock one 
spring morning. The whole space between the recitation building and 
the teachers’ house was crowded with laughing, chattering girls. Most 
excited of all were the little freshmen, just graduated from the grades 
and full of importance in their first excursion with the high school girls. 
They were going to Matsushima, too; to Matsushima, the most beautiful 
place in Japan; and they were to have a special steamer, and to spend 
the whole day on the water among the islands. They had gorgeous new 
hair-ribbons, too, stiff new ones that stood up above their heads and 
fairly bristled with excitement and anticipation. Presently a signal was 
given, and all became as quiet as possible for the morning devotions. 
Then, each class in charge of a teacher, the long line filed decorously 
out of the gates, the young class teacher of the freshmen leading the 
way with her irrepressible charges.
 Matsushima Bay was beautiful, but Matsushima Bay was rough. Two 
hours after the brave beginning of the day, an unhappy American teacher, 
pacing frantically up and down the deck in misery such as no landsman 
10The Outlook of Missions, Vol. V, No. 4 (April 1913), pp. 190–91.
Assuming the Mantle of Leadership
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knows, looked into the freshman cabin, and straightaway forgot her 
own troubles. In the middle of the floor sat the freshman class teacher. 
On her lap rested as many heads as could find place there. Sighs and 
groans went up from all over the room. The gay new hair ribbons were 
all in eclipse. Their erstwhile proud wearer’s only ray of comfort was 
evidently the presence and the sympathy of this class teacher of theirs.
 In many mission schools in Japan, the class teacher is a widely 
useful officer. In the Miyagi Girls’ School these class teachers are all 
Japanese, and are men and women of strong Christian character. Their 
official duties include the supervision of the class room, the keeping of 
the class records and the general care of the class at all times when no 
other teacher is in charge. They also visit the families of their students 
in cases of illness or death and attend funerals as representatives of the 
school.
 An earnest and really efficient class teacher has many opportunities 
to influence her pupils for good. He or she knows thoroughly each girl, 
her circumstances, and her surroundings, and is ready to advise her 
on the myriad questions that come to the young girl just entering into 
the new world of knowledge and liberty. The freshmen, especially, are 
readily influenced. When, as was the case for some years in our school, 
the class teacher is also the Bible teacher, she has a double opportunity. 
Many a strong Christian girl in school to-day traces her faith back to 
the time when a freshman and quite ignorant of Christianity, her class 
teacher, with her kindness and her ready sympathy, won her respect and 
affection, influenced her to attend church and Sunday School from the 
very beginning of her course, and laid the foundation of her Christian 
character.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
218
 In 1913, The Outlook of Missions also published Kate’s plea for a new 
science building for the girls’ school.11 In this article, Kate outlined what 
the “school is and what it should be.” She gives reasons, ten of them, and 
quotes the school’s principal as joining in the earnest request. They argue 
that the Miyagi Girls’ School must be a superior educational institution 
“simply because it is a Christian school.”
Why the Church Should Provide the Money for the 
New Science Building at Sendai, Japan
Miss Kate I. Hansen
Facts About the Miyagi Girls’ School
I. What It Is.
 The object of this school is to give to young women an education 
of high-school grade, based on the principles of Christianity. The 
course of study shall extend over five years. The subjects shall be 
Bible, ethics, Japanese, Chinese, English, geography, mathematics, 
natural sciences, drawing, domestic economy, sewing, music, ed-
ucation, civil government, and physical training. (Extract from the 
Japanese catalogue, as distributed in Sendai.)
 The school course includes also a post-graduate year for Bible 
women and one for domestic science students.
II. What It Has.
 One hundred and ninety-three Alumnae students, 11 Japanese teach-
ers, 5 American teachers, all graduates of colleges or universities.
 A campus of about two acres.
 One dormitory, accommodating about 100 students.
 A recitation hall, containing a chapel and seven class-rooms.
11The Outlook of Missions, Vol. V, No. 12 (December 1913), pp. 481–83.
Assuming the Mantle of Leadership
219
 A Bible women’s house, accommodating about ten workers.
 The recognition of the Japanese Department of Education for the 
high-school course, allowing the graduates the privilege of govern-
ment schools.
III. Its Students.
 Ten per cent have one or both parents Christian.
 Ninety-five per cent become Christians before graduating.
 Practically all students belong to the Y.W.C.A.
 About 40 students teach in Sunday School in and near Sendai, 
reaching about 1,000 children every week.
 Students act as organists in over 30 churches and Sunday Schools.
IV. Its Graduates.
 Ninety-eight have served or are now serving as Bible women or 
missionaries’ helpers.
 Fifty-three have been or are teachers.
 One hundred and seventeen have married.
 Sixteen married pastors or other religious workers.
 Twelve married physicians.
 Eighteen married business men.
 Eleven married government officials.
 Seven married army officers.
 Fifteen married teachers.
V. Its Imperative Need.
 (a) A new building, costing $12,000, necessary to meet the require-
ment of the Department of Education.
 (b) To provide for adequate domestic science work.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
220
 (c) To relieve the overcrowding of the music department.
 (d) To give room for advanced English work.
VI. What It Should Be.
 With the new building and adequate support from the Home Church, 
the Miyagi Girls’ School can easily be the leading Christian School 
for girls in all North Japan.
Ten Reasons Why the Reformed Church should now provide the $12,000 
building asked for by the Miyagi Girls’ School
I. The Japanese Department of Education requires a new science 
building for the school, if it is to continue to enjoy government 
recognition as a high school.
II. The work of the Miyagi Girls’ School in domestic science, to-day 
the most popular study for girls in Japan, is now distinctly inferior 
to that done in government schools, and cannot improve much 
until proper housing facilities are provided.
III. The music department has improved and grown until the neces-
sary practicing, scattered through regular school buildings, far 
from sound-proof, interferes seriously and is interfered with by 
the other work of the school.
IV. “The new building will add 25 per cent to the efficiency of the 
school.” A.K. Faust, Ph.D., Principal.
V. The Miyagi Girls’ School is the oldest and the largest mission 
girls’ school under the Reformed Church.
VI. For ten years this school has not asked the Church for any new 
buildings.
VII. The amount asked, $12,000, is very modest compared with the 
great sums spent every year on denominational schools in America.
Assuming the Mantle of Leadership
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VIII. Through this school the Reformed Church has the opportunity to 
become the leader in Christian education for girls in North Japan, 
if this forward step is taken now.
IX. If the school cannot now move forward, it must inevitably fall 
behind other more progressive, non-Christian schools.
X. Too much of prayer, money, and effort have been invested by 
the Church in this school for it to be allowed to fall behind at this 
critical time.
What Dr. Faust Says
 After the opening of the Miyagi Girls’ School, in September, Dr. Faust 
wrote very hopefully of the present situation, but the following quotation 
shows his anxiety for its future welfare.
 He says: “In many points the School is now better than the Govern-
ment Girls’ Schools. We lead in English, in music, in buildings; we are 
the equals in mathematics, physical culture, and pedagogy, but we are 
shamefully below in Japanese and Chinese, history, and also in domestic 
science and ordinary science. In ordinary science we have a good teacher 
and by the end of the year we hope to have the required equipment—but 
we have no place to teach it. In Japanese, we need a good teacher as well 
as in a few other branches. The new science building will practically put 
us above the government schools in every point. Without this building 
we are handicapped hopelessly so far as these branches are concerned. 
In the new building are to be taught domestic science, music, chemis-
try, physics. These are all branches in the regular course. But the new 
building is also needed for advanced work that the school ought to do in 
the future. Now, why is it necessary that our School should stand above 
the other schools? Simply because it is a Christian school.”
 “My very earnest request to you and to the board is to make a strenu-
ous effort to have the new building completed by the end of 1914. I have 
faith in the Board and in the Church that this request will be granted. 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
222
This is necessary not only because the government requires it, but more 
because the cause of Christ is seriously hampered without it. If this be 
true, then, I have faith that God will put it into the hearts of the Church 
to provide the means to complete the plan which He has outlined for 
the School. My ceaseless prayer shall be for the completed building by 
Christmas, 1914. May God show us how to realize His great plans.”
Assuming the Mantle of Leadership
223
 The Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions held its Seventh 
International Convention at Convention Hall in Kansas City, Missouri, 
on December 31, 1913, through January 4, 1914, with 5,301 delegates at-
tending, representing 755 institutions. The U.S. Secretary of State, William 
Jennings Bryan, addressed the convention. The audience exceeded 8,000. 
The Reformed Church held its “denominational” special meeting on the last 
day of the conference. Kate Hansen spoke of the work being done in Japan 
at Miyagi Girls’ School after which questions were answered. Professors, 
students, and church officials came from several states.
 In an article published in The Outlook of Missions and in The Re-
formed Church Messenger, Kate again vigorously spoke out for the cause 
she had championed earlier: the need for a new science building at Miyagi 
Girls’ School.12 In her introductory comments she justifies her decision to 
become a missionary as she refutes remarks she had heard at the Student 
Volunteer Movement convention. This article of fers an informed and 
convincing comparison of the competition between government-supported 
schools and mission schools and emphasizes the need for Christian schools 
to achieve and maintain high standards—in both teaching and facilities.
Misconceptions and Present Problems
By Miss Kate I. Hansen
 A young woman in one of our large universities had just become 
a Student Volunteer. From friends and acquaintances she was hearing 
the usual number of protests and curious questions. “Well,” remarked a 
classmate, “I suppose it won’t be long before I’ll have to think of you in 
a rusty old alpaca gown, sitting under a palm-tree all day long, singing 
hymns to a crowd of dirty, naked heathen. What good are your university 
degree and your Phi Beta Kappa going to do you out there!”
 Six years later, this student volunteer, now a missionary on furlough, 
was talking with a successful young business man, the commercial leader 
12The Outlook of Missions, Vol. VI, No. 2 (February 1914), pp. 81–84; The Reformed 
Church Messenger, February 5, 1914, pp. 9–10.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
224
of his little city. He, too, could see no use in her giving herself to foreign 
mission work. “I see by to-day’s paper that the Japanese are sending 
quantities of guns to Mexico. How’s that? I didn’t suppose Japanese had 
brains enough to manufacture guns!”
 The missionary smiled and sighed. She had worked in Japan for five 
years. Instead of the dirty savages of her classmate’s conception, she 
had found a nation with a civilization as old as ours, a national pride as 
great, an educational system rapidly becoming as efficient as our own. 
She had found national intelligence equal to the making of guns or of 
anything else her own country manufactured. She had found herself 
in a community that demanded of her as high standards of ability and 
education as her own country had required.
 Most Christian workers in America, even the well-informed ones, in 
studying mission problems, especially mission problems in Japan, are 
likely to lose sight of this one vital fact, that Japan demands of mission 
work and workers American standards of efficiency, and is rapidly coming 
to demand our standard of equipment. “Palm-tree methods” no longer 
avail there. The foreign missionary meets and deals with men as well 
educated, secularly, as he is. A man or a woman unfitted to be a teacher 
and a leader at home, has no business in Japan.
 Likewise, a school that has not the teaching force, the management, 
and approximately the equipment to insure its success in this country 
has small chance for success in Japan. This has not always been true. 
The first mission schools, especially the first girls’ schools, were pioneers 
in education. Those were the days when Japanese young men of good 
families gladly did menial work in foreign households for the sake of 
acquiring English, the key to Western knowledge. To paraphrase the 
saying about Hopkins and the log, those were the days when a mission-
ary teacher on one side of a brazier and a Japanese boy or girl on the 
other side constituted a college of Western learning and of Christianity. 
It was during this period of beginnings that two young women of the 
Reformed Church, with a courage and zeal worthy of the heroines of 
the Reformation, left their homes and their country, and, in a distant 
city in the little known interior of Japan, founded the pioneer school for 
girls in Northeastern Japan, now known as the Miyagi Girls’ School. At 
Assuming the Mantle of Leadership
225
first, the school was literally nothing but these teachers and a few girls. 
In tiny Japanese houses of plaster and paper, with practically no equip-
ment the first work was done. There was no competition in that city of a 
hundred thousand people. The government and the public had not yet 
begun to grasp the idea that girls ought to have any education. There 
were few students, and for seven years, there were no graduates; but 
among those early students there were several who are now among the 
strong women of the Church of Christ in Japan, and whose lives bear 
eloquent testimony to the success of the first missionaries of our Church 
in imparting the “one thing needful.”
 But almost before the Church had provided the first building for 
the little school, the days of its monopoly of girls’ education in Sendai 
were numbered. The prefectural government, and later a syndicate of 
Sendai citizens, established schools for girls. For several years, however, 
these schools, like such institutions all over Japan, were inferior to the 
mission schools. Despite the natural prejudice against foreign teaching 
and Christianity, the mission school remained the leader. Like many 
other girls’ schools, the Miyagi Girls’ School reached its “high-water” 
mark during the Russo-Japanese war. It was still the leader of the girls’ 
education in Sendai.
 Soon after the war, however, all over Japan, Christian schools for girls 
began to fall behind. The government, awake at last to the tremendous 
importance of education for women, began to use all its resources to 
improve its girls’ schools. The mission schools were often slow to realize 
the significance of this new competition. A few far-seeing missions and 
schools began at once to make plans commensurate with the new con-
ditions. Many others, confident of their superiority, remained stationary. 
With government schools changing and improving their curricula every 
year, some Christian schools kept their courses unchanged for eight or 
ten years. It was not an unheard-of event for a government school to 
spend for equipment in one year more than a mission would spend in 
five or ten years. The government went seriously into the business of 
training teachers, and in a few years it had a large body of normal-school 
graduates holding teachers’ certificates, and possessing, along with 
considerable real ability, an immense prestige in the eyes of the public.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
226
 The inevitable followed. Attendance in Christian schools for girls 
began to fall off. Each year, the entering class was smaller than that of the 
year before. Non-Christian parents, the overwhelming majority in Japan, 
as soon as they came to believe the government school to be equal or 
superior to the Christian school, very naturally sent their daughters to the 
former institutions. A few, of course, realizing the benefit of the stricter 
discipline and the moral teaching of the Christian school, continued to 
give it their support. The government schools could not accommodate 
all their applicants for admission, and of the overflow, many came to the 
Christian schools. It seemed that ultimately these classes of students, 
with some of the children from homes already Christian, would be all 
that would be left to the mission schools.
 In the midst of these changes, the mission schools received a hard 
blow in the order of the Department of Education, closing all the teachers’ 
examinations and the examinations for entrance into the higher schools 
to all but graduates of government schools, or of schools formally rec-
ognized by the government as of equal grade with their own. In the last 
clause of the order lay the hope of most mission schools. If they could 
bring their buildings, their equipment, their teaching force, and their 
course of study up to the standard the government had set, they could 
secure from that government the formal recognition that for all practi-
cal purposes would place them upon an equality with the government 
schools. With their superior facilities for teaching English, music, and 
Western domestic science, and with the known superiority of their moral 
teaching, they would be in a position to attract again the most desirable 
students in sufficient numbers. The history of girls’ education in Japan 
for the last five years has been chiefly the history of the efforts of the 
Christian schools to bring up their work to the new standards of the best 
American high schools and academies.
 For a time, it was feared that any dealings with the government would 
involve curtailment of the liberty of religious instruction in the Christian 
schools. Rather than part with this, the only real justification of their 
existence, most mission schools would have ceased work altogether. 
Just at this time, there came the good news that the large Methodist 
school for girls in Tokyo had secured recognition with no interference 
Assuming the Mantle of Leadership
227
whatever being made in its religious work. Since then, no fewer than 
twenty girls’ schools have secured this recognition in some form or 
other, and several others have brought their work up to a point where 
they can have recognition for the asking.
 Your girls’ school in Japan, the Miyagi Jo Gakko, shared the vicissi-
tudes of the other Christian schools during the time of trial. For several 
years plans for its improvement were made and discussed. The officials 
of the Department of Education were friendly, and gave every aid in their 
power. The course of study was carefully revised and brought up to date, 
the Japanese teaching force was strengthened by the addition of teachers 
with government certificates, and as much equipment as possible was 
bought. The greatest deficiency, according to the Department, was in the 
science work, in which no laboratory was available, and in the domestic 
science, which had very inadequate space. In these respects, the school 
fell far below the government schools.
 Those in charge of the school were confident that the Reformed 
Church, which had liberally supported it for twenty-five years, would 
not fail it at that critical time. The Department of Education, too, had 
confidence in the generosity of the Reformed Church. When, with the 
full consent of the Board of Foreign Missions, the school applied for 
recognition, the Department, not wishing the graduates to be disqual-
ified while the funds were being raised for a new building, granted the 
recognition at once, with the important proviso that this new building 
shall be provided just as soon as possible.
 That was two years ago. Recognition has proved a success. The 
shrinkage in the number of students was checked at once. The efficien-
cy of the school is increasing steadily. There has been absolutely no 
interference by Department officials with religious teaching or activities. 
Under the new rules there are more hours of Bible study than before. 
The Japanese officials have kept their agreements.
 Meanwhile, the school has been able to secure land adjoining the 
old campus, sufficient for a new building. This building the school is 
now asking of the Reformed Church. It is to cost $12,000, and it will not 
only meet the just requirements of the Department of Education, but it 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
228
will provide for that healthy growth, without which no school can live, 
allowing the school to assume once more its position of leader in girls’ 
Christian education in North Japan.
 The Church is now asked to prove again its interest in this, its oldest 
and its largest girls’ school in the mission field. It has been just ten years 
since the last building was put on the campus. It will probably be several 
years before another will be needed. If this building is not furnished 
soon, there is danger of the withdrawal of government recognition from 
the school, and consequently the loss of the ground gained in several 
years. The Reformed Church is known for her liberality to her schools 
and colleges. In this crisis will she not rise to the occasion? Shall not the 
year 1914 mark the completion of this necessary new building, and with 
it, the beginning of a new era of usefulness in the Miyagi Girls’ School?
Assuming the Mantle of Leadership
229
 The indefatigable Kate wrote a third article13 in early 1914 to promote 
issues of great importance to her. Kate uses this article both to describe 
instruction in Western music in Japan and also to reiterate her plea for 
a new science building at Miyagi Girls’ School, one wing of which would 
be devoted to the music department. Partly as a result of the influence of 
Christian missionary teachers, the Japanese government began to require 
the teaching of Western music throughout Japanese schools. The Japanese 
expected and, in some cases, achieved miracles in this difficult instruction 
in the ways of a foreign culture. Well-trained American music teachers 
also used music to attract the children of non-Christian parents to attend 
Christian schools. Kate’s campaign to erect the new building met with 
success. It was dedicated in 1918.
The Japanese Are Learning to Sing
by Miss Kate I. Hansen
 Without any doubt, the Reformed Church is the most musical church 
in America. In no other denomination can there be found the inspiring 
congregational singing of the Reformed Church; in no other church is 
the proportion of musical members so great; nowhere else is there such 
universal appreciation of the value of the ministry of music. Therefore, 
while you, the choirs and organists, are preparing a beautiful share of 
the service for Foreign Mission Day, and while you, the music-lovers in 
the congregations are looking forward to another musical pleasure, do 
you not wish to hear how this day connects you and the art we all enjoy 
with the work which is now being done on the other side of the world, 
to Christianize a nation that is not musical, but firmly resolved upon 
becoming so?
 When the first missionaries went to Japan, nobody believed the 
Japanese could ever learn to sing. “They are absolutely without musical 
ear,” “Their throats are made so differently from ours that it is impossi-
ble for them to learn to sing our scale,” were some of the comments of 
13The Outlook of Missions, Vol. VI, No. 3 (March 1914), pp. 129–30, 138; The Reformed 
Church Messenger, February 19, 1914, pp. 2 and 20.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
230
those days. To an American woman belongs the honor of first accom-
plishing the feat of teaching a Japanese to sing the major scale. To-day 
the government of Japan requires the teaching of Western music from 
the first grade of the public schools up through the girls’ high schools. 
The musical ear is still painfully lacking in students and teachers alike; 
the singing is usually far from keeping on the key; but the determined 
effort is there. Japan has resolved to master Western music. Her girls, 
especially, must know music. Her girls’ high schools have conservatory 
trained teachers, who must teach singing, reed organ and piano.
 Of course, a foreign musician in Japan, at this time, has one laughable 
experience after another. A violinist attempting to play Bach when he 
could not tune his violin; a boy bringing a volume of Beethoven sonatas, 
requesting to be taught one of them to play at a concert the next week, 
when he had never before tried to play the piano; a band playing “The 
Star-Spangled Banner” to a company of Americans, most of whom failed 
Kate and her Japanese students 
following a recital in the 1930s.
Assuming the Mantle of Leadership
231
to recognize the piece because no two horns were tuned together; an 
orchestra, composed entirely of first violins, no two of them tuned alike, 
performing in a concert before hundreds of admiring auditors—the list 
could be extended indefinitely.
 Just here comes one of the two musical opportunities of the mission 
schools. With well-trained American teachers, they can and often do 
make their music as conspicuously superior to that of the government 
schools as to attract the daughters of many non-Christian parents, who 
otherwise would not dream of sending them to Christian schools.
 Once in a Christian school, the average girl is almost sure, in time, 
to become a Christian. Immediately, the musical Christian girl has work 
waiting for her. Your representative in Japan, the Miyagi Girls’ School, 
with about fifty students of organ and piano, supplies organists every 
week for thirty-five Sunday Schools and church services. Practically 
all the organists for our whole work in North Japan are alumnae of this 
school. To the Japanese, the music of the service is as attractive as it is 
to you. But instead of congregations, trained from childhood in singing, 
these young organists have whole companies of grown people and chil-
dren, scarcely any of whom can sing a hymn tune through without the 
instrument. The music of the service is almost wholly dependent upon 
these young leaders. If they are well trained, they secure surprisingly 
good results, for every person in the congregation is eager to sing. But 
if their training is deficient—may none of you ever be obliged to have 
your ears tortured with such noises as a Japanese Sunday School, with 
an untrained leader, can perpetuate!
 This, your Girls’ School is doing its best to meet its two-fold oppor-
tunity. From six in the morning until nine in the evening the wailing of 
organs and the thump, thump, of piano practice disturb the peace of 
the neighborhood. The school authorities have found it necessary to 
forbid practicing before the ringing of the six o’clock rising bell, for the 
zealous music students would be ready to begin work every morning 
at four or five o’clock. None of the school buildings were constructed 
with any idea of making them sound-proof. An English class may have 
its whole lesson disturbed by a piano student in the room below. She in 
turn is using the soft pedal and worrying all the time about the annoyance 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
232
she is causing her schoolmates. Pianos and organs have had to be put 
into rooms used part of the day by classes. Practice periods are almost 
impossible to arrange. Singing classes must be held in the dormitory, a 
Japanese building, consequently subject to such extremes of heat and 
cold as to be ruinous to any piano. In this dormitory where the bulk of 
the practicing must be done, doors made of a paper resembling our tissue 
paper form the partitions between several rooms used for practicing.
 Despite all its disadvantages, your school in Japan has done good 
solid musical work, and to-day it is the undisputed musical leader of 
Sendai. How long it can continue this good work depends largely upon 
what the Church at home will do this year. The school is asking for a 
new building, to cost $12,000. It is planned that one wing of this building 
shall be given to the music department, and that it shall contain a room 
for singing classes, and several sound-proof practice rooms. With this 
equipment, it will be possible for the school to render more and more 
efficient service for years to come.
 For the sake of the Christianity we all believe, for the sake of our 
beautiful art, and according to the measure of the joy it brings to us, I 
ask that every one of you, the musical people of the Reformed Church, 
shall join in making our dream of larger service a reality.
 Kate I. Hansen, Musical Bachelor, Instructor in Music, Miyagi Girls’ 
School.
Assuming the Mantle of Leadership
233
 In this article14 published in The Reformed Church Messenger, Kate 
describes briefly the importance of women writers in ancient Japanese 
history and then recounts the decline of women with the rise of Buddhism 
and Confucianism. Two new forces—Western civilization and Protestant 
Christianity—will help Japanese women return to their “rightful place in 
life,” she asserts.
Our College Women, and Their Sisters in Japan
Kate I. Hansen
I. Past Rights and Wrongs
 The women of Japan are worth-while people. Away back in the dim 
beginnings of Japanese history, women held an honorable place in the 
nation. Nine Empresses, in early times, ruled Japan in their own right. 
The Empress Jingo is as famous in Japanese stories as is King Arthur in 
those of our ancestors. In the literature that has come down to us from 
that ancient time, women hold an important place, as diarists, poets, 
historians, essayists, and novelists. What Japanese does not know of 
Murasakino-Shikibu, “the Richardson of Japan,” who “added to Japanese 
literature a new kind of composition, the novel, or epic or real life”?
