Hulbert, Jeanette Charlotte

Jeanette Charlotte Hulbert (1889-1978), American missionary, was born in 1889 on October 17th, Jeanette was the oldest of five children. Her sister Esther was third with brothers Roy Truman, Frederick Leo and Howard Hiram. Her father was a Methodist minister named Newell Eugene Hulbert who served in the North-East Ohio Conference and her mother was Emma Jane Hardy. Jeanette was only fourteen when her mother died and she, as the eldest, assumed considerable responsibility for the care of her siblings. In time, she went on to Ohio Wesleyan University and graduated in 1912. A bout of typhoid fever caused a nine month delay in her deployment, but by 1914 she was on her way to Korea as a missionary.

Jeanette’s years in Korea were spent teaching mathematics, Bible studies and science at Ewha College, later to become Ewha University, in Seoul. The year 1919 marked a tumultuous era in Korea as the country exerted its independence from Japan. Students from her college were jailed and being a Westerner became even more perilous than usual. She was sent home on furlough that year and used the time to complete a master’s degree in education at Columbia Teacher’s College and also attend classes at Union Theological Seminary. She returned to Korea and remained until 1940 when the threat of World War II loomed and forced an evacuation. Furloughs offered opportunities for additional education and she took advantage of this with more study at the University of Chicago and Chicago Theological School.

Jeannette traveled a third time to Korea in 1947 and worked there until the Korean War threatened; she was again evacuated in 1950. Following her years in Korea, Jeanette worked at the ACLU office in Cleveland and for the Women’s Society. Always, she continued to be active in church affairs with speaking engagements and presentations. In time, she moved to Brooks-Howell Home in Asheville, NC where she died on June 14, 1978. She chose to donate her body to Duke University Medical School. Eventually, her remains were cremated and her ashes scattered near the Memorial Tree at Brooks-Howell.

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