Dorothea Beale (Miss Beale) served as Principal of Cheltenham Ladies' College from 1858 to 1906. Her 48-year tenure saw unprecedented progress in women's education in the United Kingdom. During a period of sweeping educational reforms, Miss Beale eagerly connected with like-minded individuals passionate about progress. She corresponded widely, offering advice, arranging visits, and exchanging ideas.
In the 1890s, two pioneering Japanese educators, Utako Shimoda and Umeko Tsuda, visited the College to meet Miss Beale and learn about the staff, students, and the school's educational practices. The College Archives preserve the letters written to Miss Beale, documenting the special relationship between the school and these inspirational figures.
Photograph 1: Dorothea Beale (1831–1906), 1902
Madame Utako Shimoda, titled ‘Inspector of His Majesty’s College for the Education of Young Ladies of Nobility,’ visited Miss Beale in 1895. While staying in Oxford and London, she toured educational institutions in the UK, including CLC. Upon returning to Japan, she founded the Jissen Women’s Educational Institute to promote spiritual and economic independence among women. In a letter dated 28th May 1895, Madame Shimoda thanked Miss Beale for her hospitality and the 'many important papers of your college and some beautiful pictures.'
In 2011, Keiko Ozeki, a Professor of English Literature researching Jissen University's history, visited CLC and Principal Eve Jardine-Young. Echoing the founder's visit over a century earlier, Ozeki presented the College Archives with papers on Jissen University's history and some beautiful pictures.
Photograph 1 and 2: Letters to Dorothea Beale from Utako Shimoda, 1895
Photograph 3: Rachel Roberts (Archivist Emerita), Eve Jardine-Young and Keiko Ozeki, 2011
At Dorothea Beale’s invitation, Umeko Tsuda visited Cheltenham Ladies' College in 1898. Umeko Tsuda was a Japanese educator who founded Tsuda University to provide higher education opportunities for women. Born in Japan, she emigrated to the United States at six and returned to Japan after completing her studies, where she recognised the limited educational opportunities for women.
Like Madame Shimoda, Umeko Tsuda was sent by the Japanese Education Department to study women's education in the West. She stayed at Cheltenham Ladies' College, engaging with staff and students to discuss educational programmes and observe activities.
Before returning to Japan, she wrote to Miss Beale, stating, '[CLC] is indeed a wonderful institution, and a living symbol of the progress of your women during the past thirty or forty years. May we in Japan do as much in the coming ones!'
Umeko Tsuda was committed to enhancing higher education opportunities for Japanese women. Addressing CLC students, she said, '[In Japan] the problem of the higher education is before us, and our women are themselves too anxious for better education to be kept back long... I trust the time may not be long before our women will have advantages such as the women of England enjoy in your well-equipped institutions of learning, your colleges and schools.'1
In 1900, Umeko Tsuda founded Tsuda College in Tokyo. Like Miss Beale, she believed in the value of international exchanges with other educational organisations. This philosophy is still evident today in Tsuda College's Centre for International Exchange. As Umeko noted, 'in a country and civilisation apparently so different, there is much, I think in common, if we go beneath the surface in thought and feeling between Japan and the Western nations.'2
Today, the institutions governed by Dorothea Beale, Utako Shimoda and Umeko Tsuda continue to foster international connections in the advancement of women’s education. These pioneers not only transformed the educational landscapes of their countries but strengthened the bonds between nations through a shared commitment to empowering women. This collaborative spirit serves as a reminder of the profound difference that passionate and visionary educators can make on a global scale.
Photograph 1: Photograph of Umeko Tsuda, (1864–1926)
Photographs 2 and 3: Letter to Dorothea Beale from Umeko Tsuda, 1898.
Our current Principal of Cheltenham Ladies’ College, Eve Jardine-Young, is visiting Japan this week. To mark her trip she spoke with Japan Times about this incredible shared history of pioneering education for young women, as well as the challenges and opportunities of teaching the next generation. Her interview, Strong tradition and bold innovation toward an equitable future, is available to read at the link below.
1 Tsuda, Umeko. Japanese Women, Cheltenham Ladies' College Magazine, 1899.
2 Ibid.
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