 With the triumph of Chinese Buddhism and Confucianism in Japan, 
all this was changed. True, Japanese women, as a whole, never sank 
quite as low as the women of some other Oriental countries. Still, “This 
religion made woman such a chattel and slave of man, declaring her 
an unclean, defiled fool—that the government came to consider her 
merely a necessary convenience, out of which a submissive daughter, 
a prudent wife, and a good mother might be evolved for the upkeep of 
the State.” The whole duty of woman, according to the Confucian book 
which was a wedding gift to every bride consisted in the “Three Obedi-
ences”—“Obediences to Father, Obedience to Husband, Obedience to 
Son.” That was yesterday. What of today?
14Reformed Church Messenger, November 11, 1920, pp. 6–7.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
234
II. Present Progress
 From our own country, more than sixty years ago, there came to 
Japan two new forces—Western civilization, and Protestant Christiani-
ty. Together, they are working nothing short of a revolution. Japanese 
women are coming again into their rightful place in Japanese life. Every 
newspaper and magazine has its new instance of their changed position. 
They are in business, from clerks and stenographers up to financiers 
like the late Madame Hirooka, the millionaire head of banks and mines. 
They are in literary work, like the translator of Little Lord Fauntleroy, or 
the editor of the magazines Women’s Friend, New Girls, and Children’s 
Friend, or the numerous writers of verse, tales and novels. They are 
painters and musicians. They are trained nurses and physicians. They are 
running schools, like Miss Tsuda, pioneer head of the Normal College 
for English Teachers. They are teaching everywhere in colleges, in high 
schools, and in the grades. They lead in social reform, like the venerable 
Mrs. Yajima, organizer of the W. C. T. U. and indefatigable worker for 
equal laws and equal moral standards for men and women, or like Miss 
Hayashi, one of the heroic leaders in the recent hot campaigns against 
the terrible licensed prostitution system in Osaka. They are standing 
side by side with men as leaders in the newly organized labor unions. 
Thousands of them are in religious work, from the unknown devoted 
Bible Woman of the country village, to world-famous leaders like Miss 
Kawai of the Y. W. C. A.
 Perhaps more significant than all the rest, they are winning the right 
to decide whom they shall marry, and they are taking their places in 
thousands of enlightened homes, no longer as servants or playthings, 
but as equal partners, intellectual companions to their husbands, effi-
cient managers of their households, wise as well as devoted mothers, 
yet with time and energy to give to education and culture, to social and 
philanthropic work, to organize church work and to personal leading of 
others to Christ. To name but one friend, such was the late Mrs. Imaizu-
mi, of Sendai, one of the first students of our own Miyagi Girls’ School, 
an example and an inspiration for many years to women old and young, 
Japanese and foreign. Such are the wives that the best Japanese men 
are trying to find today.
Assuming the Mantle of Leadership
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III. The Present Problem
 Such are the women who more than any other one section of the 
people, will make the Japan of tomorrow, if only enough of them are raised 
up and trained. But who is to raise them up, and where are they to be 
trained? Judging from the past, there can be but one answer. The vast 
majority of the outstanding women in Japan today, the women who are 
making their mark on the country for good, are Christians. Moreover, 
Christian schools, in most cases, have trained them. Making every 
allowance and giving every credit to the government normal and high 
schools, I yet believe that, under God, the chief responsibility and the 
great opportunity lie with the Christian high schools and colleges for 
women. Listen to Miss Tsuda, for many years recognized as the greatest 
woman educator in Japan, whose pupils hold positions in nearly every 
public high school for girls in the country. She says, “Education alone, 
culture of mind and body, neglecting the spirit, as is the method of the 
public schools, brings only bad results. The young are drifting, mistaking 
license for freedom; the result is chaos.”
Miyagi Mother and Daughter Group, with alumnae and teachers. Miyagi College Audito-
rium is in the background.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
236
 The Protestant Christian high schools, about forty in number, are 
scattered all over Japan. Originally, they corresponded very closely to 
American high schools. Within the last few years, however, following 
government regulations, most of them have lowered their entrance age 
by two or even three years. Whereas, in the past, their students stayed 
with them to the comparatively mature age of nineteen or twenty, they 
now graduate at sixteen or seventeen—and Japanese girls are far less 
mature at that age than most Americans. Hence arose necessity for col-
lege work, and Christian schools are not neglecting it. In the extreme 
South, for example, the Methodists are extending the college work of 
their Nagasaki Girls’ School. In Central Japan, the Congregationalists 
have obtained for their Kobe school recognition from the government 
as a full-fledged college. In Tokyo and Yokohama, six Missions having 
schools in those cities have united their higher courses to form the new 
Woman’s Christian College. Finally, in North Japan, is our own Miyagi 
Girls’ School, which now has four courses above the high school. En-
glish, Music, Bible and Domestic Science, of two or three years each. 
Everywhere these schools are prospering. Problems they have, and 
many; but the chief of them is the securing of thoroughly educated, 
strong, consecrated workers, Japanese and American, chiefly women. 
For the stupendous task of raising up an adequate Christian leadership 
for Japanese women is not a task for the half-trained, nor for weaklings, 
nor for the spiritually uncertain.
IV. The Challenge to Reformed Church Women
 The Miyagi Girls’ School shares in the prosperity and the problems 
of her sister schools. The high school has been growing in numbers. 
This year, three times as many applied for entrance to the freshman 
class as the building could accommodate. That is a common event in 
boys’ schools, for all Japanese families try to educate their boys; but it 
is a new and significant development in girls’ schools. The higher, or 
college department, organized in its present form in 1916, had an en-
rollment of over eighty in 1919. The figures for this year are not yet at 
hand, but increased numbers are reported, especially in the Bible course. 
Assuming the Mantle of Leadership
237
The higher course graduates are already in positions of responsibility, 
as strong Christian wives and mothers, as Bible Women, and as high 
school teachers of English, Music and Domestic Science. The demand 
for our graduates for high school positions, especially in music, is far 
beyond our power to supply. The reason is two-fold—these graduates are 
thoroughly trained in their respective subjects, and nearly everyone of 
them is a Christian, like the high school graduates of the past twenty-five 
years.
 What does it all mean? Simply that the Miyagi Girls’ School is face 
to face with the greatest opportunity in its history, full of opportunities 
as that history has been. Its college course is the only one of the kind in 
all North Japan. More than with any other single agency, the immediate 
future of Christian leadership for the women of North Japan rests with 
this school. It is a task to challenge the powers of the strongest, the most 
highly gifted college woman.
 The women of the Reformed Church, through the Missionary So-
cieties, have done much. They provided the building which made the 
college work possible. They are giving constantly of their efforts, their 
prayers, their means, and they will give more and more. But that is still 
not enough. To the college women, the specially trained women, comes 
just now the insistent call, “Give yourselves!” For, while students and 
classes and departments have been multiplying, the missionary force 
alone has remained almost stationary. A college and a high school com-
bined cannot be run with the same number of workers as a high school 
only! If this, our school, is to seize its opportunity; if it is to grow, not 
merely in numbers, but in Christian efficiency, without which numbers 
are worse than nothing, then it must have more missionary teachers and 
that without delay. Dr. Faust, the principal, at his wits’ end to provide for 
the work, is sending appeal after appeal. Two new missionary teachers 
ought to be on the field today, one to work in the English department, the 
other, a conservatory graduate in voice, to help build up the music de-
partment, and both, to take their share in the tremendous task of making 
Christian leaders. Where are they? Surely, among all the well-qualified 
college women of the Reformed Church, there cannot fail to be those 
with consecration and strength enough to meet this challenge. It is an 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
238
opportunity to work in a different place, a place of honor, a place where 
all our gifts and powers can be made to count toward a supremely worth-
while object—the speedy Christianizing of Japan, the leader of Asia. Just 
as clearly, I believe, as the message came to Paul of old, there comes to 
our college women the call from the Miyagi Girls’ School, “Come over 
into Asia and help us!” May every such college woman who reads this, 
stop and ask herself, in all seriousness, “Is this call to me? If not, why 
not?”
Logan, Kansas.
Assuming the Mantle of Leadership
239
 In a 1932 report to the Mission Society, Kate included an article “Mu-
sic Hath Charms,”15 in which she emphasizes the importance of “Western 
music” in Christian Schools in Japan. She describes the appeal of this music 
to young Japanese and outlines the rigorous course of instruction for music 
students at Miyagi College. She also emphasizes the excellent prospects for 
their employment in the face of worldwide depression.
Music Hath Charms
 A CHRISTIAN School is exactly like a Christian Church in Japan 
or anywhere else—it cannot get along without music. In Japan, “mu-
sic” means what we here call “Western Music”—the system of music, 
founded on the major scale and chords, that is literally and historically 
the child of the Christian Church; born because Christians of necessity 
must have some adequate means of expressing the new peace and joy 
that had come into the world; nurtured and developed in the Church, 
reaching its full expression in the mighty spirits of Bach and Beethoven.
 Young Japan flocks to hear and study this Western music. Christian 
Japan, like the early Christians, find in it the satisfying expression of their 
new life in Christ. When the revised Union Hymnal, just published, was 
being prepared, the foreigners on the committee often suggested the 
inclusion of old Japanese tunes. The Japanese members rejected them. 
Founded on Buddhism they could not express the new life of a Japanese 
Christian. The Japanese turned to Western Christian music.
 This kind of music Miyagi College tries to teach in its fullness. The 
high school freshman on the first day of school buys a Bible and a Hym-
nal. She sings hymns every morning at chapel. She studies singing twice 
a week. It is hard for her, because her ears still cannot hear all the new 
intervals of the Western system. She may have piano or organ lessons 
if she pays for them, with Japanese Christian teachers, trained in Miyagi 
College. She may be in the school chorus and sing in oratorios like the 
Messiah or The Holy City.
15Woman’s Missionary Society, Reformed Church in the United States. No date.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
240
 If she has done well enough, she may, upon graduation, enter the 
Higher Course in Music and spend three years in intense study. She will 
have as classmates girls from many other schools, both government and 
private. Some are already Christians; some are indifferent or opposed to 
Christianity, but all are united in their love of music, which is a powerful 
agent in bringing the Christian life to them all. A very musical, unusually 
talented girl, who entered the music course bitterly opposed to Chris-
tianity, ascribes her conversion chiefly to the study of the Beethoven 
sonatas. They touched the spirit which Christian friends and teachers 
had tried in vain to reach.
 As the girls become Christians, and so far every graduate has done 
so, they wish to use their music in Christian service. They teach singing 
in the Miyagi Y.W.C.A. night school; they teach the Bible and singing, and 
play the organ in all kinds of Sunday schools; they become organists in 
various churches. One music senior this year has been president of the 
College Y.W.C.A.; another teaches hymn-singing to some fifty children 
every Sunday in our Sunday-school. Every girl uses her music in some 
way to help the cause of Christ.
 They graduate, and the majority—seventy-four per cent up to date—
go into wider service as teachers in Christian schools, Presbyterian, 
Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Episcopalian, all over Japan. Four are now 
serving in Kyushu, the southern island. One has taught for six years 
in Hokkaido, the northern island, teaches Bible as well as music, is a 
class sponsor, and wields a powerful Christian influence. Another, in a 
Presbyterian School on the west coast of the main island, adds the duties 
of dormitory matron to those of music teacher. “A jewel, both in spirit 
and work” is her principal’s comment on another, who is finishing her 
third year in a Methodist school up north.
 The Japanese principal of an independent Christian school, applying 
this spring for one of our graduates, writes, “We want a devoted Chris-
tian who has interest in religious music, a Christian personality, besides 
technical skill in music teaching.” He has stated the very real need that 
exists in Japanese Christian schools, which they look to us to meet. Every 
member of the class of 1931 is now teaching in a Christian school, and 
Assuming the Mantle of Leadership
241
that in a year of such unemployment that it is said eighty-five per cent 
of the graduates from the Imperial University failed to find positions.
 In the end, most of the music graduates marry, and their influence 
becomes that of a Christian wife and mother, passing on her character and 
her attainments to the next generation. Some are able to do work outside 
the home also. Many assist in church music. Mrs. K., the mother of four 
little children, finds time to teach one morning a week in Miyagi College, 
and to be an active worker in her church, together with her husband, 
an outstanding Christian business man. Mrs. W., a young pastor’s wife, 
besides the care of what she calls “my obstreperous small son,” gives 
herself devotedly to assisting in her husband’s church. Mrs. M., wife of 
the energetic and able governor of a far-off island in the South Seas, the 
only Protestant Christian on the island when she went there, does real 
missionary work with her large club of women. She writes, “Michiko” 
(her little daughter) says, “I want to grow up quick so I can go to Mam-
ma’s big school. When can I go to Sendai?” “When you get into the fifth 
grade, we’re all going back.” “O, that’s too long. Send me back sooner.” 
Later Mrs. W. writes, “Sensei!” (a term of respect for a teacher), “Even 
in a place like this, God is always good to us and guides us. There is no 
church here, but a few of us have a Bible class every week. Most of the 
class are not Christians, and we are studying the Bible from the ground 
up. I am always most grateful for the blessings that I received in Miyagi 
College.”
KATE I. HANSEN,
Head of the Music Department, Miyagi College
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
242
 To obtain eyewitness accounts of the missionary teacher Kate Hansen’s 
personal habits, traits, and other characteristics while she was in Japan, a 
panel of former students, coworkers, and assistants assembled in late 1985 
to reminisce. William Cundiff, the professor of music who directed the 
session, summarized participants’ observations, insights, and memories in 
a question-and-answer format. Miss Katsu Sato, Kate’s longtime teaching 
assistant and helper, was especially active in the discussion.
A Word Picture of the Missionary
1.  How was Dr. Hansen to work for?
 She was a very demanding but not unpleasant person to work for. 
She always tried to get the best out of anyone who worked for her. She 
was a very gentle person, but extremely firm. She was a strong-willed 
woman who was good at making decisions—and then sticking to them. 
But she was easy to work for because she was not a typical musician. 
She did not show her emotions, according to her teaching assistant. 
She and Miss Lindsey, the English teacher, were very faithful to their 
classes. They were rarely late or absent. Once when neither showed up, 
the school literally went into a “tizzy” and a runner was sent off to their 
house.
 They were not there! Later on, it turned out that they had gone off 
to see the great American Babe Ruth, a baseball hero who was playing 
in a game in Sendai, Japan.
2.  Did she ever talk about why she came to Japan? What do 
you think?
 Everyone understood that her main purpose was to spread the Mes-
sage of God, Miss Sato, her former teaching assistant said. “I never felt 
that she had ‘forsaken’ America at all. She was very loyal and patriotic 
to the United States.” The panel agreed that Kate’s main interest was 
in spreading the Gospel of Christ. Even in her music history classes 
she always stressed the faith of the composers and not just the musical 
results of their labors.
Assuming the Mantle of Leadership
243
3.  What did she think of the Emperor and the social structure 
in Japan?
 She was careful not to be involved in local politics. She liked the Em-
peror and the Empress. When she was decorated by the Japanese Gov-
ernment after the war, she was received by the Empress and was given a 
tour of the beautiful gardens of the palace. She was impressed and wrote 
home to her family about this great honor. Concerning the social customs 
relating to Japanese women, she was not pleased, but often distressed.
4.  What did she think of General Douglas MacArthur?
 She thought that he was great for his job.
5.  How did she get along with the Japanese language?
 Any foreigner has trouble learning Japanese. She studied it daily 
for many years and became quite proficient and fluent in the spoken 
language although she never really did much reading and writing in 
Japanese, but she spoke often in the chapel services and dorm meetings 
in what was considered “polite Japanese” and her listeners were always 
respectful and courteous. They call her “Sensei” or “Dr. Hansen.” And 
of course she used the language frequently when the scores of ministers 
and hundreds of former students called on her, many of them bringing 
small gifts to show their affections.
 As a leader among the missionaries, she had many visits from local 
and visiting Christian ministers as well as Japanese government edu-
cation officials. You know that she served as principal, dean, and more 
than once as acting president of the school and was often the official 
spokesperson for the school and the missionaries.
6.  Who were some of her influential Japanese friends as you 
remember?
 Well, she was very close to Doi, Bansui, and McFadden. Dr. Hansen 
wrote the music to our school song. She also composed the music to the 
lyrics that McFadden wrote, which became a standard hymn in Christian 
Churches and is still being sung in Japan.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
244
7.  Was she an outgoing person?
 She never displayed her private feelings to those around her, and 
she never boasted or talked about her diplomas, accomplishments, or 
honors at all. She was modest to a fault. She always refused to engage in 
controversial discussions with anyone and kept her views on such small 
matters in her private domain. But she was full of ideas and only her 
very disciplined approach to life prevented her from openly revealing 
her thoughts.
8.  What do you know about her everyday home life in Japan?
 Well, she and Miss Lindsey, the American English teacher, shared 
a house provided by the school. A Japanese couple worked for them for 
many years. Takeo San and her husband, who did the cooking, were 
considered to be their servants. Takeo San stayed with the missionaries 
until they retired in 1952, and then stayed on in their house to work for 
Ruth Snyder, another missionary. It was said that Miss Lindsey did all 
the shopping and took care of the home. Dr. Hansen was the “man of the 
house.” All the old grads who visited them thought that they made the 
“perfect couple.” They got along like sisters and hardly ever disagreed 
on anything. Once, though, it was reported that they had “words” over 
an election of a Kansas governor, but it was soon over with no hard 
feelings. The panel members agreed that the relationship of Kate and 
Lydia was indeed truly wonderful but rare.
9.  Did she have any pets?
 She had a cat which she loved and permitted to run on her piano 
keyboard at home. But in school she did not even allow students to 
place music on the Steinway piano in the auditorium. Her cat’s name 
was “Logan” and it liked rice and fish. She said that Logan would not eat 
the standard Christian food of bread and milk.
Assuming the Mantle of Leadership
245
10.  She was said to like flowers. What kinds?
 Any kind. She was really crazy about flowers and was never happi-
er than when gathering wildflowers, which she especially loved, or in 
working in her garden cultivating them. Her mother sent seeds to her, 
which became her pride and joy and something to write home about. 
She always wore gloves to protect her hands while tending the garden. 
Of course, she practiced the piano for several hours nearly every day. 
She saw something really beautiful in both music and flowers.
11.  Did she have a favorite food? What did she like?
 She never drank coffee and was not fond of sweets. If given candy, 
as was often the case when visitors arrived at her home, she always 
found occasions to offer it to students, guests, and friends. Two things 
were known to be among her most favorite foods: watermelon and unagi 
(eels).
12.  Did she have any hobbies or how did she spend her spare 
time?
 Playing the piano or reed organ came first. Walking was high on the 
list. A major portion of her spare time was handwriting thousands of 
personal letters to people around the world. She loved to listen to “live” 
music, especially on Saturday afternoons or Sundays. And gardening 
was right at the top of the list in the spring, summer, and fall. She did an 
awful lot of reading.
13.  Tell me about her reading habits.
 She received many, many American magazines and journals and sub-
scribed to American book clubs. She read all the time. She was known to 
give hundreds, and perhaps thousands of books as gifts to her friends and 
to discuss the books with them. She also took American newspapers and 
magazines. Her one dedication to reading was a thorough examination 
of The Japan Times every day.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
246
14.  Did she have a favorite musician?
 She was crazy about Sibelius. Others were Rachmaninoff, Grieg, and 
McDowell.
15.  What personal possessions did she have?
 Not many. Her worldly possessions were few. Just the necessities. 
She would have nothing to do with such things as a typewriter, or a 
phonograph. She didn’t want to have them near her. She let it be known 
that she preferred live music to recorded music and never relented 
on this point. Of course, she had her beloved piano, a reed organ, and 
some books along with a watch. In 1915, she and Miss Lindsey bought 
a cottage for a summer home up in the mountains at Karuizawa, but 
it was more of a gathering place for friends and visitors than a private 
hideaway. When they retired, they gave the cottage to the school.
16.  How was her health?
 It was about perfect. We never knew her to be sick. It was well known 
that she went regularly to St. Luke’s Hospital and the Butler Dental Clinic 
in Tokyo for annual check-ups and examinations.
17.  Did she have many Japanese friends?
 Oh yes. She had many Japanese friends because she valued friend-
ships and patiently took the time to keep up her end of these relation-
ships. Her friends grew steadily over the years with each new class of 
students and her continuing contacts with them and their families.
18.  What about her travels?
 She was always excited about returning to Kansas. Once she took 
the Trans-Siberian trip home through Asia and Europe but never talked 
about it with us. Of course, she went to the mountains in the summer, 
and, once during her tenure here, she spent the summer of 1941 in China 
on a sight-seeing expedition.
Assuming the Mantle of Leadership
247
19.  How did she dress?
 She had a local dress maker prepare her clothes to order. She always 
wore the same color—deep wine red. She prided herself on her rather 
large, but colorful hats.
20.  How did she feel when she came back after the War?
 She was so very sad about the destruction of lives and property, 
especially the school buildings, which were pretty much destroyed. She 
had great sympathy for the people, especially the students, children, the 
old, women who had no utilities, especially heat and water, no clothing, 
food or shelter. She tried to help us all she could. But she was genuinely 
glad to see old friends and to share their pitiful experiences. She was 
never happier than when helping others in these basic needs, all the time 
bringing the good news of the Gospel to us who so desperately needed it. 
Dr. Hansen was deeply affected by our plight, and we were so happy to 
see her again. She was told how the government officials had torn from 
her office walls the class schedules which were in English and questioned 
her teaching assistant for twelve hours. Members of the panel recalled 
how Dr. Hansen organized a worship service and Christmas party for the 
children of the neighborhood in 1946. No one attending will ever forget 
the event. It was, according to the panel, a beloved American missionary 
reaching out to them in love and a spirit of reconciliation.
21.  Did she like Japanese paintings?
 Yes, but she liked all Japanese paintings but had no special favorites.
22.  Did she have favorite places to visit?
 Nikko for symphonies and Karuizawa for summer vacations. But 
deep down in her heart, there was only one number one place in the 
whole world: Logan, Kansas.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
248
23.  Any ideas on how she spent the summer vacation time?
 She was very active all the time with prearranged activities and with 
old and new friends, prominent Japanese figures, American visitors, 
fellow missionaries, and regular summer residents from across Japan. 
Tokyo shops and businesses opened temporary outlets at Karuizawa, 
and there were plays, concerts, and the other literary and artistic events. 
Of course, the cool, damp climate was exceedingly refreshing to those 
who otherwise would have been sweltering in hot, muggy weather at 
home. Dr. Hansen valued these summer intervals highly and eagerly 
looked forward to them.
24.  What stands out as most memorable to you personally about 
Dr. Hansen?
 “She gave me a jade ring, which I highly prize. She got it on her trip 
to China in 1941,” reported Sato, her teaching assistant.
25.  Did she have a favorite saying?
 All of us still quote her as saying that “Christmas can come a thou-
sand times, but if the heart is not prepared for receiving Christ it is of 
no value.” We understood the message.
26.  How will she be remembered?
 “If she had been a man, she could have been president of the 
United States.”
Chapter 6
War with Japan and Post-war Years
249
The Months before World War II
 Kate Hansen had long been an astute student of international affairs 
and worked hard to keep abreast of important news events. During the 
1930s she was painfully aware of the growing tensions among nations 
and the possibility of another world war.
 Throughout this decade the ominous clouds of war boiled up on 
several fronts around the world. Kate followed with great interest and 
apprehension the Japanese actions in China, including the occupation of 
Manchuria in 1931. Japan continued its depredations into China, seizing 
city after city from 1937 on. Only seven decades after welcoming Western 
technology, Japan’s rapid modernization had made possible that nation’s 
widespread imperialist ambitions in Asia.
 In November 1941, the Japanese military decided to inflict a crippling 
blow in a surprise attack against the United States and secretly moved its 
forces into position. The peaceful Pacific Ocean would become a bloody 
theater of war for the next four years.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
250
 In the following two letters, which Kate sent with trusted individuals 
to the United States to avoid the pre-war censorship of the Japanese mail 
system, she frankly describes conditions in Japan. She and Lydia Lindsey 
had hesitated to return to Japan after their last furlough because of the 
growing possibility of war, but they felt that they had made the right decision. 
In the first letter Kate astutely compares German and Japanese policies 
of aggression and the reasons for the German-Japanese alliance. She also 
describes the efforts to eliminate Christianity in Japan and the growing 
restrictions on churches’ support from abroad. As war with Japan seemed 
imminent, the Japanese people themselves met the missionary teachers with 
“extra courtesy and kindness.”
 In the second letter she describes the food shortages and their attempts 
at improvising substitutes for strictly rationed items. She considered these 
“minor matters.” Most important and troubling to her, however, was her 
lack of sympathy of the goals and practices of the Japanese government. She 
and Lydia were prepared to leave at a moment’s notice and had already 
shipped many boxes to Kansas City.
Sendai, Oct. 12, ’40
 Dear Mamma and Dane:—
 A chance presents itself of sending an uncensored letter, so here it 
is. We are carrying on as usual, but we do not know for how long. We 
are keeping in close touch with the Embassy, and shall do as we are told. 
