May A. Kennard: A missionary goes to Japan

May F. Kennard
From 1930 passport application

May Augusta Kennard was born on October 31, 1884 in Middleton, Connecticut to Robins and Josephine Elton (Walton) Fleming. Her father Robins worked as a civil engineer for a bridge company. 

For school, May attended public school in New Britain, Connecticut and the Friends' School in Germantown, Pennsylvania (a school associated with the Quakers). She then enrolled at Bryn Mawr and graduated with her B.A. in 1907. 

By the time May had completed her college studies, her farther had moved to New York City. She moved back in with him and her stepmother. A few years later, she enrolled in the sociology graduate program at New York University. She attended during the 1913-14 academic year, but she does not appear to have received a degree. By 1920, she was still living with her parents and working as a secretary. 

May became involved in missionary work while living in New York City. She served as secretary of the Student Volunteer Movement (an organization that recruiting college students for missionary service abroad). In 1923, she became a missionary herself. She was sent to Tokyo, Japan by the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions. Later that year, she married J. S. Kennard who was also serving as a missionary.

May and her husband served as missionaries for the cities of Tokyo and Mito. May's activities included working at three women's college (Tokyo Woman's Christian University, the Kanto Gakuin and Joshi Eigaku Jiku or Tsuda School) and publishing the book What Japanese Students are Reading (with co-authors K. Takamatsu and Charles Allen Clark). 

In 1931, May wrote about women college students in Japan in an article titled "Women Students and Christianity," which appeared in a publication for missionaries in Japan. In light of later accusations that she and her husband were communists, the article is especially interesting because she discusses communism. 

Throughout Japan, college students were becoming increasingly critical of traditional Japanese society. Women were especially frustrated that their gender limited their professional and political opportunities. Many were turning to the west for ideas about how to reshape society. In her article, May surveyed the experiences of female students, focusing on how they were responding to efforts to promote Christianity.

May had mixed opinions. She felt that Christianity offered the ideas and values that students wanted, but the church was not wholly successful in attracting them. One major issue is the church was perceived as indifferent to the social issues that many were concerned about. She wrote that rather than recognizing the "the militant Gospel of the Son of God," many learned only of the "lukewarmness of official Christendom." Dissatisfied, many turned to communism which offered a "stirring appeal to dangerous living for the emancipation of oppressed millions."

May herself appears to have rejected communism because she saw it as an atheistic philosophy. Once in her essay, she refers to the "godlessness of Sovietdom." Student communists she regards  as well-intention but misguided. In her opinion, they were drawn to communism by an interest in adventure together with an admirable for social justice, but they had limited understanding of ideology.

The growth of communism on college campuses was a major concern throughout Japan, but May felt this was misguided. The number of actual communists was small, and many had a limited understanding of politics. Efforts to fight against communism were counterproductive as they had a tendency to make it even more appearing to students, by making it seem more dangerous and mysterious than it actually was.

Reflecting the gender dynamics of the times, May largely receded from public life after marrying. After she and her husband moved to South Carolina, she too began teaching at Benedict. While she was not mentioned by the governor in any of his speeches, May too was targeted by state officials. Notes by the William D. Workman indicate that, in a meeting with the press, the governor included May among the Benedict faculty who he wanted removed. When negotiating with Benedict president Bacoats, Dr. Kennard agreed to voluntarily resign if May was reappointed as an English teacher the next academic year. Bacoats agreed but then reneged on the agreement before the new term stated. By this time, May was in her seventies. She and her husband retired to the New York area and remained there until her death.

Published works

1. "Women Students and Christianity." The Japan Mission Year Book. Twenty-ninth issue. Kyo Bun Kwan; Ginza, Tokyo (1931). pp. 195–207.