Amy Oxley Wilkinson with the Boys’ Blind School Band, Fuzhou

Collection

Identifier

JC-s384

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Notes

University of Bristol - Historical Photographs of China reference number: JC-s384. The Australian Anglican nurse and missionary, Amy Oxley Wilkinson (1868-1949), founded the C.M.S. (Church Missionary Society) Blind Boys School in Fuzhou (Foochow). Wilkinson is playing the harmonium in this post card image. The school was at Dongdai (东岱), a village in Lianjiang (连江), near Fuzhou, Fujian and this photograph was probably taken at the school. In 1917, in recognition of her life's work, the Republic of China awarded Wilkinson the very rare Order of the Precious Brilliant Golden Grain. Musical groups from the School for the Blind eventually began touring Fujian province, then to other parts of China, and finally to the UK. The school, which Wilkinson established in 1898 with a single student, is still operating, now moved to the city of Fuzhou. Further reading: ‘They Shall See His Face: The Story of Amy Oxley Wilkinson and Her Visionary Blind School in China’ by Linda and Robert Banks. Printed on the back of the post card: CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY, SALISBURY SQUARE, LONDON, E.C.4. See JC-s008, JC-s009, JC-s010, JC-s012, JC-s014 and JC-s273.