If we should have to go tomorrow, I shall feel that we did right to come 
back when we did, for what we have been able to do for the school and 
our associates in that time.
 What has happened appears to be similar to the Hitler policy in 
Germany. The small clique who are running things aim at first domi-
nation of East Asia, then East and South Asia, and at last the world. In 
the first stages Hitler is useful to them. Hence the alliance. They have 
Nazi advisers from Germany to instruct them in methods of keeping the 
people in line. Many “new” things we recognize as old acquaintances 
from Germany. One thing that stands in their way is Christianity. While 
only one Japanese in 100 is an out-and-out Christian, the influence of 
War with Japan and Post-war Years
251
Christian ideas in this country is immense. You probably wouldn’t apply 
the term of “Christian” ideas to them—you’d call them just ordinary 
decent American ideas, and you’d be quite right, for that’s where our 
ordinary decent American ideas come from in the first place. So, there 
is a determined effort to eliminate Christianity, and to smash Christian 
institutions, but, all under the forms of law, and in as veiled a manner as 
possible, so as not to provoke opposition at home, nor retaliation abroad.
 The obvious course is first to say that no institution in Japan shall 
receive support from abroad. Our country does something on that order, 
with quite different motives and purpose of course. It hits hardest the 
Japanese churches in small places. In the cities they have long ceased 
to have any help from abroad, but the country ones are naturally not 
yet able to do that. The hard-pressed Japanese church is reorganizing 
to meet the new conditions, doing the best they can to keep things go-
ing. The Episcopalians have been the hardest hit, because that church 
came originally from England. In this district, only their Sendai church 
is entirely self-supporting. The others in the country and small towns 
are partly so, in varying degrees. Their ministers met a few days ago 
in Sendai and resolved to carry on, the young men without families 
dividing what little they have with the older ones with families, perhaps 
getting some outside work to help support themselves, but staying by 
their little churches and trying to keep them going. Our denomination, 
a union body, has many more fully self-supporting city churches, but it 
also has many more of the partially dependent ones in smaller places. 
The evolution to financial independence was going on gradually and in 
a healthy manner, several churches going to independence each year, 
as they grew in membership, and new places then being opened up with 
the funds from abroad which were thus released. The government will 
not permit them to receive these funds after this year, and they’ll have a 
hard time of course. The whole object, naturally, is to check the spread 
of Christianity. Whether it succeeds is up to the Japanese Christians 
themselves. Once before, some 300 or 400 years ago, they met the same 
kind of thing. Christianity was checked but not exterminated.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
252
 Christian schools have more leeway, because the country hasn’t 
enough schools to go around, and because the authorities would like to 
keep them and make them just secular schools. Hence the regulations 
issued late this summer, requiring all foreigners in positions of authority 
to resign, and requiring the schools to become self-supporting “as soon 
as possible.” Of course anyone who knows education knows that there 
is no such thing as a self-supporting college. High schools, by making 
their classes large enough and by paying their teachers little enough, 
are able to do it. But such high schools lose both their educational 
effectiveness and a large part of their Christian character, becoming 
low-grade secular schools, to all intents and purposes, which is exactly 
what the authorities want. Here again, however, the personal influence 
of strong teachers goes far to offset the other factors, and we think that 
it is worthwhile to keep the schools going, under whatever disadvantag-
es, if it can be done, until better times come. Foreigners are not barred 
from teaching and there are many Japanese Christian teachers with 
backbone, devoted to their tasks. Meanwhile, everyone we meet urges 
us to stay put and keep on—our colleagues here, Japanese educational 
and church leaders in Tokyo, our own alumnae singly and in groups. 
We’ve just spent four days in Tokyo, meeting individuals for confidential 
conferences, also a group of our prominent alumnae, who are working 
for the school. Unfortunately, in Japan women have few legal rights and 
can’t own property as a rule; hence the work they can do for the school 
is limited. Endowment is their main object.
 As far as our own living is concerned, we are going on as if nothing 
had happened. Everywhere we meet with extra courtesy and even 
kindness, it seems to us, from the strangers we meet. Our servants had 
the house in shining order from top to bottom, and everything runs 
like clock-work. Our cook is so skilled as a forager that we’ve not felt 
the food restrictions at all. Of course we brought things with us, but we 
have used only a little of the flour and sugar—our man gets it somehow 
for us. Our fuel for the winter was laid in for us. Electricity is rationed, 
but we seem to have enough. Taxis are very scarce, but we usually walk 
anyway, always have done so.
War with Japan and Post-war Years
253
 And in school, our students are extra nice to us, try to anticipate 
our wishes, nearly work their heads off in our classes. We know how 
ashamed they are of the actions of their government, by the way they 
keep coming around, in private, to apologize. Naturally, in a totalitarian 
country they don’t express any opinions in public. Neither do we. It isn’t 
necessary.
 The authorities would also like to confiscate foreigners’ property, we 
think—all under forms of law—but don’t go far for fear of retaliation on 
their own people abroad. Also, they’d love to get rid of us, but there are 
about ten times as many Japanese in America who then would promptly 
be sent out, probably, so nothing but indirect means can be used—unless 
of course they decide on war, which cancels everything, and in which 
case our Embassy would get us all out in double quick time.
 The one thing we notice on all the streets is the shabbiness of the 
people. As their clothes wear out, they can’t get new ones, except of the 
cheap grade rayon they call süfü, which won’t wash because it is more 
or less soluble in water. Men’s suits of it wrinkle at the first wearing and 
can’t be kept pressed. The government is trying hard to put the whole 
nation, men and women, into süfü uniforms, khaki or near-khaki-colored. 
So far, the women have held out against them, and not many men wear 
them yet. The country isn’t yet so totalitarian as Germany, you see. And 
there’s even a rumor that the titular ruler himself is opposed to the Ger-
man alliance. Nobody knows anything about that. However, there were 
absolutely no demonstrations of pleasure, like decorations or parades, 
when the thing was announced. One semi-official newspaper complained 
in an editorial about the lack of enthusiasm.
 If you get a box or a small trunk from San Francisco, open it and 
look things over, and keep them for us. Some things of mine I didn’t take 
home before, and some of L’s I wanted her to take home, will be in it if it 
comes. Just say in a letter, “I’m looking out for your property,” and don’t 
give any details. The friends who may bring it will send you the bill for 
expenses. This is merely a precaution, so was my taking home the other 
things.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
254
 I’ve written you freely, because I don’t want you to be worrying and 
imagining things to be worse than they are. No doubt you have all kinds 
of sensational things in the papers. Today we read that many American 
women and children are leaving Peking, which is quite natural. If the time 
comes when we must go, be sure we shall, but only when our Embassy 
advises it.
 With much love, K.
 Of course you must not acknowledge receipt of this, nor quote it in 
public.
Yokohama, Apr. 25, ’41
Dear Mamma and Dane:
 This morning I wrote you a letter to go on the Asama Maru tomorrow. 
Now I’m starting another, and you will guess how it came when you get 
it. Mainly, this uncensored one is just to let you know that there isn’t 
much that I haven’t been writing you right along—outside of newspaper 
news, of which you probably get more than we do. For our English daily 
has a censor on the job every minute of the time, so automatically we 
don’t believe anything in it, even if it is true! As far as our daily living is 
concerned, we have not lacked for anything we need. We still have about 
150 pounds of the flour we brought out, and some sugar and coffee. 
Those are the three things most strictly rationed. However, people who 
bake bread at home can get an extra allowance of flour. Sugar is pretty 
strict. We can still get considerable honey as a substitute, and jams and 
marmalade, some of them very good, are on the market. Coffee, so Lydia 
says, is entirely off the market, what is sold for coffee not being coffee at 
all. There is no chocolate. Butter is mixed with margarine, but tastes all 
right. We get good beef and plenty of it, good pork in smaller quantities, 
extra good eggs every day, every kind of fish, enough vegetables of 
different kinds—Tokyo has a potato famine, but not Sendai—and great 
quantities of fruit.
 We don’t need any new clothes, so are not troubled by the fact that 
the manufacture of woolen and cotton goods is forbidden, and that real 
War with Japan and Post-war Years
255
silk is almost off the market, everything being very poor quality of 
“süfü”—substitutes made of wood-pulp. Plenty of all these wool, silk, 
and cotton goods are made, but for export, to get money to spend on 
war materials. Also there is plenty of all kinds of food, including sugar, 
but the government tries to reserve everything exportable for export 
purposes, to get money for munitions. Every once in awhile a lot of goods 
intended for export gets thrown on the market—possibly because of 
some boycott on Japanese goods abroad, and then people eagerly buy 
it up. Powdered and canned milk is a case in point, being ordinarily sold 
only on special tickets, to people with babies. However, the last time we 
travelled up from Tokyo, we found the vendors at some stations selling 
great quantities of bottled milk, made, as we found from the taste, out 
of sweetened canned milk. (We get all the fresh milk we need in Sendai. 
Both Lydia and I drink it for breakfast, and we use a lot in cooking. We 
also get cream occasionally.) Of course, rice and flour and bread being 
rationed, one can’t buy any except in one’s own place. We can’t buy rolls 
or crackers in Yokohama for our lunch tomorrow—have to get our lunch 
from the hotel or on the train. But after all, these are minor matters.
 What really does matter, is being so utterly out of sympathy with 
every idea and aim of this government, and keeping still about it. So far, 
I think it is worth while, for the sake of keeping the school going until 
the new President can get here and get started. For reasons good and 
sufficient, it is impossible for him to come before June, possibly not for 
awhile longer. And it can’t be announced that he is coming. But we be-
lieve that he is the one who can and will save the school, as a Christian 
institution, if any one can do it, in the face of all the subtle persecution 
of Christianity, inspired by the Nazi Germans who are swarming all over 
the country, and are installed as “advisers” in all kinds of government 
bureaus and offices, and think up all kinds of things the Japanese them-
selves couldn’t think up.
 However, any time our Consulate says, “You can’t wait any longer, 
you must go,” we are prepared to leave at a minute’s notice. And any time 
the persecution of Christianity as a “foreign” religion reaches Sendai, 
and our school begins to suffer because of the presence of “foreign” 
teachers, we are prepared to go at once. So don’t be surprised to see 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
256
me or get a cable announcing my coming! On the other hand, there’s a 
rumor going the rounds here that what Matsuoka really went for, was 
to tell Hitler he wasn’t prepared to go to war with the U.S.A. It may be 
true—anything can be these days.
 Meanwhile, don’t worry about me. I’m in robust health, and getting 
along all right. I’m writing you every week, even if only a post-card, and 
trying to be discreet so that my letters will get through.
 With very much love,
 Kate
P.S. I hope our 15 boxes got to K.C. all right, and that the Consulate 
letter got them through without duty, as it was supposed to do. I think I 
asked you to leave them in bond in K.C. if they started at the Customs 
to charge a lot of duty. People sending personal effects and household 
goods home on the advice of the consulate and with a consular letter 
are not supposed to pay duty.
 Today a shop here, Nikko and Fuji, is mailing a package to Dane 
Gray in your care, Dane, containing a cloisonné vase as a graduating 
present. I wanted to send him something lasting, and this was the most 
beautiful thing I could find. It’s against the law to manufacture them 
now, and no Japanese are permitted to buy on [sic]—the “anti-luxury 
law”; but foreigners can do it, if they’re sending the things abroad. You 
can imagine the plight of the Yokohama shops that always catered to 
tourists!
 K.
P.S.2. Today I met a man who is to be depended on, who had just had 
an interview with our Ambassador, and the Ambassador said, “Things 
are looking a little better in U.S.A.-Japanese relations, although one can 
never tell what these militarists will do.”
 K.
War with Japan and Post-war Years
257
The Rush to Leave Japan
 In October 1941 the president of Miyagi College informed Kate and 
Lydia that if they wanted to be out of Japan before war broke out with 
the United States, they would have to leave immediately. There was no 
time to waste. The last of the three evacuation ships was scheduled to 
sail from Tokyo at 4:00 p.m. the next day. Friends and colleagues were 
called quickly, and they came to help in whatever way they could. Kate 
and Lydia worked throughout the night as they decided what to take with 
them and what to do with items left behind. They worked at a feverish 
pitch and decided to make a dash to Tokyo some 200 miles to the south. 
Kate and Lydia managed to get there on time and to board the ship to 
San Francisco via Hawaii.
 When they arrived in Hawaii, Lydia decided to disembark and stay 
there a few days. She would visit a friend who had taught at Miyagi Col-
lege after the 1923 earthquake and who was now married to a descendant 
of King Kamehameha. Kate continued on to San Francisco.
 Immediately on disembarkation, Kate telephoned her long-time 
friend and University of Kansas classmate Colonel Karl Baldwin, who was 
then the head of the Presidio of Monterey in San Francisco. She reported 
recent events and conversations to him. She told him everything the 
Miyagi College president had told her about war being imminent. Col. 
Baldwin immediately relayed the information to higher headquarters 
authorities. Kate continued her journey to Kansas by train. She reached 
Salina, Kansas, on November 28. Her plan called for attending her neph-
ew Dane G. Bales’s wedding to Polly Roth in Whitewater, Kansas, on 
November 29.
 In later years, Kate was disheartened by the knowledge that she 
had brought vital information to the attention of authorities more than 
a week before the fateful bombing of Pearl Harbor but that apparently 
nothing had been done about it.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
258
The War Years
 During the years of the Second World War, the Mission Board ex-
pected that the missionaries who returned to the United States would 
seek other employment. Most of the missionaries who remained in Japan 
during the early years of the war were placed under house arrest. Some 
were repatriated later.
 Although Kate had offers to work for the government during the war, 
she decided to remain at home in Logan. There she managed the family 
household and helped care for her aging mother and busy brother, Dane 
Hansen, a prominent Kansas businessman. She did travel occasionally 
within the region, at the request of the Mission Board, to make speeches 
at churches and to community organizations.
 During the war, Lydia Lindsey volunteered to teach at a “relocation 
camp.” There were ten such camps in the western deserts, where 120,000 
Japanese-Americans were interned after Pearl Harbor. She initially taught 
When Kate and Lydia hurriedly 
left Japan in fall 1941, Kate 
managed to reach Kansas in 
time to attend the wedding of 
her nephew, Dane G. Bales, to 
Polly Roth in Whitewater on 
November 29.
War with Japan and Post-war Years
259
eighth grade at the camp in Topez, Utah, for a year in 1943–44, and the 
following year she taught at Amache near Lamar, Colorado.
 One problem faced by the missionaries who returned to the United 
States was how to respond to requests for information about Japan—its 
geography, culture, and people. Some missionaries refused to cooperate 
with the government because they thought this would harm their rela-
tionship with the Japanese people and hinder their efforts when they 
returned after the war.
 Because Kate was an American with long years of service in Japan, 
American intelligence authorities contacted her in Logan. She provided 
the information that they requested, which included maps of Sendai and 
a 1913 photo guide to Matsushima.1
 In the war itself, one of Kate’s three nephews in the service was killed 
in a bomber crash. In the month before atom bombs were dropped on 
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, American B-29s fire-bombed Sendai. The cen-
ter of the town was destroyed and 9,000 people were killed. Incendiary 
1Letter to Kate Hansen from Lt. Commander O. C. Dewey, Naval Intelligence 
Service, January 3, 1943.
Kate Hansen (on the right) 
and L ydia Lindsey at 
the University of Kansas 
commencement, 1946. 
Throughout their lives, 
Kate and Lydia were well-
known for their trademark 
hats, without which they 
didn’t consider themselves 
well dressed. Although they 
brought some with them to 
Japan and some were sent 
by Kate’s mother, who was 
a milliner, Kate improvised 
others—from silk, “picture 
wire, book-binding, and 
the like.”
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
260
bombs destroyed Kate and Lydia’s home in Sendai, as well as seven of 
the nine Miyagi College buildings.
Return to Japan
 After World War II had ended and after her retirement at the age 
of sixty-seven, Kate answered the recall to active service in 1947. She 
labored for another four years as an effective volunteer in the recon-
struction and democratization of Japan under General MacArthur, the 
supreme commander of the Allied Powers. The Japanese were strug-
gling to pick up the pieces of their lives after the disastrous war. Kate 
and Lydia answered the call of their beloved Miyagi College to help in 
this difficult time. Kate would assist in the rehabilitation of the college’s 
Music Conservatory.
 Immediate concerns were food, clothing, shelter, heat, building 
materials, educational materials, and school equipment. Kate regarded 
this venture as an opportunity to check up on her life’s work, to see her 
friends again, and to serve in the manner of her original commission. 
She would see firsthand the reconstruction of war-torn Japan and help 
reestablish friendly relationships with former enemies, who were eager 
to welcome her back with open arms. This tour of duty would be filled 
with observations on how the Japanese people suffered and how the 
culture and infrastructure had fared during the last phase of the war. In 
many of her letters home, Kate reflected on her role as an ambassador 
to Japan, a peacemaker, and reconciler of wide differences among the 
peoples and cultures of America and Japan.
 The common people of Japan, including the young women students of 
Miyagi School and College, were cold and hungry with no heat for either 
their homes or classrooms, and very little to eat. Clothing—especially 
shoes, underclothes, coats, and blankets—was in extremely short supply. 
Meat and milk were almost impossible to obtain. Now she understood 
why occupation authorities had required the returning missionaries to 
bring with them, or arrange for receiving, enough food and clothes to last 
at least a year. They were also required to bring along a stove, although 
War with Japan and Post-war Years
261
fuel was almost impossible to procure. These items were simply not 
available to civilians in post-war Japan, especially to foreigners.
 Her letters home from 1947 to 1951 are filled with the reflections 
of a wise, seasoned observer, and they provide brief but vivid glimpses 
into her day-to-day life. During these post-war years, Kate had plenty to 
keep her busy. And at this stage of her life she was beginning to have 
some health problems, particularly with her eyes. The challenges she 
faced were different from and perhaps even greater than those of her 
first forty years of missionary experience.
Kate Hansen, January 1948.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
262
 This letter, which was the first that Kate wrote after returning to Japan 
after the Second World War had ended, describes the logistics of travel—
typically by Army jeep or military train. Their first dinner at the home of 
Japanese friends was a simple one—not like pre-war feasts. Despite the 
mud in the streets and the crowded conditions, Kate was clearly impressed 
with Japanese resilience and resourcefulness.
Sendai, July 3, ’47
We hope to get into our assigned house next week. Shall write about 
that later. K.
 Dear Folks All:—
 We are waiting to go to Army IX Corps Headquarters, hence this 
bit of writing. In general, many things are better than we had expected. 
We spent Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday with the Krietes at the largest 
Church World Service Headquarters, Wednesday leaving for Sendai 
on the Sendai Express that started running just that day. The Army 
undertakes to get us to our destination, so we, with “Boss” Ankeney, 
who had come to meet us, rode in state in a nice, clean Army coach, the 
only passengers all the way except for one G.I. who got on somewhere 
near Sendai. Monday had been taken up with a jeep trip to Yokohama 
to get our heavier baggage off the boat, and the Army had porters to do 
the manual work, while the agent of a transfer company did the book 
work. When we got to Sendai, our checked baggage, which “Boss” and 
Carl Kriete had taken to the Ueno (Tokyo) Station in the jeep trailer, 
Tuesday evening, had already arrived, and there was no charge for its 
transportation nor for our own tickets. It included four trunks and sev-
eral big suitcases. Our six largest trunks and other pieces are coming 
by freight from [Yokohama].
 Monday afternoon we were at a meeting of missionaries, teachers, 
chaplains, and others to hear Dr. Kagawa speak. (Went by jeep as usual) 
We saw many of our Tokyo friends, and the address was most informative. 
Monday evening we were out at a Japanese dinner—it was very simple, 
not at all like the pre-war elaborate spreads. Tuesday morning we spent 
War with Japan and Post-war Years
263
at the Civil Information and Education offices of the American High 
Command, meeting and talking with a number of the head men—and 
others—in various departments. Bishop Nichols’s eldest son Walter is 
in one department of this CI&E, and I had a pleasant private visit with 
him. Lydia, who had had a slight attack of lumbago, didn’t make all the 
rounds. Lloyd Faust and Jimmy Fesperman are in the G.H.Q. Building 
(MacArthur’s), but we had no business there this time, so did not take 
time to go in. We went also to the headquarters of the United (Protes-
tant) “Church of Christ in Japan,” the body with which we all cooperate, 
and met a number of the officers, and also the officers of the National 
Christian Education Association. Both seem to be decidedly “going con-
cerns.” Our first impression is that the Japanese people are showing the 
same spirit and recuperative power which made Tokyo and Yokohama 
recover so quickly after the Great Earthquake. The physical appearance 
of these two cities was very like what we saw on our first visit to them 
after that earthquake. Of course in many places the whole burned space 
is filled in with shacks, the cheapest and roughest construction possible. 
Other places which escaped the bombing look exactly as they did before 
the War. Some burned areas aren’t rebuilt at all. Tuesday afternoon, all 
afternoon, Bess Kriete had a little reception to which she had invited 
all the Miyagi College alumnae she could reach. Telephones are much 
scarcer than before the War; hence only a small percentage could be 
notified, and it simply poured rain all day, but fifty came. Bess thought 
they would come at different times, stay awhile, have refreshments, and 
go—but all of them stayed all afternoon! Many had not met since before 
the War, and they had a gorgeous time. The men of our house, coming 
in from down-town, said they could hear the noise for a couple of blocks!
 Tokyo streets are a sea of mud. People have to fight their way on to 
street-cars, and ride on platforms and steps. Our alumnae guests arrived 
with their white Japanese cloth socks all soaked in muddy water—but 
they all had brought extra pairs, and changed quickly in the entrance hall.
 The trains we saw on our way to Sendai were equally crowded—peo-
ple riding on car platforms—I saw, many times, 20 to 30 people on one 
platform and its steps. How they held on I don’t know, for the road-beds 
are terrible, and the trains jump like cars do on bad roads. Our special 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
264
coach, however, must have had extra good springs, for it went compar-
atively smoothly. A crowd of teachers and students met us.
 July 4. Spent the morning of the “Glorious Fourth” at school, where 
they had an entertainment, mostly plays, with a few musical numbers. 
They seem to have reverted to the customs of our earliest days in Japan, 
and want their programs to be 3 or 4 hours long! The Auditorium was 
untouched by the bombing, but the Japanese Army had confiscated all the 
ornamental iron work in it, as well as the whole heating plant. I think they 
did that in all the schools of Japan. The building was packed and jammed—
the school now has 1,700 students. The high school is now housed in six 
large, rough one-story barracks, and one large two-story wooden building 
of somewhat better construction. The college building houses the college 
work fairly well, and also the business offices. The music teachers had my 
old office in apple-pie order, decorated with bouquets of flowers.—Have 
had Japanese callers most of the afternoon. Must stop here. Love, Kate.
The chapel wing of Faust Hall, Miyagi College, summer 1947. Kate Hansen is in the fore-
ground. This was two years after the American bombing that destroyed seven of the nine 
Miyagi buildings.
War with Japan and Post-war Years
265
 Kate describes the recent organization of the Sendai branch of the Japa-
nese Association of University Women (J.A.U.W.) and the reorganization of 
the Japanese educational system along American lines. Then she recounts 
a trip on a rickety post-war local train to visit a Japanese family in the 
village of Hama-Yoshida. The ample dinner served by the doctor’s family on 
this occasion and the flourishing orchards in the vicinity contrasted starkly 
with the food shortages Kate and Lydia had witnessed after returning to 
Japan.
Sendai, Oct. 5, ’47
 Dear Folks!
 First, thank you, Dane, for the card from “Miss— or Mrs.— Smika” 
and your reply. The A.A.U.W. will be sending around for dues sometime 
in the spring, I think. Please pay them. I might as well keep up my mem-
bership.
 The Japanese women have recently organized a J.A.U.W. branch 
here in Sendai, and I am to be the speaker at about their third general 
meeting next month. That is another Japanese speech to get up, for 
they asked me to do it in Japanese, since many of the members don’t 
know much English. There are about half-a-dozen women’s colleges in 
Japan whose graduates are eligible for membership, Miyagi being one 
of them. Then there are a few women graduates of the Tohoku Imperial 
University, here in Sendai, which has for several decades been the only 
government university that granted degrees to women. I think there 
must be more, now. The whole educational system is being reorganized, 
from university to kindergarten, pretty much along American lines.
.  .  .  .  .
 I wish you folks had had some of our surplus rains in August and 
September, especially the latter. Ever since the typhoon, Sept. 15, it 
hasn’t been able to clear up for more than a day or so at a time. One of 
our Japanese teachers of music, who commutes from a town about two 
hours up the line, had her house flooded, and has been living in the 
second story ever since, because the constant rains keep the place from 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
266
drying out. They managed to get boxes or something to put the piano 
on, high enough to keep it above the flood water. Stairs in a Japanese 
house are too narrow and steep to carry a piano up them.
