Transcript of interview with May McLachlan
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Date: 1977 How to Interpret DateHow to Interpret Date
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Date Note- July 1, 1942: We use this format when the record provides the exact date.
- July, 1942: We use this format when the record provides the month and year but not the day.
- 1942: We use this format when the record provides the year but not the month or day.
- [1942]: We use this format when the record does not provide the date but the year is certain.
- [1942?]: We use this format when the year is probable.
- [between 1940 and 1945]: We use this format when the date range is certain.
- [ca. 1942]: We use this format when the year is approximate (+/- 5 years).
- [194-]: We use this format when the decade is certain.
- [194-?]: We use this format when the decade is probable.
- [before 1942]: We use this format when the latest possible date is known.
- [after 1942]: We use this format when the earliest possible date is known.
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Place: Chilliwack, BC
Description: Transcript of interview with May McLachlan regarding her experience as a Methodist and United Church missionary in Japan, 1923 - 1942; teaching in the internment camp at Tashme, BC during the Second World War; reconstruction work in Japan, 1947 - 1963; retirement in Chilliwack and work with the Indigenous United Church at Soowallie. The passage relevant to Japanese Canadian internment can be found on pages 4 - 8.
Curatorial Note:
Annie May McLachlan was born in Pipestone, Manitoba on November 3, 1895. She served as principal of Pipestone Intermediate School, then history teacher at Virden Collegiate in Manitoba, until 1922. In 1922, McLachlan enrolled in the United Church Training School in Toronto, and when she finished her training, she was sent by the Woman's Missionary Society to Japan. There she studied the Japanese language in Tokyo, and worked as a teacher and missionary, primarily at private girls' schools in Shizuoka and Kofu. During the Second World War, she was placed under house arrest in the city of Shizuoka, until she was returned to Canada in a Canadian and Japanese prisoner exchange in 1942. McLachlan worked with the many Japanese Canadians interned at Tashme in British Columbia for the remainder of the war, teaching high school. After the war, she returned to Japan to work at the Shizuoka Eiwa Girls School. From about 1952, she began working for the church in Haibara. With her support, the church was able to sponsor an institution--Yamabato--homes for mentally disabled people. She was posthumously awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure by the Japanese government in June, 1992. The medal honours individuals who have rendered exceptional service to the nation and the people of Japan.
Extra Information
Collection/Fonds Title: Heritage Alive Project fondsFile Title: LXXIII Miss May McLachlan of Chilliwack Source
Record Title: Transcript of interview with May McLachlan Source
Physical Description: 17 pages of textual records
Location of Original: Digital Archives
Creators/Contributors:
- Interviewer: Rev. R.J. Love
- Interviewee: May McLachlan
Rights:
- Copyright holder: The United Church of Canada
- This image is intended for research and personal reference use only. For permission to publish, copy, or otherwise use this image, please email the Pacific Mountain Regional Council Archives.
People:
- Love, Robert
- McLachlan, May
- McWilliams, Roy
Subject(s):
- Internment
- Members of the congregation
- Woman's Missionary Society
- Teachers
Language: English
