Connecting Dreams—From Japan to America
By Keiko Tanamura
| 1879 | (28 years old) | December 13: Dora returns to her hometown. |
| December 26: Kaigan Jyogakko burns down in a fire. | ||
| 1880 | (29 years old) | Dora works to raise money to rebuild the school buildings. |
| May: Dora attends the 11th General Executive Committee Meeting (Columbus, Ohio). | ||
| July 6: Dora marries Henry M. Soper (1850-1911). She then becomes known as Dora Schoonmaker Soper. They move to Chicago. | ||
| December: Dora delivers a speech at the chapter in Jacksonville, Illinois. | ||
| 1881 | (30 years old) | March: Dora delivers a speech at a fundraising tea ceremony event for the WFMS-MEC in Chicago. |
| She writes feature articles on Japan, entitled “Uniform Reading,” for the March and April editions of Heathen Women’s Friend. (hereafter HWF) | ||
| May: Kaigan Jyogakko’s new school building is complete. | ||
| September: Kaigan Jyogakko reopens in block 13 of the foreign settlement. | ||
| 1885 | (34 years old) | June: Dora’s son Duane S. (1885-1959) is born. |
| 1886 | (35 years old) | May: Dora delivers a speech in Janesville, Wisconsin. |
| November: Dora presents at the Chicago District Meeting. | ||
| 1888 | (37 years old) | The upper division of Kaigan Jyogakko moves to Aoyama and is renamed Tokyo Eiwa Jogakko. |
| 1891 | (41 years old) | Dora’s husband, Henry Soper, operates a school of oratory on a main street in Chicago. |
| 1893 | (43 years old) | Dora reunites with Sen Tsuda as he visits America to attend the Chicago World’s Fair. Dora and her husband move to the suburbs of Chicago. |
| Hiromichi Kozaki (Dora’s former student, Chiyo’s husband) attends the Parliament of the World’s Religions, representing Japanese Christians. | ||
| 1894 | (44 years old) | Kaigan Jyogakko moves to Aoyama as buildings in Tsukiji become unusable due to an earthquake. |
| 1895 | (45 years old) | The start of the Aoyama Jogakuin. |
| October: The title of the in-house publication of HWF is changed starting with the January 1896 edition. The new title is Woman’s Missionary Friend (hereafter WMF). | ||
| 1899 | (48 years old) | Dora delivers a speech during the thanksgiving offering service for the 30th anniversary of the founding of the WFMS-MEC held at Hoopeston Methodist Episcopal Church in Illinois. Dora and her husband move to Austin, a suburb of Chicago. |
| November: The 25th-anniversary commemorative event is held at Aoyama Jogakuin. | ||
| 1900 | (49 years old) | The Alumnae Association for Aoyama Jogakuin is established. |
| 1901 | (50 years old) | Scrapbook Recitation Series No. 13 is jointly edited and published by Dora and her husband. |
| 1902 | (51 years old) | September 22: Dora’s mother, Patience, dies at age 78. |
| 1903 | (52 years old) | The first issue of the Aoyama Jogakuin Alumnae Newsletter is published. Chiyo, Dora’s first student, becomes the first president of the Alumnae Association. |
| 1904 | (53 years old) | Henry, Dora’s husband, begins his struggle with disease. |
| 1907 | (56 years old) | May: Scrapbook No. 14 is jointly edited and published by Dora and her husband. This marks the end of Henry’s school of oratory. |