 Monday we—the Gerhards, Lydia and I—had an engagement to 
spend the day with one of our music graduates and her family, at Ha-
ma-Yoshida, an hour down the Seashore Line from Sendai. (“Down” 
meaning south.) We had had a couple of really fine, sunny days; but 
that morning dawned in a drizzling rain, like so many have done this 
fall. However, we knew they had made all their preparations, and we 
couldn’t get a telegram through, anyway, so we put on raincoats and 
rubbers—no boots for me this time!—and went. It was the first time I’d 
ridden on anything but an express train, and this one was most dilapi-
dated. I don’t believe there was one entire window in the coach. Many 
windows had just rough wooden shutters; most of the shutters had a 
pane of glass, around 3 by 6 inches, set into the wood. As it wasn’t cold, 
and the rain didn’t seem to come in, we had our windows open; but it 
must be like travelling in a dungeon, when they have to be closed. The 
seats were covered with what looked like gunny-sacking. At least it was 
pretty clean, and so was the car; and as this was a local train and started 
from Sendai, there wasn’t the terrible jam the through trains get. Nearly 
everyone had a seat. We got out at the village of Hama-Yoshida (literally 
Harbor-Yoshida, tho’ the sea is a couple of miles away) in a pouring rain, 
and were met by our hostess and our host, and by her sister and nephew 
from Sendai, who had come by the same train, in another of the 6 or 8 
coaches. It was only a couple of blocks to their house, a small, simple 
Japanese one, but newly built and spotlessly clean. And such a warm 
welcome as we got, made us forget the gloomy day. We had a really good 
time, all day.
 Our host is a doctor, who before the War had his own private hospital 
in Sendai, a lovely home, and a flourishing practice. Hospital and home 
were completely destroyed in the bombing of Sendai, and the family fled 
to this village, the doctor’s native place, and took refuge with his brother, 
a well-to-do farmer. The townspeople were so delighted to have a doctor 
there, for the first time in their lives, that they begged him to stay, and 
as he was unable to rebuild in Sendai, he stayed. The townspeople built 
War with Japan and Post-war Years
267
this house for him, and our hostess has made the simple place a very 
attractive home. He has a big district there, and rides a bicycle where 
there are good roads, or a horse when there is too much mud. He’d 
arranged to have the day off to entertain us, and was as friendly and 
interesting a host as you’d want to have. His wife had been one of my 
favorite students in the music course. Their fifteen-year-old daughter 
was at home, since Miyagi has its holiday on Monday, and their smallest 
boy, 11, in grade school at Watari, the next station, had gotten excused 
early. Another boy, 17, in school in Sendai, and a girl, 12, from Watari, 
got in during the afternoon. They were as nice a family group as you 
would see anywhere in America.
 We found that in Japan, as in America, “the farmer eats first,” and 
that includes the farmer’s brother and his family. It’s the only place 
we’ve been where we didn’t feel that we were taking food that the peo-
ple themselves were needing. They served us all the fruit we could eat, 
as soon as we got there—pears (Japanese ones), apples, and Concord 
grapes. Then we had a good Japanese dinner at noon, with rice, miso 
soup (Uncle Will’s “devil’s broth”), several vegetables, a meat stew, 
and—the first ones we’d had here—most delicious fresh broiled salmon, 
caught near Hama-Yoshida at the mouth of their river. In the afternoon 
the rain held up, and we all walked a mile or so, to one of the farms the 
elder brother operates. All along the road were one big apple or pear 
orchard, or bigger vineyard, after another, several of them belonging 
to relations. It seems the climate and soil of the Hama-Yoshida country 
are especially good for fruit, and this brother seems to be the one who 
has business ability and keeps things going. I wanted to find out how he 
makes out, with the new laws that limit the land one person can have, 
to less than ten acres,—in some places, to about six acres. It seems to 
me that the near-communists in our American government are going 
too far with their “decentralization” program. Some of the laws are too 
much like Russia. Anyway, these people seem to have a lot of flourishing 
fruit-raising going on. Incidentally, this hostess of ours is known all over 
that neighborhood as such a model wife and mother, that every girl 
from that family connection goes to Miyagi as a matter of course. They 
commute, leaving every morning at about 6:30 a.m.—It rained “cats and 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
268
dogs” as we walked back, but Lydia’s and my long raincoats kept us dry. 
Then we had another meal, or snack—fruit, and a lot of roasting-ears, 
with tea, before we started home, carrying baskets of grapes & c., with 
us. And none of us caught cold! Love, Kate.
 P.S. Dane, skip this!—You should see my morning-glories, all along 
our front fence. They were planted around the middle of July, came up in 
three days, and have been blossoming all thro’ September—red, white 
and blue, like mine at home. Only, the plants are like weeds, they’re so 
thrifty; they cover the whole fence, and pile up on the top; and there are 
literally hundreds of blossoms. People stop constantly to admire them.
 Our vegetable garden has given us several messes of Kentucky 
Wonders, three messes of sweet corn, radishes, lettuce, and chard, and 
our tomato plants have green tomatoes on them now. No frost yet at all. 
Our other flowers—nasturtiums, petunias, California poppies, haven’t 
amounted to anything but leaves. K.
War with Japan and Post-war Years
269
 Despite the refusal of the Japanese government to grant permits for 
buying building materials for churches, the Church World Service funded 
the purchase of twenty Quonset huts for use in Japanese cities that had 
suffered bomb damage. Kate details the ability of the Japanese to make the 
hut in Sendai look “not only churchly but pretty.” When the Japanese Army 
had requisitioned the former church during the war, resourceful Japanese 
Christians removed some of the pews and took the organ and pulpit to the 
minister’s home, where they continued to hold services. After the war, they 
restored these in the Quonset hut.
Sendai, Japan
Dec. 7, ’47
 Dear Folks All!
 We spent this afternoon from 2 to 5 at the dedication of the Quonset 
hut given by Church World Service for use as a church. They sent 20 
in all to Japanese cities that had been bombed. This service was long-
drawn-out, but more interesting than most things of the kind, because 
various speakers told of the history of the movement and of the various 
obstacles in Japan that had had to be overcome. The government will 
give no permits to buy building materials for churches nor, I think, for 
temples or shrines. These huts had to be furnished with foundations, 
the interiors finished to look like churches, etc. In all, according to the 
report of the Building Committee, it cost about ¥200,00000 to get this 
place in shape to use as a church—that’s $4,00000 at the official rate of 50 
to 1, and about $1,00000 at what our papers say is the present real value 
of the yen.
 The Department of Education has jurisdiction over the allocation of 
building materials to schools, and to buildings for religious purposes, 
and it at first refused to grant anything; but at last granted enough to 
put the 20 huts into shape, on 3 conditions:—that each church raise a 
minimum of ¥50,00000 for this purpose, that each church permit all other 
churches in the community to use its building, and that each church do 
some “social service” or charity work. There was of course no difficulty 
in Sendai about meeting these conditions.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
270
 The Quonset hut was a poor affair compared to the church it re-
placed, but the committee, with the artistic ability of the Japanese as 
a race, had managed to make it look not only churchly but pretty. The 
former church, built over 40 years ago, chiefly with funds collected 
by Dr. and Mrs. Schneder, was for years the “big church” of Sendai, a 
brick structure in good Gothic style, with carved pulpit and pew-ends. 
It was at least 4 times the size of the hut. I played the reed organ there 
for some ten years, and since then my “disciples,” as the Japanese call 
my old pupils, have been playing. One played today.
 The Japanese Army requisitioned the church during the War, and 
used it for some kind of Army school; but the church people managed 
to move out and hide part of their pews, and they took the organ and the 
pulpit to the minister’s house, where they continued to hold services—
sitting on the floor, Japanese fashion. The parsonage escaped the fire, 
though it wasn’t too far from the church. Evidently our bombers knew 
what places the Japanese Army was in, and bombed them, for the church 
was blown to bits, and before we got here, what remained of the brick 
walls was all taken away.
 It seemed queer to sit in one of those nice old pews, in front of the 
same old organ, to look up at the same carved pulpit, and then, instead of 
the stained-glass windows, to look out through small, clear glass ones that 
somehow reminded me of a ship, and to see, across the narrow street, 
an area of desolation, with not a building in sight, nor any living thing, 
except one white goat—very likely, a gift from Church World Service, 
which has sent a lot. And this was one of the main busy streets of Sendai. 
Rebuilding is “spotty”—some streets not at all, others quite far along. 
But most of the building is the most flimsy construction imaginable.
 Carl Kriete was up for the service, representing Church World Ser-
vice; he arrived this morning and leaves on the Army express tonight. 
As a representative of C.W.S. he is the only one of our group who can 
travel on Army expresses at night. Since the Army trains are the only 
ones with berths, the rest of us do our travelling by day!
 We went to an “evening-tea-party” Wednesday, to meet Mrs. Mar-
tin, wife of the new head of the Education Department of the American 
War with Japan and Post-war Years
271
Military Government of the six provinces of North Japan. This was over 
at Kawanchi, the “American town” across the river. Our hostess sent 
a jeep for us, and sent us home in jeeps, which was very pleasant. We 
think Mrs. Martin very superior to most of the women we’ve met. She’s 
beautiful, and she seems to have brains and character besides.
 Our long service seems to have made us sleepy, so here is “Good-
night.” I’m expecting letters from you about Thanksgiving etc.
 Love, Kate.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
272
 Kate keenly appreciated all things beautiful—especially music, litera-
ture, and nature. The following two excerpts of letters from the spring and 
fall of 1948 describe seasonal delights: cherry trees in full bloom in April 
and a host of other flowering fruit and ornamental trees; in the fall a pic-
ture-perfect thatched cottage by a brook, crops ready to harvest on upland 
farms, and strings of bright orange persimmons drying in the sun. Despite 
the memorable scenes of her worldwide travels, however, Kate never did 
see anything more beautiful than a Kansas sunset or wildflowers blooming 
on the prairies.
Sendai, Apr. 25, ’48
 Dear Folks!
 . . . I think our spring came earlier this year than yours, from your 
description. In Tokyo, the first of April, the cherries were in full bloom, as 
I think I wrote you then. In Sendai, the early cherries are just gone. They 
were much more pink than the Tokyo ones this year, for some reason 
or other. We have two very large old ones, of the Tokyo variety, in this 
yard, which were very full of bloom, that stayed on for two weeks or so. 
But we miss the ten varieties we had in our Junikencho garden! The man 
who bought that place evidently liked flowers, for he had all of our best 
trees and shrubs transplanted to his own place. The little double Sendai 
drooping cherries are just at their best today in this neighborhood. Then 
there are big camellia trees full of red blossoms, pear trees, magnolias, 
early spireas, quantities of narcissus, both the trumpet and the poeticus 
varieties, Japan flowering quince, red, white and “apple blossom” color, 
flowering almond, Old Country daisies and primroses, and so on. Last 
fall one of our teachers brought me about a hundred narcissus poeticus 
bulbs from her own garden, which I planted. They’re in full bloom now. 
Every caller we’ve had for the last couple of weeks, it seems to me, has 
bro’t flowers. O yes, we have big branches of flowering peach, from an 
old graduate who lives on the mountain across the river—red, white, 
and pale pink. Dane, I hope you have survived all this talk of flowers!
War with Japan and Post-war Years
273
En Route Sendai Tokyo
Nov. 8, ’48
 Dear Folks!
 We’re in the mountains, and just now we passed the prettiest pic-
ture—a swift little brook, between the greenest banks, in a little valley 
between wooded hills, and in the brook a primitive wooden water-wheel 
and a little thatched house—a mill of some kind, I suppose. It’s a day of 
brilliant sunshine, and it’s a succession of pictures. The rice country has 
shocks and long racks of rice, ready to be taken to the village or the mill 
for harvest. The upland farms have bright green winter wheat, or long 
rows of winter vegetables—winter radish, Chinese cabbage, spinach, 
carrots, onions and so on, all bright green, and here and there a row of 
bright yellow chrysanthemums, the kind they use for salads. Under the 
south eaves of the brown thatched farm-houses long strings of bright or-
ange colored peeled persimmons are drying in the sun. The persimmon 
trees have dropped their leaves, but fully half of them are still loaded 
with fruit, as big as apples, a conspicuous feature in the landscape. Up 
here in the hills there are brilliant red maples in the woods, along with 
the quieter colored deciduous trees and the dark evergreens.
 I have this car to myself most of the time, and am enjoying the soli-
tude as well as the scenery.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
274
 Kate describes a graduation recital—held in a train-stopping bliz-
zard—for her most important student. Despite the snowstorm, the Japanese 
audience filled the concert hall. Kate recounts the evening’s tribulations 
matter-of-factly. On this “hoodoo night” a man suffered an epileptic fit in 
the middle of the recital. Despite the weather and the unexpected outburst, 
the concert was a success.
Sendai, Mar. 9, ’49
 Dear Folks:—This is being started in a final examination, where the 
small class has no chance to cheat—I don’t think this class would want 
to, anyway. It’s a nice March day, after last week’s blizzard.
 Yes, we had our first blizzard last week, the kind that stopped trains, 
and so on. After a whole winter of spring-like weather, we got it at last. 
And the time just hit my most important graduating recital, Gyoko Seto’s, 
in the big auditorium, with no heat at all except a wood-burning stove 
on the stage. I was afraid nobody would come, but it takes more than a 
blizzard to keep the Sendai folks from a concert, and the big hall was 
well filled. We fixed a little place behind the stove for the performers 
with curtains arranged so that they could not be seen from the front, 
and there they didn’t get cold. The crowd warmed the hall!
 But it was a hoodoo night. In the first number, Gyoko played the 
Fantasie and the first part of the Fugue perfectly and then, in an easy 
place, she stumbled and had to repeat. She recovered, and went on 
perfectly as before but that had spoiled the piece for me. Then she did 
the brilliant concerto about the best she’s ever done it, and I thought 
my troubles were over.
 The third group began with a very slow, soft piece—by Dr. LaViolette, 
by the way. It was just ending, ppp, when from right below the stage there 
came the most unearthly howl, like a dog being killed! Several people, 
myself included, rushed to the place—the rest of the crowd sat perfectly 
still, and Gyoko went on playing as if nothing had happened. I saw it was 
not a dog, but a man in an epileptic fit with bloody foam coming from 
his mouth. Several men lifted him and carried him to the entrance. As 
War with Japan and Post-war Years
275
they left, I said quietly to Gyoko, who was standing by the piano, facing 
front, “He will be all right, I think. Go on with the next piece,” and she 
did, and never missed a note. A doctor in the audience had gone to the 
entrance too, and by the time Gyoko had finished that piece and I had 
gone to the entrance, the man had recovered and was sitting upright 
in a chair. It seems that he was subject to these fits. He told the Miyagi 
Japanese teacher who stayed out there with him that he would be able to 
walk home without any trouble. The few taxis in Sendai weren’t running 
because of the blizzard, so there was no other way to get anywhere but 
to walk.
 Well, Gyoko finished with the big Grieg Ballade, and did it very well, 
indeed. I was pretty jumpy and when a youngster fell off a seat in my 
neighborhood I was sure it was another epileptic! But the concert had 
been a great success, so everyone said. Gyoko broadcasts her Bach in 
a few minutes, but I probably can’t hear it, as my class is so slow they 
aren’t finishing their exam on time. . . .
 With much love,
 Kate.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
276
 In this letter Kate requests that her family ship discarded clothes to 
Japan to help alleviate the clothing shortage. In this normally law-abid-
ing nation, robberies became more frequent after the war, and shoes and 
overcoats were especially in demand. Teachers were warned to be vigilant 
about their possessions. Despite the hardships, the Japanese still turned out 
for musical events in great numbers. Kate describes attending a concert by 
Japan’s best organist—a special treat that was unfortunately cut short by 
an electricity stoppage.
Sendai, June 12, ’49
 Dear Folks!
 The rainy season was supposed to begin yesterday, but the morning 
was clear and bright, and it stayed that way all day. For a week before 
we had scarcely seen the sun, and Friday it had rained steadily all day. 
Our faculty had planned a picnic at Matsushima for Saturday. Friday 
afternoon, with the radio predicting rain for the next day, the faculty 
had called it off. Then Saturday—yesterday—morning was as perfect 
as this morning! Lydia and I were glad it was called off, for we had a 
pile of relief boxes from church folks that we hadn’t had time to open 
and to check. So we got that done. Dane, you asked if we could still 
make use of your old clothes. When you get around to cleaning out your 
room, get somebody to pack up all your discards and send them along. 
This year is not so bad as last year, but there is still plenty of need, for 
people in what we would call ordinary circumstances just can’t afford to 
get clothes, even if they weren’t rationed. Yesterday we had a call from 
the son of the minister who has one of our most active churches, in a 
suburb across the river from here. Their house had been entered and 
robbed—their overcoats, suits of clothes, shoes—just about all they had, 
had been taken. In one of our boxes was a good overcoat, which we shall 
give them. He said his younger sister, a senior in high school, had lost 
her shoes, which she’d just had patched so that she could wear them on 
her school excursion—the senior excursion that they look forward to, 
for the whole six high school years. A new pair would cost 2,500 yen. In 
War with Japan and Post-war Years
277
dollars that’s only $7ºº; but her father probably doesn’t get more than 
6,000 yen a month. Robberies are pretty frequent. Shoes and overcoats 
are most in demand. Japanese, you know, take off their shoes when they 
go into a building. At school, each person carries his or her shoes from 
the entrance to the office or classroom, where they are supposed to be 
guarded. This winter several teachers had overcoats stolen from offices 
or teachers’ rooms. Before the war, shoes were deposited in shoe-lock-
ers—without locks—at the door, and they were never stolen. But before 
the war, people had enough clothing to be comfortable. Now they don’t.
 Last night I went to an organ recital by the best organist in Japan, Mr. 
Kioka, whom I know quite well. It was under the auspices of a student 
organization, and was held in the North Japan College church, which 
has a good pipe-organ, secured years ago by Mrs. Schneder. The church 
seats about 1,200, and it was crowded mostly with young people, rather 
more boys than girls. He played a Toccata and Fugue by Bach, another 
Bach Fugue, and a lovely Bach Arioso, and that crowd fairly held its 
breath. Then he played one of Händel’s organ concertos, a little lighter 
than the Bach numbers, and then came the most exciting one for me, a 
big Chorale Fantasia by César Franck, which he did beautifully. I turned 
to my neighbor, one of our young Japanese teachers of English, and 
asked her whether she found the Franck harmonies strange. “No,” she 
said, “they’re different, but I like them.”
 I went to speak to Mr. Kioka during the intermission, and he said 
he had spent about two days trying to get the organ into shape, and it 
still wasn’t right. Then it was time to resume—and the lights went out. 
We still have these stoppages of electricity nearly every night. Only our 
houses which are still on Army wiring are exempt. We waited about half 
an hour. Finally both lights and power came on—the organ is electric—
and Mr. Kioka played an arrangement of several Schubert songs. I asked 
my neighbor if she knew them, and she looked surprised. “Why, yes,” 
she said, “everybody here knows these.” They do, too. Schubert’s songs 
were the first ones to go on sale after the war, I think.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
278
 Then the power went off, and stayed off more than a half-hour. I finally 
left, but very few Japanese had left. They stayed a long time after I left, 
but the power never came on again, and finally the concert managers 
gave it up. Otherwise, those boys and girls would probably have waited 
until morning! . . .
 With love, Kate.
The inside of Kate and Lydia’s “Bark House” (August 1950). Lydia is in the rocking chair, 
Kate is sitting on the window seat, and their cook Gonzaburo Sato is standing near the 
fireplace.
War with Japan and Post-war Years
279
 Kate and Lydia traveled to Nagasaki to see the effects of the second 
atomic bomb. In this letter, Kate recalls the history of Nagasaki, where 
the first Europeans settled 400 years ago. When these settlers were driven 
out and Christianity was prohibited 100 years later, only the Dutch (who 
were not Catholic) were allowed to have a small trading post on a harbor 
island. Kate describes the growing evidence of destruction as one journeyed 
toward the center of the bombed area. Then, “at the center itself, there is 
nothing—just an open plain.” Despite the horrendous destruction, she was 
surprised that so much of the city survived, with no worse damage.
Nagasaki, Japan
Mar. 30, ’50
 Dear Folks!
 This is the farthest point of our vacation trip, the old city which was 
the first one to have Europeans living in it, some 400 years ago, when 
Spanish and Portuguese priests came in, and it looked as tho’ Japan 
would become a Catholic nation. Then when the Japanese government 
got suspicious of the political intention of these priests—having seen the 
Philippines annexed by Spain—and drove them all out and prohibited 
Christianity, some 300 years ago, a man-made island in Nagasaki harbor, 
called Deshima, now part of the city, was the only loophole left open 
for anything European to get in. For they allowed the Dutch, who were 
not Catholics, to have a factory and a trading post there, and have a few 
ships come each year from Holland for trade. This went on until the 
1850’s, when Commodore Perry finally broke the embargo on foreign 
intercourse. It’s a very interesting place.
 But our main interest this time was to see firsthand the effect of the 
second atom bomb. We’ve all read about it. I was surprised that so much 
of the city survived, with no more damage.
 We’ve been staying at a brand new hotel, and taking most of our meals 
with friends at the Methodist junior college for girls, in Old Nagasaki, on 
a hill overlooking the whole long harbor. This hill is some 5 miles from 
the “bomb center,” where the bomb struck. It did not burn—nothing did 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
280
in that section. But in the main building, which is steel and concrete, the 
steel beams supporting the chapel roof were lifted off of their support-
ing posts, and then settled back, apparently unharmed. When builders 
examined the place, however, every one had settled off-center, so that 
the first severe earthquake could have shaken down the whole roof. 
And the steel window frames and their locks were all twisted a little, 
so that even now, after some three years of repair work, some of them 
won’t work. However, these people were lucky. As one gets nearer the 
center, there is more and more evidence of destruction. At the center 
itself, there is nothing—just an open plain, with hills along one edge, 
all with what look like landslides. This was a thickly built-up industrial 
section, and the hills were terraced with stone walls, and covered with 
fine homes and gardens.
 The Methodist boys’ school only some three-quarters of a mile away, 
also steel and concrete, could not burn. But the roof was twisted to piec-
es, and the upper story frame-work was so damaged that the walls fell 
in. They are able to use the two lower stories, and are rebuilding—they 
say it will cost about the same as a new building of the ordinary post-war 
frame and stucco construction. The huge Mitsubishi shipyards down the 
bay have been repaired in part, and are making things like refrigerators.
 We start home tomorrow, with friends as far as the hot-spring resort 
of Ungen, then by ourselves for the trip to Sendai, stopping overnight in 
Kumamoto and Tokyo, probably.
 Much love, Kate.
War with Japan and Post-war Years
281
 One of Kate’s most interesting letters describes an invitation to tea in 
Karuizawa with the elderly Japanese statesman Yukio Ozaki, who had 
served in the Japanese Parliament since the 1870s and was an outstanding 
Liberal leader of the opposition to the war with America. Ozaki recounts 
anecdotes about the American presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William 
Howard Taft and describes the parallel histories of the United States and 
Japan. He suggests that both nations must work together for world peace.
Karuizawa,
Aug. 18, ’50
 Dear Mamma and Dane:—
 . . . Day before yesterday, . . . we went in the afternoon to call on Mr. 
Yukio Ozaki, 91 years old, who is known here and in the U.S.A. for sev-
eral things—as the only member of Parliament who has served without 
a break since Parliament was organized, in the 1870’s; as the outstand-
ing Liberal leader who led the opposition to the war with America, and 
escaped being killed time after time, perhaps because of his age; and in 
America, as the man who gave the cherry trees to the city of Washington, 
when he was mayor of Tokyo, and who was invited to visit America this 
spring, and addressed both houses of Congress.
 Lydia and I had known his late wife, the authoress Theodora Yei 
Ozaki, in our early summers here, and had met him, but had not seen him 
since Mrs. Ozaki’s death some years ago. But on Monday, a rainy day, 
I had happened to meet his secretary at the entrance on the road to the 
Usui Pass, and had asked if Mr. Ozaki was in Karuizawa. The secretary 
insisted that I come in but I was in rain clothes, and said, “Later.” Next 
day he came with an invitation to us to name a day to come to tea.
 You would have enjoyed the winding road leading through the forest, 
along a brook, with all kinds of ferns carpeting the ground, a block or 
two to the house, set up against a mountain, with a pond in the clearing, 
made by the brook.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
282
 Mr. Ozaki received us in his simple reception room. He was dressed 
in a dark afternoon suit, and looked more than ever like an old-style 
English gentleman. He cannot see very well, he says; and can hear only 
with a hearing aid. I’d never tried to use one like this, and I couldn’t make 
him understand very well sometimes; but when he’d start on a topic he’d 
keep on and on, in excellent English.
