Day 82: Steward's House-Foreign Mission School, Cornwall, Connecticut
đź“ŚAPIA Every Day (82) - The Foreign Mission School (FMS) in Cornwall, Connecticut, operated from 1817 to 1826, marking the first domestically located foreign mission school in the US. Its goal was to convert students to Christianity and propagate Protestant values, particularly in the Asia-Pacific Island region, while simultaneously training them as preachers, healthcare workers, translators, and teachers within their respective communities. The FMS student body totaled over 100 individuals, including Hawaiians, Chinese, Jews, Malays, Bengalese, and Hindus, as well as fourteen American Indian Nations.
The school was established when its first student, Hawaiian refugee Heneri Opukaha’ia, interacted with Edwin Dwight, son of Yale president Timothy Dwight, leading to the formation of the institution in 1817. In its first year of opening, it hosted Hawaiian, Chinese, Hindu, Bengali, and Native American students, among others. Students received education across various subjects alongside practical skills like coopering and blacksmithing. However, the presence of non-Christian people of color sparked concern among local residents, fearing miscegenation.
Two interracial marriages involving Foreign Mission School students—John Ridge, a Cherokee, with Sarah Northrop, and Elias Boudinot with local girl Harriet Gold—met vehement opposition from the community, resulting in public displays of anger and threats. The backlash ultimately led to pressure on the school to close. Additionally, concerns from families regarding the impact of the New England climate on their children's health, exacerbated by the "climate-related" deaths of Pacific Islanders, contributed to the decision by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to shut down the school in 1826.
In 2016, the Steward’s House, one of the few surviving buildings from the FMS era, received designation as a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service. This designation serves to highlight the history of Asian and Pacific Islander students who faced racial adversity from the Cornwall community during the 19th century.
LEARN MORE:
Connecticut History: An Experiment in Evangelization: Cornwall’s Foreign Mission School
The Register Citizen: Steward’s House in Cornwall designated as National Historic Landmark
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