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| Record Creator: | Hulbert, Esther |
| Title: | Esther and Jeannette Hulbert Papers |
| Title: | Hulbert Papers |
| Dates: | 1912-1988 |
| Abstract: | This collection contains the papers, artifacts and images of two Methodist Missionary sisters from Ohio who served a total of seventy-eight years in Korea and Cuba. Jeannette served in Korea, while Esther served in both Korea and Cuba. They were both teachers at Ewha Women's University in Seoul and Esther also taught at a high school in Pyenyang and at Eliza Bowman School in Cienfuego, Cuba. Neither ever married. Both ended their days at Brooks-Howell Home in Asheville, NC after long and productive lives. |
| Extent: | 1.45 cubic feet |
| Resource ID: | gcah.ms.4207 |
Jeanette Charlotte Hulbert (1889-1978), American missionary, was born in 1889 on October 17th, Jeanette was the oldest of five children. Her sister Esther was third with brothers Roy Truman, Frederick Leo and Howard Hiram. Her father was a Methodist minister named Newell Eugene Hulbert who served in the North-East Ohio Conference and her mother was Emma Jane Hardy. Jeanette was only fourteen when her mother died and she, as the eldest, assumed considerable responsibility for the care of her siblings. In time, she went on to Ohio Wesleyan University and graduated in 1912. A bout of typhoid fever caused a nine month delay in her deployment, but by 1914 she was on her way to Korea as a missionary.
Jeanette’s years in Korea were spent teaching mathematics, Bible studies and science at Ewha College, later to become Ewha University, in Seoul. The year 1919 marked a tumultuous era in Korea as the country exerted its independence from Japan. Students from her college were jailed and being a Westerner became even more perilous than usual. She was sent home on furlough that year and used the time to complete a master’s degree in education at Columbia Teacher’s College and also attend classes at Union Theological Seminary. She returned to Korea and remained until 1940 when the threat of World War II loomed and forced an evacuation. Furloughs offered opportunities for additional education and she took advantage of this with more study at the University of Chicago and Chicago Theological School.
Jeannette traveled a third time to Korea in 1947 and worked there until the Korean War threatened; she was again evacuated in 1950. Following her years in Korea, Jeanette worked at the ACLU office in Cleveland and for the Women’s Society. Always, she continued to be active in church affairs with speaking engagements and presentations. In time, she moved to Brooks-Howell Home in Asheville, NC where she died on June 14, 1978. She chose to donate her body to Duke University Medical School. Eventually, her remains were cremated and her ashes scattered near the Memorial Tree at Brooks-Howell.
Esther Laura Hulbert (1894-1993), American Methodist Church missionary, served in Korea and Cuba for a total of thirty-eight years by the time of her retirement on July 1, 1961. She was born in Colebrook, Ohio, on September 17, 1894 to Newel Eugene Hulbert and Emma Jane Hardy Hulbert. Esther was the third of five siblings, two girls and three boys; both she and her older sister, Jeanette Charlotte Hulbert, became Methodist Episcopal Church missionaries with the Women’s Foreign Missionary Society. Her father was a minister and she was parsonage-raised with her sister Jeannette and their brothers. Esther was educated at Bellaire High School, graduating in 1912, and Ohio Wesleyan University from which she earned a BA in 1917. She completed a masters degree at Teachers College Columbia in 1930 with short courses at Kent State Normal (1919), University of Southern California (1935) and Chicago Theological Seminary (1937). Prior to becoming a missionary, she taught at Thompson High School, Willoughby High School and Madison High School — all in Ohio — and Bethesda High School at which she was both a teacher and principal.
Home church for Esther was Methodist Episcopal church, Geneva, Ohio where she was active as a Sunday School teacher, president of the Young Woman’s Missionary Society and Epworth League president. Later her home church was recorded as Methodist Church, Cienfuegos, Cuba. Esther was commissioned in 1923 and set sail for Korea in November of that year. While in Korea, Esther was at Ewha College where she was engaged in language study and teaching in Seoul at Ewha High School from 1923 to 1928. During those years, she also spent time in Pyenyang at Chung Eui School doing similar work. Esther remained in Korea until November of 1940 when she was evacuated via the S. S. Mariposa. In 1942, she was sent to Cienfuegos, Cuba where she remained, except when on furlough, until 1960 teaching at Eliza Bowman School.
Furloughs were taken from December, 1928-August, 1930, January, 1936-March, 1937, November, 1940-August, 1942, July, 1948-August, 1949 and June, 1954-September, 1956. Esther was in Cuba during the take-over by Fidel Castro. She served for a total of thirty-eight years. Her pre-retirement furlough beginning in 1960 included speaking engagements in Wisconsin, Illinois and Ohio. Upon leaving full-time missions work, she settled in Cleveland where she moved into a municipal housing project and helped to register African-American voters to support the successful mayoral candidacy of Carl Stokes. In 1967, Esther moved to Brooks-Howell Home in Asheville, NC where she remained until her death on November 13, 1993. Like her sister Jeanette Charlotte Hulbert, Esther decided to donate her body to science. After death, her remains were taken to Bowman Gray Medical School, Wake Forest University. Later her body too was cremated and the ashes spread around Brooks-Howell’s Memorial Tree.