 He told us that he felt that his whole political career had been a failure, 
when his party couldn’t prevent the war. “The best thing I ever did,” he 
said, “was to send the cherry trees to Washington. But I never dared to 
explain to my countrymen my reason for sending them. If I had, mobs 
would have been coming from every direction to kill me. I sent the trees 
as an expression of gratitude to President Theodore Roosevelt and the 
American people for saving Japan by mediating at the close of the war 
with Russia. I knew that Japan was exhausted, and at the end of her re-
sources, and could not have continued the war. But the Japanese Army 
had concealed the facts and made the people believe the Japanese were 
winning the war and would get much territory and a great indemnity. 
So when the treaty terms were announced there was rioting in Tokyo 
and almost a revolution. Now, at last, I can tell why I was so grateful to 
America and wished to express my gratitude; but I never could before.”
 I asked him if he had ever met Roosevelt personally, and he said, “No, 
but President Taft and his wife were both very kind to me when I met 
them. My old friends in America are all gone now. Taft’s son is a great 
man, I hear, but I did not see him this time. America and Japan must work 
together, for the peace of the world. America made a nation out of many 
different independent states. When Commodore Perry opened Japan, 
this country was not a nation, but 53 different feudal states, each with its 
own ruler. The Emperor and the Shogun were nothing but empty names. 
The influence of America helped us to become a nation.” Ambassador 
Grew, he said, had been one of the persons who had sponsored his visit 
to the U.S.A. this spring. Mr. Ozaki is still a leader in this country—an 
“elder statesman,” as they say here; I’m sure he would be a Republican 
if he were an American!
War with Japan and Post-war Years
283
 Yesterday, as Lydia and I were at lunch, here came the secretary 
with two cards signed by Mr. Ozaki, to thank us in his name for our visit 
and to apologize for Mr. Ozaki that he could not thank us in person, as 
his legs were not strong enough to permit him to climb our hill!
 I’ve written too long—but I’m sure it is all right. Much love, Kate.
Kate Hansen and Lydia Lindsey 
after a performance of “A Mid-
sum mer Night’s Dream” at Mi-
yagi College (1950). For many 
years Lydia had directed English 
language students at Miyagi in 
productions of Shakespeare’s 
plays.

285
Home Life and Activities—By Polly Roth Bales
 Aunt Kate loved her family and her home! Her family roots ran deep 
and her family was precious to her. She was delighted with families and 
at times I suspected she had a touch of envy for some of the large, happy 
families she knew well.
 As a foreign missionary, her year-long furloughs at five-year intervals 
made the year at home special for her. Although her home in Logan was 
remodeled shortly after she left for Japan, the house where she had lived 
from when she was five years old until her death was filled with warm, 
happy memories of the family together.
 Kate was an inveterate letter writer and spent many hours of her 
days in writing. From the lined tablets that she often used we discovered 
that sometimes she wrote a letter and then recopied it, all in longhand. 
Kate did her writing at a small Queen Anne table in front of her upstairs 
bedroom window overlooking the side yard with its many lilacs and a 
beautiful catalpa tree, or she wrote at a small table in the music room 
overlooking the front yard and flower beds. She kept close ties with the 
Hansen family members in Denmark with whom she lived in 1893–1894, 
when Peter Hansen took his wife and four children to his native land. 
She corresponded regularly with the Mission Board of the Evangelical 
and Reformed Church. In her retirement, she also had extensive cor-
Chapter 7
Going Home
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
286
respondence with colleges and universities, helping place her former 
Japanese students for graduate study in the United States.
 Perhaps the most sizable correspondence was with her long-time 
friend and companion Lydia Lindsey. The exchange of letters between 
Aunt Kate and Aunt Lydia chronicles a “warm and lasting friendship 
between these two women, from the time they were in KU together until 
Miss Hansen’s death in 1968. The volume is remarkable in that most 
of the time they were together, at KU, in their work at Miyagi College, 
Sendai, Japan, and in their retirement years at Logan, Kansas. Any time 
they were separated, even for short periods, the flow of letters was in-
cessant.”1
 These letters often detailed descriptions: what they observed from 
the window of a bus, wild flowers, trees, flowers in yards, sunrises or 
sunsets, the weather, the people they met or visited with, their lectures 
and meetings, and dinners.
 Throughout the years, Kate Hansen kept in touch with her friends 
in the high school class of 18962 with notes and cards. She shared her 
experiences in her work and her travels, and always managed a personal 
visit in the home of a dear friend, Ruth Hill Green. She and Ruth, who was 
not a world traveler but read widely, shared philosophies and attitudes. 
Kate remembered the anniversary of their high school graduation with 
a letter to this friend. And every year at New Year’s she wrote long letter 
to Ruth.3
 Kate had a black loose-leaf notebook that she kept in Logan. On 
furloughs, she would record family history and family happenings, 
newspaper clippings, and extensive family trees.
1Archivist Thomas Ryther’s comment on the Kate Ingeborg Hansen papers, Uni-
versity of Kansas Archives.
2Because Logan did not as yet have a high school, Aunt Kate went to Beloit to live 
with her aunt, Kate Troup Cookingham, who ran a millinery store.
3Kate’s friendship with Ruth was her “longest and dearest” friendship, which con-
tinued until Ruth’s death. Ruth’s daughter Bernice Ingeborg Green Keeler was Aunt 
Kate’s namesake.
Going Home
287
 Mail time was almost a ritual. The mail left Logan at 4 p.m. by train 
or truck. Unless the weather was unusually severe, such as with ice 
(not rain—they were used to that), Kate and Lydia donned their hats, 
gathered up their letters, and if rainy or hot, their umbrellas, and took 
their mail to the post office or across the street to the office. On some 
occasions, they walked the block to the railroad station to mail their let-
ters on the train. People in Logan who were young when Aunt Kate and 
Aunt Lydia lived here remember them as two little ladies who walked 
a lot and always wore hats and sometimes carried umbrellas. Neither 
ever drove a car, so walking was a life-long habit. Dane Bales recalls the 
time she hiked fourteen miles with him to help him earn a Boy Scout 
badge. In their forty-four years in Japan, Kate and Lydia walked many, 
many miles with great enjoyment. Aunt Kate remarked that traveling in 
cars kept one from seeing things like wildflowers along the road.
 Family legend has it that asthmatic Peter Hansen was often unable 
to sleep lying down, so he would get up and take baby Katie with him. 
He would hold her as he rocked and read until morning. Could this be 
where she acquired her avid reading habit?
 After Aunt Kate’s death, we disposed of an estimated 4,000 books 
and every National Geographic magazine from 1917 on.4 In her youth 
Kate had a habit of numbering each of her books, and many of those 
also were notated “wanted.”
 The Bible was her primary reading material. She also read and reread 
Albert Schweitzer’s book on the life of J. S. Bach. She requested that 
book even when she was hospitalized during her final illness. She and 
Aunt Lydia enjoyed and often reread the series of Jalna books by Mazo 
De LaRoche. Aunt Kate loved the concept of families, others as well as 
her own, and the Jalna books about a big family held particular interest 
for her. She belonged to the Book-of-the-Month Club and accepted and 
read every book it sent.
4Suitable books were given to the Logan Library, the Logan High School and Junior 
High, and the University of Kansas Library. All of the National Geographic magazines 
were bound and given to Fort Hays State University.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
288
 Aunt Kate and Aunt Lydia delighted in giving each other books for 
birthdays, Christmas, and on special occasions. They also gave books 
as gifts to our family and to Uncle Dane and Grandma Hansen. For her 
birthday in 1926, Alpha Florence and husband, Elles Bales, gave Aunt 
Kate The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. She used many of these 
poems in her compositions of art songs.
 Both Aunt Kate and Aunt Lydia spent their spare time reading—
some days many hours. Among the daily newspapers they read were 
the Kansas City Star, the Kansas City Times, the Topeka Daily Capital, 
the Salina Journal, and the Norton Daily Telegram. They also enjoyed 
the Saturday Evening Post and the National Geographic.
 Aunt Kate played the piano several hours each day. Neighbors 
commented that it was a joy for them to hear her music wafting from 
the Hansen house when Kate was home, especially in summer with the 
windows open in the music room. When Dane was away, she practiced 
in the mornings; when he was at home, sleeping until noon and working 
until after midnight, she practiced either in the afternoon and/or at night.
 The Hansens were a musical family. Alpha Florence and George 
did vocal solos, and the family and friends had “song fests” around the 
piano. Aunt Kate also gave piano lessons when she was at home on her 
first few furloughs.
 A highlight of her week was listening to the weekly broadcast from 
New York City of the Metropolitan Opera, which she supported finan-
cially.
 During her retirement, Aunt Kate and I enjoyed “doing music” togeth-
er. She accompanied my vocal selections, which often were the songs she 
had composed. We also had fun playing organ-piano duets. We played a 
number when the Christian Church dedicated the Hammond organ that 
Uncle Dane gave to the church. Among her favorite organ-piano duets 
were J. S. Bach’s “Sheep May Safely Graze” and “Fountains of Rome” 
by Respighi.
 I was the church organist when Uncle Dane gave the Methodist 
Church a Concert-Model Hammond organ in 1952. Aunt Kate looked 
Going Home
289
for high-quality organ music for me to use, pouring over catalogs, and 
visiting music stores in the cities.
 Aunt Kate and Aunt Lydia were always delighted to attend music 
programs given by the public schools, especially when great-nephew D. 
G. Bales, Jr., was performing. They also enjoyed the programs given by 
the Sunday school children. Kate was especially pleased when a talented 
piano student would come to her for a critique of his/her playing.
 Aunt Kate had more free time when she was at home than some in-
dividuals might have had because the Hansens always had “hired girls” 
to do the housework and cooking. “Ma”5 was active in the Hansen store, 
which they owned from 1900 to 1932. Aunt Kate did not particularly like 
to cook. With household help also in Japan, she had no reason to spend 
her time cooking. Aunt Lydia supervised the cooking and housework, 
while Aunt Kate supervised the yard work and gardening, an arrange-
ment that worked well for them.
 But Aunt Kate relished having the family for dinner, and those times 
together were special. Birthdays and holidays were always celebrated 
with family dinners—either at their house or at ours. Sometimes she 
would use her special set of Royal Doulton Dickens Ware made in En-
gland. This was designed by Noke and is part of the permanent exhibit at 
the Dane G. Hansen Memorial Museum. Each plate features a different 
character from the writings of Charles Dickens: Cap’n Cuttle, Bill Sykes, 
Sam Weller, Tony Weller, Mr. Micawber, and Fat Boy. Uncle Dane always 
carved the turkey or the roast with great dexterity and served the plates 
graciously. We delighted to see who got the “Fat Boy” plate!
 The dining room at the Hansen house, which was at the center of the 
family’s social life, was a “conservatory” with growing plants in profu-
sion—giving a garden setting with two walls and the roof glass. So even 
in winter, Aunt Kate usually could find a blossom to put in her favorite 
cut-glass crystal vase for the table centerpiece. The dining table was 
always covered with beautifully ironed, white linen cloths with 24-inch-
5The grandchildren’s name for Mrs. Peter (Alpha Ama) Hansen, mother of Aunt 
Kate.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
290
square monogrammed linen napkins. They used a set of exquisitely 
designed Japanese red lacquer napkin rings that were a sharp contrast 
to the stark white linens.
 To accommodate Uncle Dane’s unusual work-sleep schedule, the 
family scheduled brunch at about 12:30 p.m. and dinner at about 7 p.m. 
Aunt Kate and Aunt Lydia were up early, however, and had breakfast 
around the kitchen table. It was a time of mutual enjoyment when our 
son, D. G. Bales, Jr., was old enough to run across the driveway to their 
back door and have breakfast with them. They taught him to read from 
the cereal boxes! The kitchen table, made of solid walnut and purchased 
by Peter and Alpha Hansen at the time of their marriage in 1878, was 
located in front of the window overlooking their back yard, and their 
breakfasts were enhanced with watching the many squirrels and birds 
that lived in the trees and lilacs just outside that window.
 We ate our meals a little earlier than the Hansens did, so several times 
a week, one, or all three of us, would drop in and visit around the table. 
They welcomed us warmly. These occasions, along with the dinners at 
our home, were always filled with spirited and interesting conversation, 
One of the great pleasures of Kate’s retirement years was the time spent with her great-nephew 
and next-door neighbor D. G. Bales, Jr.
Going Home
291
usually centering around current state, national, and international events 
and politics. Meals were never hurried and they were the principal times 
we all got together, for Uncle Dane spent his evenings at the office.
 Because Aunt Kate had many foreign colleagues and friends, there 
were numerous out-of-town and out-of-country guests. Dane and I nor-
mally invited them to spend the night at our home, but dinners were 
divided between the Hansens and us.
 When University of Kansas Chancellor Franklin Murphy, who was 
a friend of Uncle Dane, was in our area to deliver a high school com-
mencement address, Uncle Dane invited him to come to Logan. The 
chancellor and the Hansens had lunch at our home. Aunt Kate spent 
almost as much time picking her flowers, selecting the proper vase, and 
then arranging them for our table centerpiece as I did in setting the table 
and preparing the food. It was a delightful occasion for all of us!
 Tea, made the Japanese way, was Aunt Kate’s responsibility at din-
ners in our home. It seemed to take almost as much of the kitchen, the 
dishes, and the stove to make one pot of tea as it did for me to get an 
entire meal ready. But the tea was delicious!
 Every Sunday evening, many Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners, 
birthdays, and special days found “Ma”—during the years she was able—
and Uncle Dane, Aunt Kate, and Aunt Lydia at our home for dinner. All 
were enthusiastic eaters with no diet problems, so it was an enjoyable 
challenge to plan and prepare delicious food for them. Aunt Kate did not 
like onions. Although they didn’t upset her in any way, I think she just 
didn’t like to bite into a crunchy piece of onion. So I began grating the 
onion used in preparing foods, and she thought they were delicious. I 
finally told her that I put at least a little onion into everything I made, 
except vanilla ice cream!
 The Hansens and Bales very much enjoyed having family for dinner, 
and times spent around the table were always special in our families. 
Meals were never hurried and we all enjoyed so many things of interest 
that Uncle Dane brought into the conversation. It was a warm, fun time 
with spirited conversation—it certainly sharpened my cooking skills for 
they loved good food! Often when I just fixed food, I wanted to share with 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
292
them! Aunt Kate often remarked that she so much enjoyed watching me 
working in the kitchen, and she was an enthusiastic good eater.
 When I speak of “they” it was Uncle Dane, Aunt Kate, and Aunt 
Lydia—and then it was Dane, D. G., and me.
 When the Bales were away on vacation, after Uncle Dane died and 
Aunt Kate and Aunt Lydia had difficulty finding a cook, cousins Abe and 
Frances Troup from Dunedin, Florida, came to visit. I don’t recall the 
details of the dinner anymore, but I guess it was mostly disastrous as 
the two ladies tried to get a meal together!
 Bernice Keeler remembers another memorable meal: “One time at 
my mother’s [Kate and Lydia] prepared a Japanese meal for our family. 
It was an occasion, truly, from the welcome to the farewell. The father 
and son never experienced such prestige. They were instructed to eat 
noisily and observe other Japanese customs. I remember well how agile 
both Kate and Lydia were in bowing and the deference they exhibited.”6
 The Hansen family members were active in the Masonic Order and 
the Order of the Eastern Star. Kate regularly attended the Star meetings 
and participated in its activities when possible while at home on furlough 
and after her retirement.
 Throughout her life, Aunt Kate enjoyed sporting events. During 
World War II, Aunt Kate visited us in O’Fallon, Illinois, where Dane 
was stationed with a small training detachment. She was on one of her 
speaking tours. We took her to Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis for the first 
game of the regular season of the St. Louis “Brownies,” who had won 
the pennant the previous year. She was excited about going with us in 
an army staff car and enjoyed the game.
 On several occasions Kate and Lydia went to see KU football games. 
Bernice Keeler remembers one game in particular: “One time when they 
came to Kansas City, they had tickets to take my husband and me to 
a KU football game. We sat in the stadium in a bone-chilling snow and 
6This and the subsequent reminiscences about Kate’s friendship with Ruth Green are 
from an undated personal communication to Polly Bales from Bernice I. Green Keeler.
Going Home
293
rain, wrapped in rain coats and ponchos. At the half, we suggested they 
might like to leave. Such an idea had never occurred to either of them, 
and we stayed until the final, very damp whistle! The next day they were 
ready to go on another expedition!”
 Aunt Kate had a delightful sense of humor. She combined that with 
her creativity to have a party for Ruth Green, her treasured classmate 
from high school in Beloit. Bernice Keeler recounts the occasion:
 A week or so before my parents’ wedding in August, Kate, as promoter, 
and several of the high school class of 1896 invited my parents to an afternoon 
in a nearby park in Beloit.
 My parents walked in the entrance to find everything was decorated with 
GREEN crepe paper—the lower tree branches, streamers on benches, and 
even a very small elevation of ground.
 Even the food and drink had green tones. There was a sign on that VERY 
SMALL elevation, but I doubt it was that obvious, in their “When the HILL 
turns GREEN” party!
 Through the years in recounting this story, we three daughters were really 
impressed with the clever idea.
 So in 1943, when my sister Elizabeth was married, and Aunt Kate came to 
play the piano for the ceremony her gifts of various-sized green bowls for each 
woman in the family, and a large green bath towel for our father, meant more 
than “just presents.”
 My sister’s wedding dress was fashioned of 18-inch-wide cream brocade—
custom made and one-of-a-kind, of course. She sent pieces of beautiful fabric 
and lovely kimonos to me, her namesake, and to members of my family.
 Another example of Aunt Kate’s creativity was revealed when she 
told Bernice Keeler that she instructed her dressmaker to put the spe-
cial trimmings on the back of the gowns she wore for her piano recitals, 
because the back was more in evidence to her audience than the front.
 Aunt Kate and Aunt Lydia regularly attended commencement activi-
ties at the University of Kansas each year. Both were given their fifty-year 
pins. They stayed in Lawrence with Caryl and Mary Dodds. Caryl was 
a KU classmate of theirs and they were lifelong friends.
 In 1960–61, the Logan Women’s Club compiled Logan’s history for 
Kansas’s one-hundredth birthday. Ten women in the club who were 
born during Logan’s early days contributed much firsthand information 
from their own lives and from hearing their parents relate incidents from 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
294
their lives. Even when overseas, Aunt Kate made many contributions to 
that history because of her keen interest in Logan and its people. With 
that fine beginning, the history of Logan has been continually updated. 
Also, the Logan Republican was microfilmed as well as cataloged, giving 
Logan one of the most completely documented histories in Kansas.
 To commemorate Kansas’ centennial in 1961, the Kansas Women’s 
Republican Club held a pageant “A Century of Kansas Womanhood.” 
Both Aunt Kate and Aunt Lydia were part of that pageant, and I played 
the musical accompaniments for this program held in Topeka.
 Aunt Kate and Aunt Lydia were active members in Logan’s Women’s 
Club, which sponsored the city library. Meetings were held in members’ 
homes twice a month. The local newspaper recounted one meeting in 
which Kate and Lydia showed exquisite Japanese fabric and housewares, 
many of which had been given to them as gifts:
 “Treasures from Japan” was the title of the very interesting program given 
by Miss Lydia Lindsey and Miss Kate Hansen at Women’s Club last Thursday at 
the home of Mrs. Dane Bales. In an artistically-arranged setting of many lovely 
Japanese items, which were given to them as gifts during the nearly fifty years 
since they first went to Japan, Miss Lindsey and Miss Hansen first told briefly 
of their work in Miyagi College in Sendai, Japan. Treasures which were shown 
included exquisite tea sets, very old, hand-painted china bowls; cloisonne vas-
es; many lacquer items such as bowls, trays Saki sets, candle sticks, trays and 
dishes. They displayed many rolls of fabrics, either pure silk or the rich-colored 
silk brocades for making obi. Also displayed were various kimono and short, 
padded haori,7 all made of beautiful silk, and one with hand embroidery. Mrs. 
Harmon Luthi was dressed in a Japanese costume of kimono and obi.
 Miss Hansen and Miss Lindsey each wore the coveted decoration of the 
Fourth Order of the Sacred Treasure given by the Emperor of Japan in recog-
nition of their work with Japanese women.
 Several women who assisted with the serving of refreshments wore Japa-
nese wraps called haori. The serving committee of Miss Hansen, Miss Lindsey, 
Mrs. Leland Baird and Mrs. Sumner Suhr served Green Tea and assorted 
Japanese Tea Cakes and candy to about 35 members and guests.
 Each person was presented with a pair of chopsticks for favors. The hostess 
prize of a wooden Japanese doll was won by Mrs. Lloyd Becker. The account 
of the business meeting followed.8
7A padded short kimono.
8From The Logan Republican, February 14, 1963.
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295
 Morning “coffees” were popular in the 1960s. The hostess would 
prepare breakfast breads or sweet rolls and invite friends in to eat and 
visit. These were sometimes held for special occasions, such as birthdays 
or wedding anniversaries, Valentine’s Day, or other special holidays. Aunt 
Kate and Aunt Lydia were often among those invited, and they enjoyed 
attending.
 Aunt Kate loved flowers! Her mother had as many growing plants in 
their conservatory-dining room as space would accommodate, and the 
family always had flower gardens during growing seasons. Her Danish 
father was accustomed to woods, and he planted trees in profusion.
 When she was a student at the University of Kansas, Aunt Kate 
studied Kansas wildflowers under Professor William Chase Stevens, 
who was a botanist and one of the University’s most popular teachers. 
She and Aunt Lydia were knowledgable about wildflowers and enjoyed 
them throughout their lives.
 The area around Logan Lake is one of the finest pieces of unbroken 
prairie in this area, according to Dr. Gerald Tomanek of Fort Hays State 
University. Aunt Kate and Aunt Lydia were delighted whenever we took 
them for a drive to the lake, and they always came home with what they 
termed the “night-blooming cerius,” which grows in the shale banks and 
blossoms only at night.
 The neighbors were accustomed to seeing Aunt Kate on her early 
morning walks around the gardens and flowers. Dr. and Mrs. A. E. 
Cooper, the Hansen’s doctor, lived next door. Dr. Cooper wrote: “We 
enjoyed little visits when we were both out in the yard. The original 
Hansen home was such a beautiful, rambling old structure. And the yard 
was nicely landscaped with many trees and beds of flowers. Kate did 
relish her strolls in this yard. When the yardman came for his regular 
workdays, she carefully supervised all of his efforts—particularly he 
was not to mow the grass in the spring until the grass had produced its 
seed, which would enhance a more luxuriant growth.”9
9Letter from Dr. A.E. Cooper. No date.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
296
 Memorial Day was a special day for the Hansen family. They placed 
flowers on seven graves, and it was important to them for these flowers 
to come “from the home place.” They always made their own spray-type 
arrangements, getting up early and working diligently to finish in time 
to get them placed on the graves before the 2 p.m. service sponsored 
by Logan’s American Legion and Legion Auxiliary.
 As an immigrant who adopted the United States as his country, Pe-
ter Hansen instilled in his children early the love of patriotism for both 
Kansas and the United States. The Hansen family was very patriotic. 
They would fly the American flag from their porch for suitable holidays, 
and they always praised their state and country. Family members were 
very much a part of the political process.
 Members of the family were proud to say that they were from Kansas, 
and each had his or her own reasons for the love felt for the state. The 
loyalty the family felt for Kansas was expressed in the will of the late 
Dane Hansen, who specified that his estate should be used first to help 
Logan, then northwest Kansas, and then the state of Kansas.
 Aunt Kate returned home in 1951 when her mother became ill, 
leaving Aunt Lydia in Japan to oversee the packing and to participate in 
the farewells. Although Aunt Kate’s ninety-two-year-old mother, Alpha, 
partially recovered from that illness, she was not able to assume her 
previous obligations. Therefore, Aunt Kate assumed her mother’s role 
in the family.
 Kate supervised the hired women and the care of her mother and 
also the yard man. He swept the sidewalks daily, picked up the grocery 
order at the store, and ran occasional errands. In early spring the yard 
and garden work began, and work was done according to Kate’s specific 
plans and under her close supervision.
 Bernice Keeler commented: “When her mother was bedfast and 
could not ever take over the management of the household again, Kate, 
in filial devotion, refused to change the outdated equipment of the kitchen 
for more efficient, less cumbersome appliances.”
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297
 Kate was a devoted daughter, giving her mother undivided care 
through her last years. Alpha had requested that she not have to go to a 
hospital, so Emma Damewood, who was the Hansen’s housekeeper and 
cook, also helped care for Alpha. Annie Hutchinson and Minnie Kemper 
were also hired to help. These women helped give Alpha round-the-clock 
care. Aunt Kate spent much time at her mother’s bedside, conversing 
with her when possible, reading to her, playing the piano for her, always 
trying to draw out family history, and providing music for her enjoyment. 
