Commentary: Jean Edmunds was born 100 years ago today, 13 December, in far Northern Maine.
Her family owned a lot of farmland, and grew plenty of potatoes. Like their community, they were white, Protestant (Episcopalian), and Republican.
Jean attended Wellesley College in Massachusetts. After graduating, she learned that the Chinese Ambassador, T.V. Soong, and his wife were seeking a Wellesley grad as live-in governess.
The Chinese said of T.V.’s sisters, the famous Soong Sisters: “One loved money, one loved power, and one loved China.” One married a wealthy New York banker. One married Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the Chinese Nationalist forces supported by the U.S. The third sister, Ching-ling, married Sun Yat-sen, leader of the 1911 Revolution and first President of the Chinese Republic. (Later Soong Ching-ling leadership positions in the People’s Republic.)