Minnie's Marker

IN THE SUMMER OF 1937, THE DOORS OF HELL burst open in Nanjing, China, as Japanese soldiers invaded the capital city and in three months murdered three hundred thousand Chinese citizens outside the doors of Ginling College, where Wilhelmina “Minnie” Vautrin was a teacher and administrator. (American casualties for the entire war were 407,200.)Vautrin (1886–1941), an American citizen from the tiny village of Secor, located in Woodford County, Illinois, had spent her career as an educator, with degrees from Illinois State University, the University of Illinois, and Columbia College, but she was also a missionary with the Disciples of Christ Church, a faith commitment that would define her work. Ordered to evacuate the city following the invasion of the Japanese army, Vautrin stayed behind and opened the gates of Ginling College to the city's refugees, literally saving the lives of ten thousand young women from the soldiers.The horrors of “the rape of Nanjing,” as told in Iris Chang's book of the same name, haunted Vautrin's life for the next three short years, at the end of which she took her own life, consumed by guilt she had not done enough to save her charges. She died in 1941 in Indiana while on convalescent leave. Her last words included these: “If I had 10 perfect lives, I'd give them all to China.”Vautrin left behind her diaries, which were published between 2000 and 2010 by Southern Illinois University Press. In 2008, Illinois Heritage invited journalism student and Illinois State Historical Society (ISHS) intern Amanda Dahlquist to write a cover story about Vautrin, her life in Illinois, and her work in China, which appeared in the July-August issue of that year. That article was the catalyst for the creation of the “Minnie Vautrin: Goddess of Mercy at the Rape of Nanking” historical marker, which the ISHS unveiled in Secor in April 2023.Marker dedications are special occasions for the ISHS. Not only do historical markers commemorate the past, they bring communities together to celebrate the stories that define and unite us. The society has unveiled more than seven hundred historical markers since the program was established in 1934.Minnie Vautrin's marker did much more. To raise funds for the plaque, we reached out to many organizations, including the Disciples of Christ Historical Society, Eureka College, community leaders in Woodford County, and to the consul general for the People's Republic of China in Chicago, who donated $1,000 for the marker and came to the dedication.To my knowledge, the Vautrin historical marker is the first in the nation to the educator, whom the Chinese still revere as a true hero of the war and an American of distinction. This unique international partnership was affirmed in July of this year when the ISHS and the consul general returned to Secor to commemorate the eightieth anniversary of the end of World War II and to celebrate the life and courage of Minnie Vautrin. That event on a misty July morning was followed by a delicious luncheon in Springfield hosted by the consul general, which included a sobering gallery of photos from the war and Nanjing.The commemoration concluded in Chicago on August 25, with dinner at the consulate, where my wife, Paula, and I met Cindy Vautrin, great-grandniece of Minnie Vautrin, who received a handsome medal for the family in her great-aunt's honor.The distance from Secor, Illinois, to Nanjing, China, is approximately 7,500 miles, and a million miles culturally. But on the human highway, where Minnie Vautrin did her life's work, it was a single step of the heart. May we follow in her footsteps.