She also had fresh flowers in her room when available. Alpha died at her 
home in 1957 at the age of ninety-nine.
 At about that same time that Alpha became ill, Uncle Dane suggest-
ed that they buy all new furniture for the living room and dining room. 
Aunt Kate made numerous trips to Kansas City to select furniture, but 
none was ever purchased. I think two things were involved: first, in her 
heart, she really didn’t want to get rid of the old furniture, and second, 
she was fearful of selecting furniture that Uncle Dane wouldn’t approve.
 The old dining-room door with its double panes of etched glass had 
become inoperable, and Uncle Dane made arrangements to have a new 
one installed. I remember Aunt Kate commenting, “Oh, I know George 
will really miss that old door when he comes home.”
 Although she limited her speaking tours while her mother was ill, 
Aunt Kate, along with Aunt Lydia, was always “on call” for speaking 
engagements at churches across the United States. Aunt Kate often re-
marked that when she was the guest speaker, the local minister planned 
so many “extras” because she was coming that there was little time left 
for her to tell about their work in Japan. She also observed that every 
hostess cooked her best, most elaborate meal, and that she suffered 
from overeating rather than offend a gracious hostess.
 When going on trips, Aunt Kate and Aunt Lydia usually left from 
Phillipsburg on the “Rocket” or by bus. If they were traveling by bus, 
they arranged for the Phillipsburg taxi to pick them up in time for them 
to purchase their tickets to be on the bus by about 7 a.m. They got up 
at 4:30 to have breakfast and to be ready to leave.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
298
 Evidence of Aunt Kate’s great sense of history begins with the 
detailed diary she kept as an eleven-year-old on the family trip by cov-
ered wagon to Denver and the diary she kept when the family lived in 
Denmark for a year, when she was fourteen years old. She was an avid 
historian.
Recognition and Reflection
 After Kate’s retirement, honors were heaped upon her by friends, 
students, the Japanese government, the University of Kansas, and her 
family. In May 1955—fifty years after Kate’s graduation—her alma mater, 
the University of Kansas, conferred on both her and Lydia Lindsey its 
Citation for Distinguished Service. Kate’s citation noted the esteem that 
fellow students and classmates felt for her.10
 Those who knew her best, can best appreciate the true depth and earnest-
ness her life and work. With these discerning, prophetic words the Jayhawker 
editors of 1905 described Dr. Kate I. Hansen, a woman who would one day 
become a recognized teacher and esteemed missionary. After her A.B. degree 
and a bachelor of Music in 1913, she won her Doctor of Music degree from the 
Chicago Musical College in 1930. With Miss Lindsey she has circled the globe 
twice braving strange and dangerous circumstances in the journeys, catching 
the last ship out of Japan before Pearl Harbor, returning as soon as permission 
was granted, to resume work.
 Kate I. Hansen, graduate in Arts in 1905, and in Music in 1913, is hereby 
awarded the Citation for Distinguished Service by The University of Kansas 
and its Alumni Association. Her career, motivated by her daring pioneer spirit, 
embraces forty-four years as a teacher, dean, and twice acting president of 
Miyagi College in Sendai, Japan. Her significant educational service to the 
Japanese people was recognized by a Citation and declaration of the Fourth 
Order of the Sacred Treasure from Hirohito, the Emperor of Japan (in 1955). 
World traveler, religious leader, ever zealous researcher in the field of music, 
she takes her place among the notable examples of the highest KU tradition.
 Kate was at home with her brother Dane and mother in Logan, Kan-
sas, until her mother died in 1957 and her brother passed away in 1965. 
Tired and worn from eighty-eight years of a vigorous life, Kate entered 
the hospital at Norton, Kansas, in 1967 for rest and testing.
10The University of Kansas Commencement Program, May 1955.
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 With her when she died on January 4, 1968, were her missionary 
friend of sixty-seven years, Lydia Lindsey, and the members of the 
Hansen family of Logan. At the time of her death, Dr. Hansen was a 
member of the United Church of Christ, the Order of the Eastern Star, 
the Native Sons and Daughters of Kansas, the Logan Women’s Club, 
Women’s Kansas Day Club, and Phillips County Women’s Republican 
Club. Her funeral was held at the Christian Church in Logan with burial 
beside her parents and brother, Dane Gray Hansen, in the family plot of 
Pleasant View Cemetery at Logan.
 According to her will, all of Kate’s music, music books, and phono-
graph records were to be given to Miyagi College. Much of her music that 
had been in Japan was burned as a result of the American bombings of 
Sendai during World War II. The remainder of her papers, letters (most 
written home from 1907 to 1952), about 4,000 postcards, books, and a 
At the University of Kansas commencement in 1955, Chancellor Franklin Murphy conferred 
the University’s Distinguished Service Citations on both Kate Hansen and Lydia Lindsey.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
300
collection of her original songs, and other items are in the Kate Hansen 
Collection in the University of Kansas Archives.
 The Trustees of the Dane G. Hansen Foundation set up the Kate I. 
Hansen Memorial Scholarship at the University of Kansas for graduates 
of Miyagi College for advanced study in music. Yoko Fuda, Yuriko Saito, 
Keiko Hanzawa, Mikie Miyabor, Tamae Sekimoto, and Nobuko Ando 
have received these scholarships.
 The Trustees of the Dane G. Hansen Foundation also made a grant 
to Miyagi College for a Steinway grand piano and fine arts auditorium 
on the new campus to be designated the Kate I. Hansen Memorial Con-
cert Hall. It was dedicated in fall 1980. In 1934 Kate had supervised the 
building of the earlier auditorium.
 In fall 2000 the University of Kansas Symphony Orchestra, under 
the direction of Brian Priestman, will perform Kate Hansen’s most well-
known work, “Schlesvig Symphony.” In the United States, as in Japan, 
her life and her work are still influential.
Kate Hansen, 1955.
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301
 This Logan Republican article,11 which is based on a letter home from 
Kate and Lydia, describes their celebrative welcome and gala receptions 
that were part of Miyagi College’s seventy-fifth anniversary in 1961. Af-
ter the festivities, they spent a restful interlude in the mountain resort of 
Takayama before traveling to meet the Empress of Japan. In their letter 
Kate and Lydia also describe post-war economic conditions and the wave 
of construction—of both homes and factories.
Japanese Roll Out the Red Carpet
 Dr. Kate Hansen and Miss Lydia Lindsey, who are in Sendai, Japan, 
to attend the festivities of the 75th anniversary of Miyagi College, as 
guests of the Alumnae Association have written of their experiences.
 At International Airport in Los Angeles, where Alumnae officials 
and other friends gathered to see them off, they were interviewed by 
Japanese reporters and movies were taken. During the two-hour stop 
over in Honolulu, they were visited by friends in native costume.
 Two big receptions were given for them in Japan, one in Tokyo and 
one in Sendai. In Tokyo “hundreds of alumnae and school girls were wav-
ing flags and singing. The large reception committee, of older alumnae 
and faculty members, headed by President Oda, gave us the warmest 
welcome and escorted us through the immense building, up to the 
V.I.P. reception room, made short speeches, and sang.” Three alumnae 
escorted them on the 5-hour train ride to Sendai. “We had a big crowd 
at the station to meet us, all the old friends. After a long period of hand 
shaking we all went across the new, wide street to the new Sendai Hotel. 
The first floor had been turned into a reception hall, the glass doors at 
the rear having been removed to open out onto a picturesque Japanese 
garden. The college and the alumnae gave the program—more speeches 
and singing. Both times we were presented with huge bouquets. It was 
a great time.”
11September 7, 1961, pp. 1–2.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
302
 Next day they were driven to a resort at Takayama to rest. “This is 
the old summer community for Americans, and to me the loveliest place I 
ever saw. The summer houses are scattered over the tops of three rocky 
cliffs, that jut out into the Pacific, that are covered with wild Japanese 
pine trees. Every one of these picturesque trees seemed to be calling 
for someone to paint, draw, or at least photograph it.”
 This tells of post-war economic conditions: “We drove through the 
rice fields, not yet headed out, and the pine covered hills, along the coast 
to the port of Shiogama, now so citified we scarcely knew it. It used to 
be a quiet fishing town. We passed one big hydro-electric plant. We had 
seen a lot of factories as we came up on the train. And there were new 
houses everywhere, even in places not harmed by the war.”
 Their latest letter brought the news that they were to be invited soon 
to visit the Empress of Japan.
The Kate I. Hansen Memorial Concert Hall at Miyagi College was dedicated in fall 1980.
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 In 1955, Kate was decorated in absentia by Hirohito, Emperor of Japan, 
with the Fourth Order of the Sacred Treasure for service to the Japanese 
people. In 1961, while visiting Miyagi College for the last time, Kate was 
honored for her distinctive contributions to the school. She was also received 
at the Imperial Palace by the Empress Nagato. At this time, Kate and Lydia 
expressed their thanks and appreciation to the Emperor for the recognition 
they received six years earlier. The Empress granted them an audience that 
lasted much longer than originally scheduled and, in addition, provided 
a special sightseeing opportunity of the Palace compound. The following 
story in the Sendai newspaper details this event.12
Arigato for the Zuihosho (Thank You
for the Order of the Sacred Treasure)
Dr. Hansen and Miss Lindsey, Emeritus Professors,
thank the Empress at the Royal Palace.
 Kate I. Hansen (82) and Lydia A. Lindsey (80), Miyagi Gakuin Emer-
itus Professors, who, having taught Miyagi for 43 years, were decorated 
with the 4th Order of the Sacred Treasure for their meritorious work 
Kate and Lydia flew back to Japan in 1961 to attend the festivities celebrating the seven-
ty-fifth anniversary of Miyagi College. Kate and Lydia are seated to the left and center in 
front of the college choir.
12Kahoku Shimpo, Sendai, Japan, October 19, 1961.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
304
in the field of women’s education, had an interview on Oct. 18 with the 
Empress, and thanked her for the honor.
 That day, both professors entered the Palace accompanied by Presi-
dent Oda of Miyagi Gakuin, Chairman Toshi Maruyama of the Alumnae 
Association, and Chairman Eichiko Kashiwayama of the Tokyo Chapter 
of the Association, and had an interview with the Empress for about 35 
minutes after half past ten.
 The Empress was dressed in a Japanese kimono patterned with 
the “Bamboo and Sparrow”—(The Date family, Sendai feudal lords’ 
heraldry)—, and she appreciated both professors’ services, who were 
received with their medals on the left side of their coat, saying: “I am 
truly appreciative of the long years’ services you rendered to the women’s 
education in Japan.”
 Both professors in return thanked her, saying, “We were granted 
these splendid medals, but we had gone home and missed the chance to 
thank you for them. We were concerned about it. Now that we have come 
to Japan as the invited guests of the 75th Anniversary Commemoration 
of Miyagi Gakuin, we have been given this long-wished-for opportunity.”
 The Empress had just recently traveled Tohoku areas to attend the 
National Athletic Meet, and therefore they had in common rich topics 
concerning Miyagi Prefecture, the City of Sendai, etc., so that the inter-
view lasted 35 minutes, fifteen minutes longer than the scheduled time.
 After that both old professors were granted a special sightseeing 
of the Palace compound, including the Double Bridge, the Imperial 
Sanctuary, the Ancestral Shrine, the Temple, the Innermost Citadel, the 
Music Department, etc. for which they spent over two hours. During the 
sightseeing, the Royal Music Department gave, in honor of Dr. Hansen 
who was a music teacher, a special recital of the Sho (an ancient Japanese 
music instrument).
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 On January 26, 1968, Kate’s former students and colleagues held a 
memorial service honoring her life and work in the overflowing auditorium 
of Miyagi College. Later that year a 100-page booklet of essays by colleagues 
and photos was published. The speech by Margaret Garner, a fellow teacher, 
describes the impact and influence of Kate Hansen on the college and on 
Western music in Japan as “immeasurable.”
Tribute to Dr. Kate I. Hansen
by Margaret Garner
 I am speaking today to you as representative of the Mission Board 
in New York, the IBC in Tokyo, and the Sendai missionaries of Tohoku 
and Miyagi Gakuin. As an official representative of these groups, I may 
be able to bring formal words of condolence and praise for the life of 
Dr. Kate I. Hansen. But as representative of these groups, I also become 
In 1955 Kate and Lydia were decorated in absentia by Hirohito, Emperor of Japan, with 
the Fourth Order of the Sacred Treasure for their service to the Japanese people. When they 
returned to Japan in 1961, they were received at the Imperial Palace by the Empress Nagato.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
306
representative of the many deeply dedicated, highly gifted, wonderful 
missionaries who worked with Dr. Hansen here at Miyagi College and 
also have preceded her in death. For me to speak as their representative 
is an honour and a privilege of which I am totally unworthy and I am 
very conscious of my unworthiness. It is sheer effrontery for me to try 
to speak words which should have been spoken by Dr. Robert Gerhard, 
Dr. Carl Kriete or any one of several others who worked with Dr. Han-
sen. The impact and influence of the life of Dr. Hansen on this school 
and on the total field of Western music in Japan is, I believe, completely 
immeasurable and quite beyond any necessity to praise.
 There is probably no doubt but that the strongest single influence 
on the molding of the character of this school was that of Dr. Hansen 
and close with her Miss Lindsey. She came to Miyagi and pioneered in 
the introduction of Western music, not only here, but to all Japan. Let 
me read a quotation from a letter written by Mrs. Kriete to the Mission 
Board in 1933.
 We have something unique in our Music Department. No other girls’ school 
in Northern Japan has a Music Course; and there are only two Mission Schools 
in Japan that have a Music Department that trains teachers—ours and Kobe 
College. They had one graduate this year and we had eight, besides two from 
that Post Graduate Course; and all who want to work, except one, have positions 
and she will be placed soon. Some of them are spoken for early in the fall. Last 
summer these graduating students with Dr. Hansen and Miss Peterson made 
a tour of North Japan. They were enthusiastically received everywhere. Dr. 
Hansen has made the Music Department second to that of no other Mission 
School in Japan[,] and our church in America has reason to be proud of the 
contribution they are enabling us to make to the musical education of these 
girls.
 And from the same letter:
 One of the thrilling events (of the year) was the concert given by the Su-
zuki Quartet of Tokyo, and they played Dr. Hansen’s “Schlesvig-Holstein,” a 
marvellous composition in four movements. Dr. Hansen received a tremendous 
ovation, and of course, we were all very proud. It was the first time that this 
has happened in any Mission School in Japan.
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 And one more quotation from the Report of Miyagi College to the 
Board of Missions in 1926.
 Beside the usual student recitals, the Music Department has given three 
public concerts: a recital by the faculty, both Japanese and America; the grad-
uating recital by the Music Course; and the oratorio, “St. Paul,” by the school 
chorus of 75 voices. . . . This was the first time in the history of Japan that an 
entire standard oratorio of this grade has been given by a chorus of Japanese 
voices. It was a truly musical performance, reflecting the greatest credit on 
the director, the soloists, and the accompanist, and proving the value of those 
patient labors of the music department for many years, in ear drill, sight-singing 
and voice training, which have at last made such a chorus possible.
 This oratorio was performed at a time when Dr. Hansen was not 
only Dean of the Music Department but was also acting president of 
the entire school. These quotations reflect the estimation of her fellow 
missionary-teachers of the importance and quality of her work at the 
time she was actively doing it. They all emphasize the word “first.”
 But both Dr. Hansen and Miss Lindsey were active in other fields than 
that of English or music. Dr. Hansen served as president of the school 
on several occasions; she was an active influence on students, leading 
them toward baptism. I remember being very impressed when I first 
came to Sendai when one morning at church in the chapel at Tohoku 
Gakuin a student from the music department was baptized. A sponsor 
was required for each person receiving baptism and that morning Dr. 
Hansen was the sponsor for that student. I wondered whether I would 
ever have that much influence on a student for Christianity.
 And again, I remember walking home from school one day with Miss 
Lindsey and Dr. Hansen. I was walking with Dr. Hansen and we were 
discussing various things. In her very impressive and grave manner she 
said to me, “You must never forget that you are more than a teacher. You 
are a missionary-teacher and as such you must always place God first 
in your teaching.” I have never forgotten this. I may not have followed 
her advice very well, but I have never forgotten it.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
308
 Dr. Hansen was a music teacher, a missionary, and she was actively 
interested in improving the status of the women of Japan. Again let me 
quote from a report to the Mission Board, in 1926:
 The New Japanese Woman—The question of women’s rights has come to 
Japan in full force. The timid, shrinking little Japanese woman, who used to be 
taught that her whole duty in life consisted in the “Three Obediences,” to father, 
husband, and eldest son, has discovered that she is an independent human 
being. The earthquake helped it along, by forcing thousands of women to act 
for themselves. The spirit of the times is for it. This winter, Miss Lindsey and 
the Acting President, Miss Hansen, attended, as the only foreigners, a meeting 
of some two thousand Japanese women from all over Japan, in which their 
wrongs and inequalities were sanely, but unsparingly recounted, and plans for 
a united Woman’s Movement were made. Its first objective is the demand for 
entirely equal educational rights and opportunities with men. Equal suffrage, 
the abolition of licensed prostitution, equal laws for men and women, were all 
discussed frankly, but the women agreed that education of leaders was the 
first requisite to all reforms. This was not a Christian meeting at all. . . . It was 
noticeable, however, that the strongest and most reasonable speakers were 
generally Christians. . . . Back of them was Christian education. They came 
from pioneer Christian schools. Shall this active movement of the mass of 
Japanese women be inspired with Christian ideals of service, become an aid 
to the Kingdom of God in Japan? It rests with the leaders of the next few years. 
And the direct and solemn responsibility for finding and training these leaders 
rests upon the Christian colleges for women in Japan, like Miyagi College. . . .
 Again, Dr. Hansen, with Miss Lindsey, was actively related to 
non-Christian movements for improving the status of women in Japan. 
She was involved in these activities because they had behind them the 
influence of Christianity which served as the force which set the move-
ment going. Dr. Hansen believed that Christian ideals must supply the 
power for reform and so she participated in any activity which would 
deepen the influence of Christianity on the society of Japan.
 Dr. Hansen was a strong woman. She was a leader. I think she was a 
great woman. Great and strong leaders are always criticized. Certainly I 
have heard Dr. Hansen criticized. I have heard people call her stubborn, 
people whose ideas she opposed or disagreed with; I have heard people 
call her cold, people with whom she was not close. She was highly intel-
ligent and she possessed talent and abilities which, I think, she knew, 
recognized and valued. Every person has a right to do this. I have heard 
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people say that she was hard. Her features were composed; her mind was 
clear and firm; her purpose was unswerving; if this be hardness, then I 
find it only to be admired. No leader is ever able to live uncriticized. The 
uncriticized person is usually a weak person. Jesus was criticized. Why 
should any human being escape criticism if he is living his life according 
to the highest values he knows? To be criticized is of no importance; to 
walk straight in the path of one’s ideals is important. Dr. Kate Hansen 
did this.
 And now, let me close. This is my humble attempt to speak words 
of praise, gratitude and thanksgiving for the life of a woman whom I 
consider to be a great leader, teacher, educator, missionary. I have no 
sense of “death” in connection with Dr. Hansen. For us here at Miyagi 
College, she is as much alive as she was before January 4th. I have the 
strongest sympathy for Miss Lindsey as she suffers the sense of absence 
from loved friends and for the loneliness which this will bring to her. But 
for us here, Dr. Hansen is as much a part of this school as she ever was. 
Her spirit, her influence, her determination to make a first-class music 
department, her work, her struggles, her strength are all built into the 
body of Miyagi College. So long as this school lives and remembers 
its basic purpose of giving young women the best possible education 
built on Christian principles, that long will Dr. Kate Hansen live. Only 
when the school forgets its own reason for being, will she die. It is the 
responsibility of each of us to see that this never happens.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
310
 When word of Kate Hansen’s death reached her beloved Miyagi College, 
the college president13 wrote a response for the faculty and student body as 
well as the alumni.
In my eyes Miss Hansen is walking . . .
     Miss Hansen is going, with slow, but steady steps,
          Along her only way to which she has devoted her whole life.
In my eyes Miss Hansen is walking . . .
     She is ascending the small stone-stairs of the No. 2 building . . .
          Turning at the dark corridor of the hallway built of red bricks,
               Into the flow of piano sounds, into her castle of Music
                    Miss Hansen is marching.
In my eyes Miss Hansen is walking;
     She is a lady who has sacrificed her forty years for our Miyagi-gakuin
          Miss Hansen has walked her way up . . .
               Yet, she is still living and walking in our hearts
                    As an eternal being, as an everlasting comfort-giver.
13Masamitus Ishii, President, Miyagi College for Women. Translated by Tsuneo 
Sakai and adapted by Calvin E. Harbin.
Going Home
311
 Perhaps it is appropriate that Kate Hansen herself has the last words 
in this volume. In her final report14 to her Mission Board in 1950, Kate 
summed up her career and challenged future generations to continue the 
work of Christian music educators.
 The whole system of so-called Occidental music is founded on the 
Christian religion, and its greatest masters have been saturated with 
Christianity. They have expressed their Christian thought and feeling in 
their works, even in the supposedly secular ones. A Christian teacher of 
music, who knows and comprehends these facts, can in the most natural 
way make of music teaching a powerful Christian force, following the 
august example of Bach himself, a music teacher for most of his life, 
who said that music must be studied “to the glory of God,” for if written 
otherwise it would be nothing but an infernal howling. The teaching of 
music history is one of the greatest opportunities for Christian influence, 
if done with the right emphasis on religion in general, and our music 
and the Christian religion in particular. A book should be written on this 
subject!
14In Mensendiek, To Japan with Love, p. 107.

313
APPENDIX

Appendix
315
 Kate Hansen’s great love for and devotion to music started early and 
lasted all of her life. Kate recognized that music was a universal language 
that could open cultural doors and windows to the past and present to 
reveal social and aesthetic riches. To her, music was an expression of the 
wisdom and memory of artists around the world. Music was a vehicle of 
instruction that would carry Kate far in achieving her purposes in life.
 In her career in Japan, Kate was, of necessity, a resourceful music 
teacher. When she did not have the instructional materials that she 
needed, she would sometimes compose appropriate pieces for use in 
her classes and in local churches. An example is the hymn “Jesu! With 
Joy We Follow Thee,” which is designed to promote Christian teaching 
through sacred music.
 Kate was often called upon to arrange children’s songs for Japanese 
students. She delighted in preparing such pieces as “Jesus Loves Me” 
with phonetic pronunciation of the Japanese language. American audi-
ences also enjoyed and easily grasped such numbers.
 For recitals and programs, Kate composed or arranged music for her 
students. One of her public presentations, for example, featured poems 
of Emily Dickinson that she had set to music.
 The Japanese poet Tsuchii, whose two daughters graduated from 
Miyagi, wrote the lyrics for a Miyagi song. Kate translated and adapted 
his poetry, as well as composed the music for this song. Her note accom-
panying the piece shows her appreciation for the poet and his work.
Selected Kate Hansen Compositions 
and Related Items
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
316
 Kate also collected traditional Japanese melodies. The folk melody 
“Cradle Song from the Aomori Country,” for example, had been widely 
sung by the people in that region but never published.
 Kate composed “Emigrated” in honor of her father, Peter Hansen, 
who emigrated to the United States from Denmark in 1866 and died in 
Kansas in 1925. The words were by Helen Hunt Jackson. For Alpha, her 
sister and mother of Dane Gray Bales, she set Emily Dickinson’s poem 
“Adrift” to music.
 After her nephew, Dane “Booge” Hansen of Salt Lake City, Utah, 
died tragically in the crash of his bomber plane during World War II, 
Kate Hansen composed “Ground Crews” dedicated to “Dane Hansen, 
Bombardier, and to all Others who ‘Returned no more.’ ” The words were 
written by Mary Rondeau.
 Perhaps her most widely performed piece was the “Schlesvig” sym-
phony, the first movement of which is represented here. This symphony 
evoked her year in Denmark and her Danish heritage.
 Kate’s compositions furthered her mission of bringing Christianity 
to young Japanese women and honored her family and heritage by me-
morializing them. Music was at the center of both her life and her work.
 In addition to excerpts of several compositions, this Appendix in-
cludes an abridged version of Kate Hansen’s master’s thesis and the 
letter from the Chicago School of Music notifying her of her honorary 
doctorate.
Appendix
317
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
318
Appendix
319
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
320
Appendix
321
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
322
Appendix
323
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
324
Appendix
325
Experiences in Teaching Western Music
In a Girls’ Music School in Japan
Kate Ingeborg Hansen
Dean, Department of Music—Miyagi Girls’ School, Sendai, Japan
Thesis for Master’s Degree in Music for Chicago Musical College
June 1927—Brought up to date in 1933
(Abridged with footnotes by William Mensendiek, Sendai, Japan, 1986)
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
326
 My experience teaching Western music in a girls’ school in Japan 
necessitated a slow and laborious development of the musical conscious-
ness, beginning with students who were trained in Japanese music only 
and unable to hear, much less sing, some of the notes of the major scale, 
and ending with a chorus able to sing acceptably oratorios like St. Paul 
and The Messiah, and with piano students able to play Bach fugues and 
Beethoven sonatas from memory, and graduates well qualified to teach 
music in high schools. This is clearly related to sociological and religious 
phenomena.
