Sarah Clara Smith facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sarah Clara Smith
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| Born | March 24, 1851 |
| Died | February 18, 1947 (aged 95) |
| Occupation | educator, missionary |
Sarah Clara Smith (1851–1947) was an American teacher and a missionary from New York state. A missionary is someone who travels to teach about their religion. Sarah Smith is famous for starting a school in Japan called Smith Girls' School in 1887. Today, this school is known as Hokusei Gakuen Girls Junior High/High School (Japanese: 北星学園女子中学高等学校 Hokusei Gakuen Joshi Chugaku Koutou Gakkou) in Sapporo, Japan.
Sarah's Journey to Japan
Sarah Smith traveled to Tokyo, Japan, in 1880. She came with a group called the Association of Presbyterian Mission International. In 1883, she became unwell because of the climate in Tokyo.
To feel better, she moved north to Sapporo in Hokkaido. The weather there was similar to New York, and she soon became healthy again.
Starting Smith Girls' School
Sarah Smith wanted to open a Christian school in Sapporo. Sapporo was a new city at that time and did not have many churches. However, her missionary group could not give her money to start the school.
So, she went to Hakodate, a larger city. In 1886, she found a job teaching English at the Public Teacher’s College of Sapporo. The next year, in 1887, she was able to start her own Christian school. She named it Smith Girls' School (Japanese: ｽﾐｽ女子学校 Sumisu Joshi Gakkou).
Farming and Lilacs at School
During the Meiji Era (1868–1912), Hokkaido was a new and developing area in Japan. It had a lot of open land, so many people were involved in farming. Because of this, many schools focused on farming education.
Smith Girls' School also included some farming in its lessons, along with Christian education. In 1890, Sarah Smith brought lilacs to Sapporo from the United States. Now, the lilac is the official tree of Sapporo. Every year, the city holds a lilac festival in downtown Odori Park to celebrate these beautiful flowers.
