Nannie B. Gaines

Nannie B. Gaines (April 23, 1860 – February 26, 1932) was an American missionary teacher in Japan. She was head of Hiroshima Jogakuin, a Methodist girls' school in Hiroshima, for 45 years, beginning in 1887.

Early life and education Ann Elizabeth Gaines was born on a farm in Union County, Kentucky, the daughter of August (or Gustavus) Cooke Gaines and Catherine Mary Cromwell Gaines. She graduated from Franklin Female College in 1878. Career Gaines taught at schools in Kentucky and Florida as a young woman. and was the school's principal or principal emeritus for the rest of her life. In 1906, the school expanded and became an official girls' high school; it was described as "the largest mission school for girls" in Japan. In 1919, Gaines added a teacher training program, elevating the school to a college-level institution.

After she retired as principal emeritus, she left daily school work for missionary travels around Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. During a 1914 furlough in the United States, she persuaded her mission board in Nashville to fund an automobile for her work. In 1916 she was decorated by the Japanese government for her work. She supported the work of Michi Kawai and Umeko Tsuda with the YWCA in Japan. She had an audience with the Crown Prince in 1926, to discuss women's education.

Publications

"Japan: In the School" (1896)

Personal life and legacy Gaines' sister Rachel Cromwell Gaines joined her in Hiroshima in 1916, and the sisters taught and lived together on the school's campus. Gaines died in 1932, at the age of 71, in Hiroshima.

A statue of Gaines was erected on the campus of her school, but it was removed and recycled as scrap metal during wartime. The school's buildings were destroyed and more than three hundred teachers and students were killed by the atomic bomb in 1945. Hiroshima Jogakuin University (HJU) reopened at a new location away from the city's center; it is still an educational institution for women as of 2024. Gaines Chapel, on the campus of HJU, is named in memory of Nannie B. Gaines.