 The problem in the Girls’ School began with the Three Obediences, 
to father, husband, and eldest son, which meant that less mental effort 
was and is expected of girls than of boys. English is a required subject 
for boys, but an elective for girls. The whole standard of girls’ education 
was and is far below that of boys. In one subject only the standard for 
girls has been higher. That subject is music.
 Japanese music had always been one of the accomplishments of 
girls, especially the koto. With the organization of the new schools 
in the Meiji period, however, the government made a radical change, 
finally dropping Japanese music entirely and making Western music, 
including singing and reed organ playing, required subjects in all girls’ 
schools. Western music also officially displaced the Japanese variety in 
public primary schools. It became immensely popular. By 1908 when I 
arrived all Sendai schools were attempting to teach it, and Sendai boys 
and girls were trying, with more zeal than success, to play the violin 
and reed organ. The painful result of their efforts is described in my 
essay “My Impressions of the Musical Consciousness of the Japanese 
People.” It is quite beyond the imagination of someone who has never 
heard it. An American girl brought up in Sendai, who had never heard 
the violin played by anyone but Japanese until she went to America for 
high school, wrote back after her first concert, “I never knew before that 
the violin was a real musical instrument like the piano.”1
 These young Japanese were in fact attempting to use a musical 
language as foreign to them as English. Their own musical background 
1Miriam Schwartz, daughter of Methodist missionaries in Sendai.
Appendix
327
was Chinese, imported in the 6th and 7th centuries. Its tonality is very 
vague to Western ears, the scale is a pentatonic one. This is seen in the 
koto with 13 strings, with tuning varying as it is done by means of mov-
able bridges. The general character of the rhythm is monotonous. The 
general effect is not melodious as Westerners understand the term. In 
fact, few Westerners can distinguish one Japanese tune from another. 
The shamisen and shakuhachi, which is the most melodious instrument, 
all use the same scales or modes as the koto. It is this music which is 
still heard constantly in the homes, tea houses, theatres and temples. It 
formed, and still does, the musical mother tongue of the great majority 
of the Japanese people.
 To teach a Japanese student Western music then is to give him a 
new musical language. The task of a music teacher is akin to that of an 
English teacher. This fact is not yet realized in many schools in Japan. 
The government did not recognize the magnitude of the task. It employed 
hundreds of Americans and Europeans to teach Western languages and 
science. Now a generation later all science is taught by Japanese, but still 
foreigners are employed to teach language. In all the better universities 
students have some direct instruction from teachers whose native tongue 
is English. In music the situation is entirely different. The government 
has only one school which employs any Western teachers. In Tokyo is a 
department for training soloists and teachers of music for high schools. 
It employs three or four good Europeans who teach voice, but all other 
teaching is done by Japanese. Students enter from high school having 
had one or two periods of singing per week for four or five years, and 
one period of reed organ for six months to one year. The Normal Course 
is three years. Inadequate as it is, graduates are given teacher’s licens-
es. Thus, to Western ears, the music in the public schools is, with few 
exceptions, excruciating.
 Christian schools in Japan from the beginning had missionaries who 
spent time and effort teaching Christian hymns. The Japanese liked these 
hymns very much and very soon they were translated into Japanese and 
were heard everywhere. But no attempt was made to set the words to 
Japanese tunes. The Western tunes were apparently as popular as the 
words, though a Western newcomer would have had difficulty in recog-
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
328
nizing familiar melodies as they came from the throats of the Japanese. 
Even Buddhist priests appropriated the tunes and changed the words 
to teach children in imitation of Christian Sunday Schools.
 Christian high schools for girls gave more time to music than govern-
ment schools. In the early days they were leaders in music everywhere. 
Their students had the advantage of direct contact with Westerners. 
This, in turn, rendered a great service to the spread of Christianity. 
But these schools shared the same defect as the public schools. The 
mission boards, like the government, did not yet realize the nature of 
the task. They assumed that anyone who could play hymns and carry a 
tune could teach music. They saw no necessity for special preparation 
to teach beginning music. The American teacher, untrained as she was, 
could give only a small part of her time to this subject. She taught one 
or two singing classes and gave organ lessons to a few students. Many 
Western teachers became hardened to the strange sounds produced by 
their Japanese students, like English teachers who became accustomed 
to bad pronunciation. Those who did realize something was wrong gen-
erally believed the Japanese incapable of anything better, and paid little 
attention to the matter.
 Such was the situation when I arrived at Miyagi Girls School in 1908. 
Miyagi, which was regarded as a musical leader, boasted one old piano. 
It was kept in the missionary ladies’ residence where the girls practiced 
from morning to night, and carried to the chapel when needed for 
special programs. I was given a class in singing and three piano pupils. 
My most vivid musical recollection of those first months and years is of 
the intense pain I suffered in class, in chapel, wherever Japanese tried 
to make Western music. The school authorities, Japanese and Ameri-
can alike, saw, or rather, heard nothing wrong. More musical persons 
outside the school had sympathy, but little hope of any improvement. I 
had other teaching besides music and was struggling with the Japanese 
language. But because I could not endure the noises of my students I 
set about the task of finding out why they could not play or sing. There 
was nobody to consult. Whatever was to be discovered could be only 
gained by observation and experiment.
Appendix
329
 Soon I was able to rule out certain possible causes. First, the problem 
was not lack of interest or of effort. The six or eight reed organs ground 
away from 6 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Evidently, all the girls who had the first 
practice hour were all up and dressed, sitting at their organ benches 
ready for the first stroke of the bell when every organ began to wail. At 
all times individuals and groups could be heard practicing their songs 
and hymns. The order and discipline in class was perfect. Cutting class 
was unknown. My piano pupils practiced exactly what I gave them and 
nothing else. They listened with intense eagerness whenever I played 
for them. They believed absolutely in their teacher, going so far as to 
ask in all seriousness if I were the greatest musician in America.
 Lack of knowledge of musical theory was also ruled out. Their theory 
was much better than their practice. They had learned the names of all 
the notes of the scale in public school. They could sing do-re-mi and the 
older ones knew the key signatures. They had Japanese books in the 
library which explained all these things. Also their rhythmic sense was 
not bad. I sometimes played accompaniment for the best Japanese “pro-
fessor” of violin in the city. I could not tell by his pitch whether we were 
together or not, but if I counted from the beginning with metronomic 
regularity, I could be sure that we would end at exactly the same time. 
This good sense of rhythm was observed in the school in my classes 
also. My singing classes did not drag much more than my classes in 
the public schools of Denver had done. They could not learn anything 
in triple rhythm, hymns in 9/8 time being utterly impossible, but they 
had comparatively little trouble with any kind of double rhythm.
 There were some obvious defects that were comparatively easy to 
overcome, like having them open their mouths. Japanese etiquette pre-
scribes that a lady must speak with her teeth closed. So making them put 
a finger between their teeth was the only way for them to learn this, and 
it became a regular routine for singing classes. Also to sing in Western 
style for them meant to yell with all the force of their lungs, which was 
an idea they acquired in the public schools.
 Before long it became apparent that the lack of a sense of pitch was 
the fundamental defect. This was not a simple matter. The problem was 
not a general lack of this sense, but rather “deaf spots.” By months and 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
330
years of experiment I finally discovered what most of these were. The 
most difficult thing in all Western music I found to be the ascending 
major scale. In about my 5th year in Japan my class learned Schubert’s 
Erlking. “In seinen Armen das Kind war tod” they sang with absolutely 
true pitch after I had played it for them once on the piano. The scale 
passage, “Willst, feiner Knabe du mit mir gehen” they practiced every 
day for several weeks before they could sing it. They sang it correctly 
at the concert, but two weeks later when the concert was repeated un-
expectedly with only two days for practice, they sang it almost as badly 
as at the beginning.
 In the major scale, the most difficult succession was 6—7—8. Ac-
cording to my tests of freshmen classes during the first five years, about 
one girl in a hundred was able to sing the entire major scale alone after 
it had been played repeatedly on the piano. The third step in the major 
scale was the next most difficult point. After one or two class periods were 
spent on this exercise, 
about one-fifth of the 
class were able to sing 
a true third, three-fifths 
sang with more or less 
accuracy, and one-fifth 
could not follow the 
tune at all.
 When the exercise was played in major and minor alternately, only 
about one-fifth were able to sing the exercise correctly. Most of the re-
maining fourth could sing the first major third correctly, but after that 
they flatted or dropped into the minor. About one in fifteen was unable 
to distinguish major thirds from minors when played. At the present 
time, students have the same kind of difficulties but the percentage of 
correct singing is much higher.
 While making these discoveries, I experimented with many teach-
ing devices, and discovered a second fundamental defect, namely, the 
lack of power of paying concentrated attention. Japanese girls were 
not expected to think very deeply. They had not been taught to do so. 
However, I proved by many experiments that it was not impossible for 
Appendix
331
them. A class of freshmen were studying the Brahms Lullaby for a school 
entertainment, and could not sing it. Apparently they could not hear the 
upward leading-tone. Singing alone in class was at that time unknown. 
The girls were supposed to be too bashful for that. However, I asked 
the accompanist, who at that time was the only Japanese in school with 
a true ear, to spend all of her time during the next week in drilling each 
of the forty or fifty girls, separately, on those few notes. I announced that 
the next week, if the class still could not sing that passage correctly, I 
would test every girl separately, and would drop everyone who could 
not sing the leading-tone. For the first time they apparently realized 
concentration was necessary. They would “lose face” if dropped from 
a public performance. The passage was sung very well the next week, 
and the next leading-tone was a shade less difficult.
 These continuous experiences over five years convinced me that the 
whole subject of music teaching in Japan was being approached from the 
wrong angle. I became sure that two things were absolutely necessary 
before real progress could be made, ear-training and concentrated atten-
tion, and that music must be regarded not as a pleasing accomplishment 
or as an easily acquired aid to religious work, but as a serious intellectual 
task, as difficult as English and as exacting as mathematics. And because 
Japanese schools lay such great stress upon grades, an exact grading 
system, recognizable as such by non-musicians, seemed essential. I 
made many experiments. When I returned from my first furlough, during 
which time I had taken my Music Bachelor Degree at the University of 
Kansas, there had been a change in the management of the school. The 
new principal2 was musical and progressive. I was relieved of all other 
teaching and given a free hand in music.
 During the next year I worked out several books of ear-drill exercis-
es, based on the special difficulties of Japanese students, but following 
somewhat the plan of the Ginn Series of Music Readers, which we had 
adopted as textbooks. Music theory, including ear-drilling, was made a 
required subject. This soon came to mean chiefly ear-drill. Every student 
was required to sing alone frequently, and the class was encouraged to 
2Rev. Allen K. Faust.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
332
listen for and to point out her mistakes. This secured more concentration. 
The most effective method of all was requiring the ear-drill exercises to 
be written. As far as I know this had never before been done in Japan. To 
very poor classes, I gave a short written exam of ear-drill at the beginning 
of every lesson, grading every paper and returning it. At the end of the 
year among the failures in the school were some in music. It was difficult 
for the faculty to believe that failure in music should prevent promotion 
just as a failure in mathematics, but they gave their consent. Music was 
thus put on par with other subjects.
 The results were even beyond my imagination. The singing classes 
learned very quickly what concentration meant. Remarkable accuracy 
of pitch was developed in a year or so. Chapel entertainment ceased to 
be painful. Real singing became possible, and independent singing in 
parts. I was able to organize a choir of girls to sing every Sunday in the 
largest church in Sendai, learning a hymn or a simple song in two or 
three parts for each service. A collection of these songs, translated into 
Japanese, was published by the Christian Literature Society of Japan 
under the title of Hymns and Anthems for Women’s Voices, which has 
been widely used in Japan.
 During my first term I had begun informal classes of promising young 
graduates of the high school, who taught beginning organ, assisted me 
in my singing classes, and studied piano and harmony. Some of these 
learned my system of ear-drill. I turned over to them all of the mechanical 
parts of teaching the subject, and they did it very well. Even if their own 
ears were not perfect, they could play the exercises, collect the papers 
and grade them.
 After this exact system had been in working order for a year or so, I 
made an interesting study of the relation of musical intelligence as shown 
in these tests, to intelligence in other subjects, using all the high school 
grade-sheets for a year as material. They showed a close relation between 
musical intelligence and general intelligence in the great majority of 
cases. A failure in music was nearly always accompanied by failure in 
some other subject. Especially, grades in music and in English reading 
proved to correspond almost exactly. The results of this research, read 
in general faculty meeting, helped in securing cordial cooperation.
Appendix
333
 During all this time I had been teaching piano and organ. The re-
sults mechanically had been good. Japanese girls as a rule have good 
hands, are excellent mimics, and are far more zealous in practicing than 
American girls. Memorizing had, however, been almost impossible, and 
spontaneous expression was almost unknown. After the introduction of 
ear-drill, memorizing became very easy. Japanese girls have naturally 
good memories, for their former education, especially in Japanese music, 
consisted almost wholly of memorizing. All that was necessary was for 
them to learn really to hear the Western music they were studying.
 With the high school music on a solid foundation, it was possible to 
consider the subject of training teachers. College work had been started 
in Bible, English and Domestic Science. There was only one Christian 
school, Kobe College, with an organized course in music above the high 
school. I studied this course and others, and made plans. The consents 
of our local Board of Managers, half Japanese and half American, and of 
the Mission Board in America, were obtained, and a three-year higher 
course, with a two-year preparatory course for high school graduates 
having insufficient preparation in music, was opened in 1916. The en-
trance requirements for the higher course were based on the musical 
ability of the best of the high school graduates. In voice this included 
ability to sing at sight with accurate pitch and rhythm, exercises of 
the grade of the Ginn Third Music Reader, the first book of Czerny, 
Op. 299, Heller Op. 47, and Bach works preparatory to the Inventions 
and easy sonatas were required. By great good fortune, a competent 
teacher of voice was already available in the person of the wife of one of 
the American professors of our college for men.3  She had been trained 
in Peabody Institute in Baltimore and in Berlin, and had a very good 
solo voice. She had already helped in the high school classes, but was 
particularly interested in the development of solo singing and of artistic 
choral work, which had now become possible. We two divided the work 
of the new course, which included solo singing, chorus, sight-singing, 
ear-drill, music history, piano, organ, harmony, and music forms. Other 
subjects—Bible, ethics, English, Japanese, education and physical train-
3Florence Seiple—Tohoku Gakuin.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
334
ing—were taken in the regular college classes. Students from the other 
college courses, able to pass the entrance examination, were permitted 
to take sight-singing and chorus with the music course students. They 
began studying oratorio choruses, “The Heavens are Telling” being one 
of the first ones successfully performed. Sight-singing, theory and ear-
drill were made required subjects in all the college courses, and piano 
and organ were continued as electives with extra tuition fees. These 
have been so popular as to make the music department the most nearly 
self-supporting one in the school. Ordinarily, about half the students of 
the other courses are enrolled for piano or organ. (1927)
 A member of the first graduating class (1919) astonished Sendai at 
Commencement by playing from memory the entire Moonlight Sonata, 
the one Western piece known to every educated Japanese. It was the 
first performance of the kind by a Japanese woman in Sendai. Two years 
later, a student gave the first graduating recital ever heard in Sendai. She 
sang several solos, one being the Bach—Gounod Ave Maria and she 
played from memory a Bach fugue, a Beethoven sonata, several modern 
pieces, and the last movement of the Mendelssohn G Minor Concerto, 
the last named with second piano. The government supervisor of edu-
cation, who was present, immediately offered her a position, which she 
declined in order to teach at Miyagi College. Since that time, a number 
of graduates have taught music in government high schools.
 In the years following the close of the World War, there occurred 
one of those sudden developments which are especially characteristic 
of Japan. The general public, always enthusiastic about Western music, 
all at once began to show intelligent appreciation. Three causes led to 
this. One was the sudden increase in the wealth of Japan which led to 
the purchase of Western instruments, especially the piano. Not one of 
my earlier pupils had had a piano, although some were from families 
accounted wealthy. Now all of my well-to-do students and many of those 
in very moderate circumstances have them. The Sendai public schools 
are buying them by popular subscription. I have had the pleasure of 
assisting committees in their selection. Some schools have sent their 
women teachers to Miyagi College for training in singing and in simple 
piano playing. There has been a notable improvement in the musical 
Appendix
335
ability of our entering classes both in the high school and the college. 
Piano is now taught in the government high schools for girls, and a few 
girls from these schools who have pianos have been able to pass the 
entrance examination for the second year of our preparatory course in 
music.
 The second cause is the great popularity of the phonograph, Japa-
nese and foreign. Japanese buy the best foreign records. It is not at all 
uncommon when passing a Japanese home to hear the voice of Caruso 
or the violin of Kreisler. Of course, much Japanese music is also heard, 
but the foreign records are giving the Japanese people standards of 
appreciation and are training their ears in a remarkable way. Certain 
operatic airs, like the Toreador’s Song from Carmen are whistled and 
sung in the streets by the grocery boys, and the effect is not always 
unmusical.
 A third cause has been the visits of real artists. The Russian Revo-
lution drove many White Russian musicians to their friendly neighbor, 
Japan. They have gone into the most remote country towns giving con-
certs for whatever the people would pay. Before the Great Earthquake 
several of them had headquarters in Yokohama where they taught music 
and from whence they went out for concerts. The earthquake put a stop 
to most of their work, but their influence remains in the new musical 
standards wherever they had been. Recently there has been sufficient 
demand to make it profitable for other Western artists to come to Japan 
for concerts, Schumann-Heinke, Kreisler, and several others have given 
concerts in Tokyo and in two or three other cities. Japan musically is no 
longer isolated.
 In Sendai, there has been a fourth contributing cause—the expansion 
of the Imperial University, which has brought a large number of foreign 
trained professors to the city, some of whom were ardent concert goers 
during their stay. These, with the cooperation of their students, formed 
a Music Lovers Association for the purpose of promoting professional 
concerts in Sendai. The first concerts sponsored by this association 
have been held in the Miyagi College Chapel. The members form a very 
intelligent part of the audience at the public concerts given by our music 
department.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
336
 All of these developments have encouraged and stimulated our 
music school. The public of Sendai and of the entire North has come 
to understand as never before the work we are attempting to do. The 
Christian schools have always sent us numerous applications for teach-
ers. During the years following the war and up to the time the economic 
depression struck Japan, the government schools in all parts of Honshu 
and Hokkaido sent the most urgent applications. As many as ten were 
received in one year for one graduate of the music course. When such 
graduates were not available, these schools asked for graduates of the 
English college course who had had piano as an elective. A number of 
these, who have been able to take the sight-singing course with the music 
students and to sing in the school chorus, have done acceptable work.
 The general impression seems to be that any graduate of any of the 
Miyagi College courses is able to teach music, and high school principals 
have sometimes brought pressure to bear upon us to send them grad-
uates whom we were unwilling to recommend as music teachers. The 
world-wide depression, which was felt in Japan earlier than in the West, 
has resulted in acute unemployment among teachers. The Department 
of Education has used every possible means to limit employment in 
government schools to graduates of government normal schools and 
universities. Despite this policy, every graduate of the Miyagi Conser-
vatory, including the Class of 1933, who wished to teach has been able 
to secure a position. They are now teaching in all parts of Japan from 
Hokkaido to Kyushu in a great variety of high schools—government, 
Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, Lutheran, Congregational, Episcopa-
lian, and even Buddhist.
 The years between the close of the war and the beginning of the 
depression were a time of steady development. They brought new 
teachers from America, larger quarters, more equipment, more and 
better students. A post-graduate course in voice and one in piano, with 
a graduating recital required of each student, was developed during 
these years. The voice department, at first quite weak, has made special 
progress. The first voice recital ever given by a Sendai woman was that of 
our first post-graduate students in voice. The school chorus has special-
ized in oratorio, beginning with short ones. When they sang St. Paul in 
Appendix
337
1926, it marked a step in the musical history of Japan, for it was the first 
time that a Japanese chorus had sung the whole of a standard oratorio. 
Membership in this chorus is limited to those who can pass an exam-
ination in sight-singing equivalent to that required for admission to the 
music course. The chorus usually numbers from 80 to 100 voices. The 
contra solos in St. Paul were sung by a Japanese teacher, a graduate of 
our post-graduate course.
 Ear-drill, largely written, continues to be the foundation of all in-
struction. Eternal vigilance is certainly the price of true pitch in Japan. 
A new system of classification was tested in the college classes and then 
extended to the entire school. Under this, all students above the second 
year in high school are put into singing classes, not according to their 
year in school, but according to their musical ability, as shown by their 
grades in music, chiefly ear-drill. Over half of each class win promotion 
in singing every year; most of the other half take the same work twice, 
while a few are obliged to take it three times. The desire to get into ad-
vanced classes proved to be an even stronger stimulus to concentrated 
attention than the fear of failure. Only those who have been promoted 
every year in the high school are able to enter the Conservatory. Every 
student entering the college proper from any other school is given an 
individual examination in singing and theory immediately after being 
admitted, and is placed in one of four classes, according to her musical 
ability. The percentage of promotion in these classes is about the same 
as that in the high school classes.
 There are generally three full-time American and six Japanese teach-
ers connected with the music department, beside tutors. The Americans 
have degrees from American conservatories. The Japanese are Miyagi 
graduates, who have had at least a year of post-graduate study. The Jap-
anese do all of the piano and organ teaching in the preparatory grade, 
all of the theory and ear-drill, some of the sight-singing, and all of the 
accompanying. Deterioration is guarded against by close and sympathetic 
supervision, and by the provision of opportunities for study. Each Japa-
nese teacher has her regular practice hours in the school studios, and 
one lesson a week with the head of her department. Although Japanese 
music teachers as a rule do their best work during the first year or so 
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
338
after graduation, this policy has made our Japanese faculty increasingly 
efficient the longer they teach. Unfortunately for the school, few of them 
can teach for more than four or five years, as custom requires Japanese 
women to marry, and music teachers seem to be especially desirable in 
the marriage market.
 From the beginning, the historical relation of Western music to 
Christianity has been made clear to all music students. The majority 
of those entering the Conservatory are already identified with some 
church, and all of the others have become Christians before graduation. 
They have been very willing, as they became able to do so, to use their 
musical knowledge in the service of organized Christianity, and Sendai 
and its vicinity have always afforded abundant opportunities. Hymn 
playing is taught throughout the course. Every advanced student has 
training in playing with a teacher at the chapel services. The school 
supplies organists or pianists to about twenty-five Sunday Schools each 
week. In many of these schools, our students give regular instruction in 
singing, with pleasing results. Japanese teachers of music play for the 
services in several Sendai churches. I visit each Sunday, if possible, some 
service where a student or a teacher is playing, and give suggestions 
and criticisms. While there are many difficulties, these Japanese from 
Miyagi have been on the whole very successful in doing their share 
in educating the Christian constituency. The National Secretary of the 
Christian Literature Society, a music-loving American, who visited the 
Sendai Churches recently remarked, “Such church music is impossible 
anywhere in Japan outside of Sendai.”
 Organ playing is a required subject in the Bible Training Department 
of the college, in addition to singing. Graduates of this course become 
pastor’s assistants in cities and towns all over North Japan. Generally, it 
is necessary for them to manage all the music in their churches. Their 
musical ability, of course, varies greatly. I have often been agreeably 
surprised at the results of their work, although there is naturally much 
room for improvement. The more talented ones have been able not only 
to instruct their Sunday school children, but to form classes in hymn 
singing among high school students and other girls. The graduates of 
the music course and those of the English course able to teach some 
Appendix
339
music, who are now scattered all over Japan teaching in high schools, 
are doing especially good service to the music of the churches in their 
various cities. They seem to have more liberty in the government schools 
than do most teachers of other subjects, and have been permitted to act 
as organists in their local churches even by school principals opposed 
to Christianity.
 Miyagi College has many problems, educational, financial and ad-
ministrative. One peculiar to Japan is that of the teachers’ license. In 
Japan, persons without licenses are permitted by law to teach in any 
school. However, every school is obliged to have on its faculty a fixed 
minimum percentage of teachers with government licenses, who receive 
higher salaries than unlicensed ones. A high school or a college teacher’s 
license is for one subject only. Licenses are for life. They are secured by 
graduating from a government school, or by passing two teachers’ exam-
inations, a preliminary one in the capital of the province, and a final one 
in Tokyo. This sounds fair, but in practice it is made almost impossible 
for graduates of non-government schools to pass the examinations. In 
English and in music, the two subjects in which I have a minute knowl-
edge of the teachers’ examinations, there is no comparison whatever 
between the standard of these examinations and that of the government 
schools whose graduates receive licenses without examination. Those 
graduates could not possibly pass the examinations in these subjects. 
