Grace Foster Herben

Grace Ida Foster Herben (born Grace Ida Foster, 19 September 1864 – July 1938) was an American educator and missionary. The daughter of a minister and the wife of another, her career became intertwined with that of Rev. Stephen J. Herben after their marriage. Beforehand she served as the dean of women at Allegheny College, and afterwards she worked with the Northwestern Branch of the Methodist Woman's Foreign Missionary Society. She was a delegate to the 1910 World Missionary Conference, and was the only woman to serve on the New Jersey Council of National Defense during World War I.

Early life and education

Herben was born Grace Ida Foster on 19 September 1864, in Lanark, Illinois.[1][2] Her father was Rev. John Onesimus Foster, a member of the Rock River Conference and chaplain of the Sons of the American Revolution, and her mother Caroline Amelia Foster (née Bolles).[1][2] In 1889 she graduated from Northwestern University with a Bachelor of Letters.[1][2]

Career

Following her graduation from Northwestern University, Herben served from 1889 to 1891 as the dean of women at Allegheny College.[1][2] Her 1891 marriage to Rev. Stephen J. Herben largely merged her career with his, with both devoted to the ministry,[1] although from 1891 to 1892 she was also a graduate student at Northwestern.[3] In 1906 she started a college department of the Northwestern Branch of the Methodist Woman's Foreign Missionary Society, a society for which she served as secretary from 1906 to 1910.[4] The program flourished, and was copied by most major denominations.[4] This engineered a further program to attract female college students to missionary work.[4]

Herben was a delegate to the 1910 World Missionary Conference,[5] and during World War I was the only woman to serve on the New Jersey Council of National Defense.[6]

Personal life

Herben married Stephen J. Herben, a Northwestern classmate, on 27 May 1891.[7][1] They had two children: George Foster Herben, a physician, and Stephen Joseph Herben Jr., a philologist at Bryn Mawr College.[1] Her husband died in February 1937 and she in June of the following year, in Maplewood, New Jersey.[5][6]

In 1906 Herben was accidentally shot by George Foster Herben while target shooting.[8] The bullet lodged above her left knee and was not deemed serious,[8] although her husband's initial refusal to answer questions about the matter led to sensational headlines,[9] such as Lips are Sealed: Rev. Herben's Wife Shot Down.[10]

References

1. Downs 1938, p. 130.
2. Leonard 1914–15, p. 382.
3. Atwell 1903, p. 200.
4. Downs 1938, pp. 130–131.
5. Downs 1938, p. 131.
6. "Deaths in Jersey". Plainfield Courier-News. Plainfield, New Jersey. 23 July 1938. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Marriages: Beta". The Alpha Phi Quarterly. The Alpha Phi fraternity. III (4): 134. August 1891.
8. "Mrs. Grace Foster Herben". Palatine Enterprise. Palatine, Illinois. 18 January 1907. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Editor Explains: Accidental Shooting of Wife of S. J. Herben Prevents His Coming Here". The Rock Island Argus. Rock Island, Illinois. 27 December 1906. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "Lips are Sealed: Rev. Herben's Wife Shot Down". The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. 26 December 1906. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.

Bibliography

• Atwell, Charles B., ed. (1903). Alumni Record of the College of Liberal Arts. Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University.
• Downs, Winfield Scott, ed. (1938). "Herben, Rev. Stephen Joseph". Encyclopedia of American Biography. New Series. New York: American Historical Society. pp. 129–131.
• Leonard, John William, ed. (1914–15). "Herben, Grace Foster (Mrs. Stephen J. Herben)". Woman's Who's who of America: A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporary Women of the United States and Canada. New York: American Commonwealth Co. pp. 382–383.