The Jeannette Charlotte and Esther Laura Hulbert Papers consists of personal papers, publications and artifacts stored in one flat box, one 5" letter-sized document box (diaries and notebooks) and two 5" legal size boxes in the following series:
There are many letters to and from both sisters. Jeannette maintained a supportive relationship with the Park family for many years, even after leaving Korea permanently; she provided financial support for the children and they stayed in touch with her for many years. There is personal correspondence from fellow faculty and friends in which she is addressed as "Bert."
Esther also has a similar line of correspondence. Of note are copies of two letters she wrote in retirement to Fidel Castro pertaining to his potitical stance post-revolution. Also, the back of a letter requesting aid for refugees of the Spanish Civil War signed by Pablo Casales was used by Esther to create a copy of a personal typed letter she wrote. Holiday cards are also found.
The collection contains work related correspondence which is mostly received mail, rather than sent by either sister. These items include letters from Dr. Helen Kim, Dr. Alice Appenzeller and notable figures in women's education in Korea.
Documents from this collection include the following: Personal papers of both sisters inclue passports, statement of accrued wages, etc. There is an ID document for Esther written in Chinese. Also, Esther's teaching credentials/license from the state of Ohio is included.
From Korea, a researcher can find 1919 Korean Independence papers, affidavits of arrested students, papers pertaining to the schools at which they taught. Also found are many small leaflets and brochures. A significant collection of photographs contains shots of both sisters, faculty members, students (both individual, groups and engaged in activities, plus landscape images (one of the landscape images is a glass negative) and shots of campus buildings. Images from Ewha contain shots of Helen Kim and Alice Appenzeller. Shots from Cuba include images of activities, class portraits, individual student portaits, images of school buidlings and shots of faculty. From the US are Jeanette's graduation photo from Ohio Wesleyan University (1912) and Esther's commissioning photo. There are scenes from retirement such as Ewha faculty reunions.
Esther left a number of small notebooks and diaries which include poetry, comments on scripture, expense/budget notations, personal musings and scrapbook entries.
Photocopies of newspaper clippings are part of this collection as are full copies of the Ewha Voice and Korea Calling. The Voice is Ewha Women's University's student newspaper, while Korea Calling is publication of news from all of the Protestant missions in Korea. There is one item classified as an artifact. It is a small, flat woven basket said to be a replica of one found in an ancient tomb. From Esther's stay at the high school in Pyengyang are two yearbooks.
Materials have been arranged in the following manner.
Material is arranged by record type or subject
When citing material from this collection please use the following format: Direct reference to the item or its file folder, Esther and Jeannette Hulbert Papers, United Methodist Church Archives - GCAH, Madison, New Jersey. Do not make use of the items call number as that is not a stable descriptor.
No restrictions.
Detailed use restrictions relating to our collections can be requested from the office of the archivist at the General Commission on Archives and History. Photocopying is handled by the staff and may be limited in certain instances. Before using any material for publication from this collection a formal request for permission to publish is expected and required.
Brooks-Howell Home, Asheville, North Carolina
| Call Number | Folder Title | Date(s) |
| 1591-7-1: 2 | Correspondence - Park Family | 1950-1976 |
| 1591-7-1: 3 | Correspondence - Dear Friends Letters | 1939-1983 |
| 1591-7-1: 4 | Photographs - Korea | Undated |
| 1591-7-1: 5 | Photographs - Korea | 1912-1984 |
| 1591-7-1: 6 | Photographs - Cuba | 1942-1961 |
| 1591-7-1: 7 | Diary - Esther | 1935-1978 |
| 1591-7-1: 8 | Diary - Esther | 1975 |
| 1591-7-1: 9 | Notebook - Esther | 1939-1945 |
| 1591-7-2: 1 | Notebook - Esther | 1934-1973 |
| 1591-7-2: 2 | Notebook - Esther | 1942-1957 |
| 1591-7-2: 3 | Notebook - Esther | 1945-1978 |
| 1591-7-2: 4 | Yearbook - Chung Eui Girls High School | 1934 |
| 1591-7-2: 5 | Yearbook - Chung Eui Girls High School | 1936 |
| 1591-7-2: 7 | Reports - Korea | 1918-1966 |
| 1591-7-2: 8 | Reports - Cuba | 1959-1975 |
| 1591-7-2: 10 | Printed Matter - Korea | 1945-1976 |
| 1591-7-2: 11 | Documents - Korea Independence Movement | 1919 |
| 1591-7-2: 12 | Document - Korea Evacuation | 1940 |
| 1591-7-3: 1 | Manuscript - Castro's Cuba | Undated |
| 1591-7-3: 2 | Manuscript - Character Description of Miss Appenzeller, A | Undated |
| 1591-7-3: 3 | Manuscript - Diamond Mountain | Undated |
| 1591-7-3: 4 | Manuscript - Kim Ja Sung's Decision | 1934 |
| 1591-7-3: 5 | Manuscript - Koran and Its Teachings, The | Undated |
| 1591-7-3: 6 | Biographical - Esther Laura Hulbert | 1936-1983 |
| 1591-7-3: 7 | Biographical - Jennette Charlotte Hulbert | 1950-1984 |
| 1591-7-3: 8 | Miscellany | 1964 |
| 1591-7-4: 2 | Publications - Korea Calling | 1975-1981 |
| 1591-7-4: 4 | Certificates - Esther's Teacher Certificate | 1923 |
