Alicia Morey Graham

Alicia Morey Graham (葛慕義) (1882-1954) was a missionary in Sichuan Province China from 1911 to 1948. She was born to a prominent family in Fairport, New York and was in the first graduating class of women at the University of Rochester in 1908. She met David Crockett Graham and they were married in 1910, while he was attending the Rochester Theological Seminary. Because she was married to D.C.Graham, and because they were committed to becoming foreign missionaries together, she was allowed to take courses at the Seminary, but was informed that they did not give degrees to women.

The Graham’s arrived in Shanghai just as the Qing Dynasty was being overthrown in 1911. They stayed in the safety of Shanghai for a year studying Chinese with a Sichuanese scholar. In the heat of the summer, they moved with other missionaries to nearby Shaohsing in the cooler mountains. Alicia Graham was pregnant with her first child, and she was the only missionary with a proper collection of dishes and utensils for managing a kitchen, so she took on that responsibility. Up to this point, she and David had shared equal roles in studying and learning. From this point forward she would take on a supporting role, while David was able to focus completely on studying and learning. When they departed up the Yangtze to Sichuan Province, they took the Sichuanese scholar on their houseboat and were able to continue their studies of Chinese during the 4 month trip.

Much less is known about Alicia Graham’s activities as a missionary than of David’s. However, from reports published in the Journal of the West China Border Research Society, it is seen that she served as the librarian for that Society. There are also a couple of poems that she published in the West China Missionary News as well as an article on How Christianity Came to the Hua Miao. She was a prolific letter writer, and there are some details of the Graham’s history that we know from her letters that were published in the newspaper of Fairport, New York, her hometown. In D.C.Graham’s Autobiography, he notes that she helped in the Museum at West China Union University, labeling specimens and other activities. She helped D.C.Graham with his publications, and he noted in the preface to his 1954 book, Songs and Stories of the Ch’uan Miao, that she spent a great deal of time correcting the notes and typing the stories. She was also well known as a hostess for dignitaries and others visiting the University.

During World War II, American planes that flew over the Himalayas from India landed outside Chengdu, and American GIs were stationed there. They would come in to Chengdu, and many would end up at the Graham’s sharing dinner even when they arrived at the last minute. One GI was at a shop in Chengdu and the shop owner told him he should go see this local missionary. He was surprised to find that it was Alicia Graham, whom he was familiar with because he was from the same part of Upstate New York.

A significant factor in David Crockett Graham’s success in life and his career achievements was that in Alicia Morey Graham he had one of the best supporting actors in the missionary field. She stood behind him, supported him, managed the household, entertained important guests, worked with the museum and the research society, and much more. Without her, his star might not have shown as brightly as it did.

Alicia Morey Graham in a bamboo stand on Mokanshan, 1911. Missionaries in Shanghai retreated to the cooler mountains to escape the heat of the summers. Shan is mountain, so Mokanshan is Mount Mokan or now Mount Mogan.