In the government school which has the monopoly of teachers’ licenses 
in music, girls with no musical preparation except high school singing 
are graduated as full-fledged licensed teachers in three years. Yet in 
the teachers’ examinations I have frequently found questions which I, a 
Doctor of Music, could not answer. This puts obvious difficulties in the 
way of our music department. The fact that up to 1933 every graduate 
had still been able to secure a teaching position is an indication of our 
high standards and of the growing appreciation of music on the part of 
the Japanese public. In the case of English and of some other subjects, a 
very few non-government schools, by various means, have secured the 
license privilege for their own graduates. Our own English department 
has been fortunate enough to do so. In music the government school 
has so far been able to foil all attempts by outsiders to break their mo-
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
340
nopoly. We shall continue our efforts, hoping for success when some 
more liberal-minded Minister of Education comes into power.
 The world-wide financial depression affected Japan earlier than the 
Western world, and Japan at best was, of course, far poorer financially 
than any Western nation. Due to the traditionally inferior position of 
woman in Japan, girls’ schools were the first to suffer, since an ordinary 
family as a matter of course took its girls out of school when forced to 
retrench, while making every sacrifice to educate its boys. Many girls’ 
schools have suffered great losses in enrollment, and some have closed 
entirely. So far, Miyagi College has suffered less than the average school, 
and the music course proper has actually gained in numbers. If the 
American constituency (church) is able to continue to support the school, 
there is a great future for it in the continuation of its task of developing 
the best of Western music in music-hungry Japan, and of linking this 
Western music with its historical source, the Christian religion.
Appendix
341
Chicago
January 27, 1930.
Miss Kate Hansen,
Sendai, Japan.
My dear Miss Hansen:
 In recognition of your broad musicianship, of your general cultural 
background, of your musical experience, and especially because of the 
great contribution you are making to the cause of musical education in 
Japan, the Chicago Musical College has voted to award you the degree 
of Doctor of Music, Honoris Causa.
 As an alumnus of this College your constructive efforts have been 
watched with great interest and appreciation by your Alma Mater. So it 
is fitting and appropriate that at this time the College should recognize 
your distinguished achievements with this symbol of the Honorary 
Doctorate.
 All here would join in warmest felicitations to you and highest hopes 
for the continued success of your great work in Japan.
 Signed on behalf of the Executive Board,
 Wesley LaViolette, Music Assistant Director.
WL:VC

Index
343
A
A.A.U.W., 271
Adler (ship), 76
“Adrift,” 329
“Advantages of Being an Old 
Maid,” 115
Akron, 10
Alberg, Ulla, 75n
Alsace-Lorraine, 57
Alsen, 35, 82
Amache, 265
American ambassador to Japan, 262
American fleet, 180
American Legion, 302
American Legion Auxiliary, 302
American Military Government, 
277
American music, 168
Apenrade, 87
Arington, 19, 26
Army, German, 59
Army IX Corps Headquarters, 268
Arnkiel Denkmal, 58
Asama Maru (ship), 260
Asama, Mount, 171
B
Babe Ruth, 248
Baird, Mrs. Leland, 301
Baldwin, Col. Karl, 263
Bales, Alpha Florence (Hansen), 
155–59, 169–70, 209
Bales, Dane G., ix–x, 117n, 204, 
219, 263–64, 291–304
Bales, Dane G. Jr., i, 296
Bales, Polly Roth, ix–x, 219, 263–64, 
291–304
balls (dances), 68, 96
bark house, 213–14, 284
baseball, 248
Bau, 83
Becker, Mrs. Lloyd, 301
Beken, 72–73, 77, 96
Beloit, 33, 109
Beloit High School, 109
berries, 58
Berwick, 100
Bible, the, 293
Binkelman, 8–9
Bladt, Katherine, 93
Blüthezeit, 113, 145–46
Board of Missions, 161
Bones (horse), 9
Book-of-the-Month Club, 293
Börkop, 89
Boulder, 17
Böysen, Katherine, 96
Böysen, Marie, 96
Branch, Hazel, 128
Broacker, 95
INDEX
This book’s computer files were converted from PageMaker to InDesign, 
causing some shifts in line and page breaks. As a result, the page-number 
references in this index will sometimes be inaccurate.
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
344
Brönsted, 90
Brownies, St. Louis, 299
Buddhism, 163, 239
Bunch, Barry, ix
Burns, Alice (fictional character), 
190–203
C
cable car, 18–19
Cambridge, 7
Capitol Hill, 25
card club, 74
Castle Rock, 21
Catholics, 103
cherry trees, 278, 287–88
Chicago, 33
children’s ball, 96
Chinese emperor, 205
“chosen people,” 194
“Christ and the Apostles,” 48
Christian Church, 294, 306
Christian marriages, 202
Christianity, viii, 113n, 163, 181, 
197, 202, 215, 218, 220, 223–24, 
230–31, 238–40, 246, 256–57, 261, 
285, 315–16, 318, 322, 334, 344–45
Church World Service, 268, 275–76
City of Rome (ship), 34, 103
City Park, 25
Clarke, Bill, ix
“Class Teacher,” 222
Clausen, Meta, 78
clothing shortage, 266, 282–83
Clyde River, 104
Colorado City, 21
Columbian International Exposition 
(World’s Fair), 33
confirmation, 70, 77–78
Confucianism, 239
Cookingham, Kate Troup, 109–10, 
292n
Cookingham, Nancy, 169
Cooper, Dr. A. E., 302
Copenhagen, 34, 42–48
County Commission, 2
covered wagon, 7–30
“Cradle Song from the Aomori 
Country,” 326
Cresten, 91
Crooked Creek, 15
Culbertson, 8
Cundiff, William, 248
custom house, 49, 105
Czar’s yacht, 47
D
daily schedule in Denmark, 58
Damewood, Emma, 303
dance, 68, 70, 82
Danish king, 59
Date family, 177, 310
Davis, Mrs. A. C., 169
De LaRoche, Mazo, 293
Delffs, 73, 77, 95
Denver, 18–19, 23–26, 114
Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, 
21
Devizes, 7, 30
Dewey, Cmdr. O. C., 265n
Dickens, Charles, 295
Dickinson, Emily, 213, 294
dinnerware, 295
Dodds, Caryl and Mary, 300
Doerfus, Mabel, 127
Donegal, 104
dress trim, 299
drinking water, 219
Dutch Reformed Church, 161n
Index
345
E
Earthquake of 1923, Great, 216
earthquakes, 163
Easter, 75, 80
Ebsen, Christine, 94
Edinburgh, 101
education, 107
Eel “Fabriken,” 64
Eis-tag, 69
elk horns, 14
Embassy, U.S., 256, 259–60
Emery, Marie, 169
“Emigrated,” 328
Emma (ship), 40
Emperor’s picture, 194
Empress Jingo, 239
Empress of Japan, 308–11
engine room, 42
Ernst Gunther (ship), 74
Estes Park, 13
evangelizing, 167
expulsion order, 163–64
F
Fader Minde (ship), 73
fair, 60
Faust, Dr. A. K., 226–27
Faust Hall, 270
Faust, Lloyd, 269
Felgar, Leon, 124
Fesperman, Jimmy, 269
Fingsten, 97
Fisher, Effie, 159
Flensburg, 74
Flensburg Fjord, 64
flour export, 33
flour mill, 2–3
flowers, 274, 278
food shortage, 256, 260–61
football game (KU), 299
Fort Morgan, 11
Fosdick, Harry E., 207
Fourth Order of the Sacred 
Treasure, 310–11
Fredericia, 91
Fredericksburg Palace, 45
Fremont’s buttes, 10
Fuda, Yoko, 307
G
garden, 274
Garden of the Gods, 21
Garner, Margaret (“Tribute to Dr. 
Kate I. Hansen”), 313–17
Gerhard, Robert, 272, 313
German Army conscription, 36n
German Reformed Church, 161, 
176n
gift of piano, 307
Ginn Series of Music Readers, 338, 
340
Glade, 2
Glorious Fourth, 270
Gloyne, Howard F., 112n
gold watch, 63
Göteburg, 34, 37–42
Gray, Alpha A., 1, 3
Gray, Henry, 1
Gray, John, 1
Gray, Lewis, 1
Gray, Liggitt, 1
Gray, Pearl, 1
Gray, William, 1
Great Depression, 217–18
Greb-Hall, Mary, ix
Greeley, 12
Green, Ruth, 292n, 299
Grew, Ambassador, 288
Grey, Zane, 1
“Ground Crews,” 327
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
346
H
Haigler, 9
Hama-Yoshida, 271–73
Hansen, Alpha A., 169–70, 209, 214, 
295n
Hansen, Alpha Florence, 155, 170, 
209
Hansen, Christine, 84
Hansen, Dane Gray, ix, 29, 110, 209, 
262, 264, 302
Hansen, Doris, 120n, 121, 128
Hansen family, patriotism, 302; 
reconciliation, 62; songfests, 294
Hansen Foundation, x, 307
Hansen, Franz, 64
Hansen, George, 2, 24, 27–29, 84, 
87, 110, 209
Hansen home, 108, 291–304
Hansen, Kate Ingeborg, 1, 4, 6, 220, 
236, 248–54; academic degrees, 
110–11, 114, 154, 208; acting 
president of Miyagi College, 210, 
249; appointment to Japan, 155–
59, 161; articles: see individual 
titles; as a person, 250; as boss, 
248; as cultural ambassador, 
5, 164, 266; as leader, 316; 
considers medical career, 149; 
contributions to music, 209–10, 
213; dress, 253; education, 107–
14; everyday life, 250; favorite 
foods, 251; favorite musicians, 
252; friends, 249, 252; furloughs, 
168; grandparents, 1–2; health, 
252; learns German, 63; learns 
Japanese, 207; loan to Board of 
Mission, 218; love of flowers, 251; 
memorial auditorium dedication, 
311; Memorial Scholarship, 307; 
memories, 254; paintings, 253; 
pets, 250; Phi Beta Kappa, 111; 
photos of, 4, 6, 51, 67, 152, 154, 
159, 170, 176, 179, 184, 188, 209, 
211, 220, 236, 241, 265, 267, 270, 
284, 289, 296, 305, 306, 307, 309, 
311; possessions, 252; purpose 
for being in Japan, 168; reading 
habits, 251; return to Japan, 308; 
siblings, 4; teacher’s certificate, 
110; teaching assignment, 164; 
teaching load, 210; teetotaler, 
40; travels, 252–54; University of 
Kansas Citation for Distinguished 
Service, 304–5; views on Gen. 
MacArthur, 249; views on 
Japanese language, 249; views on 
why she went to Japan, 248; views 
on World War II, 253; Western-
style home, 215
Hansen, Machta, 120, 120n
Hansen, Marie, 19, 23
Hansen Museum, 171
Hansen, Perry and Ruth, 159
Hansen, Peter, 2–4, 2n, 36n, 107, 
209, 291, 293, 302; letter from 
Kate, 173–80; passport, 45
Hansen, Regina, 74
Hansen store, 3
Hanssen, Hans Peter, 86–87
Hanssen, Ingeborg, 2
Hanssen, Jorgen, 2, 59
Hanzawa, Keiko, 307
haori, 301
Harbin, Calvin, ix–x, 317
hard times, 216–18
Harper’s Ferry, 105
Harrington, Elizabeth, 135, 137
Harrington, Florence, 131
Hartlepool, 100
Haskell, 126
Hawaii, 263
Heinzman, Harry, 158
Index
347
Hemphill, Elizabeth, 166n
Hill, Oscar, 17
Hirohito, 171, 305, 310–11
Hiroshima, 265
Hitler, 256, 262
Hodson, Stella, 17
hoodoo night, 280
Hoover, Nancy, 1
horse cars, 45
hospital, Norton, 305
Hotel Denmark, 49
Hotel Victoria, 44
Husted, 21
Hutchinson, Annie, 303
Hymns and Anthems for Women’s 
Voices, 210, 212, 338
I
“If I Could Know,” 140
Imperial Palace, 310–12
Indianola, 8
intelligence reports, 265
internees, 264
ironing machine, 61
Ishii, Masamitus, 317n
islands, Japanese, 161
Izanagi, 166
Izanami, 166
J
Jackson, Ruby, 158
Jalna books, 293
Japan map, 162
Japan, postwar Allied Occupation, 
266–70
Japan, war with, 255–66
“Japanese Are Learning to Sing,” 
235–38
Japanese Association of University 
Women (J.A.U.W.), 271
Japanese clothes, 188
Japanese lanterns, 219
Japanese lunch, 169
Japanese military, 205, 270
Japanese party, 169
Japanese Women’s Rights 
Movement, 214–15, 239–44, 315
Jespersen, Inger, 78
“Jesu! With Joy We Follow Thee,” 
323
“Jesus Loves Me,” 324
Jones, Billy, ix
Julliard School of Music, 208
Jutland, 80, 84–85
K
Kamehameha, 263
Kanhistique, 109n
Kansas City, 105, 229
Kansas Women’s Republican Club, 
300
Karuizawa, 162, 171–72, 186, 213–
14, 216–17, 219, 252–54
Kashiwayama, Eichiko, 310
“Katharine the Shrew,” 113, 119, 
123, 137
Kawanchi, 277
Keeler, Bernice, 298–300, 303
Kemper, Minnie, 303
King of Denmark, 2
kitchen, Danish, 61
Kollund, 83, 98
Korsør, 34, 48–49
Kriete, Bess, 269, 313
Kriete, Carl, 268–69, 276, 313
KU Commencement (1946), 265
Kumamoto, 286
L
Lamar, 265
Last evening, 105
LaViolette, Wesley, 280, 347
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
348
Lawrence, vii, 110
leader, 316
Leis, Kate, 131
Leonhardt, Sophie (Hanssen), 35, 
50, 53, 79, 83
libraries, 293n
Liggitt, Susanna, 1
Limon, 27
Lindsey, Lydia, ix, 155–57, 161, 
161n, 163–68, 171–72, 176, 179–
80, 186–87, 210n, 213–14, 214n, 
215n, 216–18, 219n, 220, 248, 250, 
252, 256, 260–61, 263–66, 269, 
271–72, 274, 282, 284–85, 287, 
289, 292–302, 304–11, 313–16
Littleton, 21
Logan, x, 2–5, 8, 16, 19, 30, 33, 63, 
89, 107–9, 109n, 110, 114n, 128, 
135, 139, 169, 171n, 180, 190, 208, 
219, 244, 253, 264–65, 291–92, 
292n, 293, 297, 300, 302, 305–6
Logan American Legion, 302
Logan (cat), 250
Logan High School, 293n
Logan Junior High School, 293n
Logan Lake, 301
Logan Library, 293, 300
Logan Republican, 169, 300–1, 308
Logan Womens Club, 300, 306
Long’s Peak, 11
Loveland, 12–13
Luthi, Mrs. Harmon, 301
Lyons, 15–16
M
MacArthur, Gen. Douglas, 249, 266, 
269
Manchuria, 205, 255
Manitou, 21
Manufacturers and Liberal Arts 
Building, 33
Maruyama, Toshi, 310
Marvin, 110
Masonic Order, 298
Matsue-San (fictional character), 
190–203
Matsuoka, 261
Matsushima, 166, 222, 265, 282
Matsushima Bay, 222
meal, Japanese, 298
meals, Danish, 58
Memorial Day, 302
Mensendiek, William, ix, 210n, 
218n, 318n, 331
Metropolitan Opera, 294
millinery store, 110–11
millpond, 89
mining camps, 18
“Misconceptions and Present 
Problems,” 229–34
Mission Board of N.Y., 313–14
Mission societies, 243
Mission standards, 230
Mitsubishi shipyards, 286
Miyabor, Mikie, 307
Miyagi Gakuin (Girls’ School, 
College), viii, 155, 159, 161, 164, 
167, 173, 181, 184, 190, 209, 211n, 
213, 215, 217–18, 218n, 219–24, 
226–27, 229, 231, 233–35, 237–38, 
240–47, 263, 266, 269–71, 273, 
281, 289, 292, 300, 305–11, 313–
17, 321, 331, 334, 340–42, 344–46; 
Mother and Daughter Group, 
241; Music Conservatory, 266; 
Music Dept., 210; seventy-fifth 
anniversary, 308
Mölle, 87, 89–90, 92
Monument, 21
Morgan (horse), 9
mothers-in-law, 174
Munkmühle, 65
Index
349
Murasakino-Shikibu, 239
Murphy, Chancellor Franklin, 297, 
305
museums, 23, 47–48
music and religion, 318
“Music Hath Charms,” 245–47
Myer, Peter, 55–56
myths, Shinto, 166
N
Nagasaki, 265, 285–86
National Christian Education 
Association, 269
Nazi advisers, 256, 261
“near-communists,” 273
need for missionaries, 186–87
Neelley, Malcolm, ix
Netke-Löwe, Madame Margarethe, 
211
“New Order,” 205–6
New Year’s Eve, 70
New York, 104–5
Newcastle, 100
Newfoundland, 104
Newton Quartette, 124
Nichols, Walter, 269
Nippon Maru (ship), 164
Norris, Frances, 144
North College, 131, 151
North College hill, 151–53
Norton, 7, 28–30
Norton County, 2, 7
O
Oda, President, 308
Ofen, 67
Old World, 38
Oldroyd, Roxanna, 129–33, 135, 
138–40, 158
“Olksheder,” 67
Order of Eastern Star, 298, 306
organ gifts, 294–95
“Our College Women, and Their 
Sisters in Japan,” 239–44
“Our Trip to Germany,” 36–105
Outlook of Missions, The, 181, 186, 
222, 224, 229
Oxen Islands, 74
Ozaki, Theodora Yei, 287
Ozaki, Yukio, 287–89
P
Palace compound, 311
Palmer’s Lake, 22
pancakes, 41
parade ground, 91
Peking, 260
Penn, William, 1
Perry, Commodore Matthew C., 
285, 288
Philadelphia, 105, 157
Philippines, 285
Phillips County, 110
Phillips County Women’s 
Republican Club, 306
Phillipsburg, ix, 110
Phillipsburg Normal School, 110
photographer, 75
piano practice, 167, 294
Pike View, 21
Pike’s Peak, 18
Pike’s Peak Railroad, 22
plums, 42, 58, 89
politics of war, 205–6
Porter, Florence, 146
Portugal, 163
postcard, 172
Presbyterian Church, 156
President’s warning, 263
Presidio of Monterey, 263
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
350
Preyer, Prof. Carl, 111–12, 126, 208
Priestman, Brian, 307
Prohibition, 40
Prussia, 57
Q
Quonset huts, 275–76
R
Randerschof, 97
Ravnskoppel, 2, 35, 49–51, 53, 60, 
70, 79, 84, 92, 98
reception (1961), 308
Reformed Church Messenger, 181n, 
229, 235n, 239
Reformed Church of the United 
States, 114, 154, 156
religions, 163
religious instruction, 181
relocation camps, 264–65
Reno, Minnie, 135, 137
Republican River, 9
requisition of church building, 275
retirement, 266
rice, 177, 179
rickshaws, 174
Rinkenis, 70, 96
Ritter, Simon (fictional character), 
134
Rocket (train), 304
Roosevelt, President Theodore, 
143, 164, 287–88
rowing, 72, 76
runaway team, 24–25
Russo-Japanese War, 164
Ryther, Prof. Thomas, 173
S
Sakai, Tsuneo, 317n
sake, 177
Sandberg, 50–51, 83
Santa Fe Railroad, 23
samurai, 192
Sato, Gonzaburo, 284
Saito, Yuriko, 307
Schlesvig-Holstein, 57, 89
Schlesvig school, 109
“Schlesvig” symphony, 307, 314, 
330
Schneder, Dr. David B., 176n, 276
school, German, 66
school, last day of, 72
school, prayer, 182
Schultz (photographer), 75
Schweitzer, Albert, 293
Scotland, 100
Sea of Japan, 161
Sekimoto, Tamae, 307
Sendai, 161–62, 164–66, 166n, 172, 
174–76, 176n, 177–78, 180–81, 
183, 186, 190, 209, 210n, 211, 
214–16, 218–20, 224–25, 231, 238, 
240, 247–48, 256–57, 260–61, 
265–66, 268–69, 271–73, 275–76, 
278–82, 286, 292, 300, 305–6, 308, 
310, 310n, 311, 313, 315
Seiple, Mrs. Florence, 186–87, 210
servants, 55
Seto, Gyoko, 280
Shintoism, 163, 166
shipyards, Mitsubishi, 286
Shobei Jo Gakuin, 166n
shops, Japanese, 175
short-wave radio, 167
Siler, Charlie, 158
singing club, 84
sitting room, 60
Index
351
sledding, 119, 139–40
slippers, 53
smelters, 20
Smith, Frank, 159
snowstorm, 280
social conditions of Japanese 
students, 167
soldiers, Danish, 59
Solomon District, 2
“Sonata Pathétique,” 132, 143
Sonderburg, 34, 49–50, 58–59, 75n, 
76
Spain, 163
Spector, Deborah, 112–14
spinning, 58
“Spinn-Spinn,” Swedish song, 94
Stafford, Mabel, 122, 130, 133, 136, 
142–43, 146–47, 158
Star Festival, 165
status of women in Japan, 139–44, 
315
Stelter, Grace, 158
Stern, Ida, 131, 137
Stevens, Prof. William C., 301
Stevenson, Teresa, ix
Stirling, 102
“Story of Miss Pine-bough,” 190–
203
Stranderott, 62–63, 93–94
Stratton, 8
student protest, 117
Student Volunteer Movement, 113, 
148; convention, 229
Süderhoff, 98
süfü, 259–60
Suhr, Mrs. Sumner, 301
suitable husband, 198–203
Sunday school, 194–95
Sunshine, 18
Swedish plums, 42
T
Taft, President William H., 287–88
Takayama, 309
“Tayblumen,” 83, 89
tea, 297
tea shops, 176
teaching profession, 108
temperance meeting, 133
Thaysen, Dita, 98
Thietje, Amalie, 65
Thietje, Doris, 63
Thietje (family), 62–79, 83–84, 
93–99
Thietje, Friedrich, 64–65, 68–69, 77, 
94, 98
Thietje, Heinrich, 65
Thietje, Henning, 65, 96
Thietje, Ingeborg, 51, 53, 58, 62–79, 
83–84, 93–99
Thietje, Marie, 62
“Thine Am I,” 136
Thorwaldsen, Bertel, 48
Thorwaldsen’s Museum, 47
Three Obediences, 239
To Japan With Love, 210n, 218n
Tohoku Imperial University, 271
Tomanek, Dr. G.W., 301
Topeka, 33, 91, 105
Topez, 265
towns passed, 30
trade, 175
trains, crowded, 269
travel, postwar, 268
“Treasures from Japan,” 300
Trenton, 8
“Tribute to Dr. Kate I. Hansen,” 
313–17
“Trip to Colorado,” 7–13
trophy presentation, 211
Troup, Abe, 298
Troup, Frances, 298
Kate Hansen—tHe Grandest Mission on eartH
352
“Tune ‘Tsuchi,’” 325
“Twenty-one Demands,” 205
typhoon, 186
U
“Under the Juniper Tree,” 134–35
Ungen resort, 286
United Church of Christ, 161n, 306
University of Kansas Archives, vii, 
ix, 292, 306
University of Kansas Library, 293n
University of Kansas Symphony 
Orchestra, 307
V
Van Cleef, Lucia, 126, 144
Van Loon, H. W., 164n
Van Zandt, Anna, 158
Vikings, 59
Virginia (ship), 47
volcano, 171
W
Walton, Jennie, 131, 137
war rations, 261
war with Japan, 285
war with Russia, 288
Washington, D.C., 105
Wassersleben, 98
W.C.T.U., 215
wedding, 263
wedding dance, 82
wedding, Danish, 80
Western music, 220, 235, 245, 
331–46
“When the HILL turns GREEN” 
party, 299
“Why the Church Should Provide 
the Money for the New Science 
Building at Sendai, Japan,” 
224–28
Wilcox, Winifred, 158
Wilsonville, 7
Wisconsin, 2
wooden shoes, 54
Woodin, John, 158
Woodin, Miss, 130
Women’s Kansas Day Club, 306
Women’s Missionary Society, 245n
women’s rights, 214–15, 239–44
“Word Picture of the Missionary,” 
248–54
Working, Dan, 25
World’s Fair of 1893, 33
World Power, 164
World War I, 205
Y
yard work, 295
Yatsugatake Mountains, 171
yearbook (KU), 1905, 152
Yokohama, 164, 268
Yuma, 10
YWCA, 111, 124, 215, 246
Z
Zane, Alice J., 1
Zane, Col. Ebenezer, 1
Zealand, 34
Zoological Garden, 46