Soong Mayling (1917)

Soong Mayling, also known as Madame Chiang Kai-shek, was the first lady of the Republic of China. She was born in Shanghai on March 5, 1898, and had two sisters, Chingling and Ailing, and one elder brother Tse-ven and two younger brothers Tse-Liang and Tse-an. She attended primary school at the McTyeire School for Girls with her sister in Shanghai, and, in 1908, she moved to the New Jersey, where her father Charlie Soong had studied. At the age of 15, when her sister Chingling was accepted into Wesleyan College, her sister Ailing’s alma mater. Mayling, at the time, was still too young to be accepted into the college, so it was not until 1912 when Mayling turned 15 that she was registered as an official freshmen student at Wesleyan. Eventually, Mayling transferred to Wellesley College and joined the Class of 1917, as she wanted to be closer to his brother, who, at the time, was attending Harvard. Mayling graduated with a major in English literature and minor in philosophy and was a member of Tau Zeta Epsilon, the Arts and Music Society at Wellesley. She was also one of the 33 students in her graudating year to recieve the title as a “Durant Scholar.” Mayling was considered one of the most influential women at the time and had made notable cross-national impacts, one of which include working alongisde with her husband Chiang Kaui Shek to bridge China-America relationships.

Click here to view a artwork "Five Watercolors" by Madame Chiang Kai-shek from the Davis Museum.