Stella Alexander

Stella Alexander (née Tucker, 1912–1998) was a British writer and scholar born and raised in China. Her letters and unpublished memoir are held by the British Library and cover a wide range of subject areas including the Quaker movement, Yugoslav history and the Japanese occupation of Shanghai in World War II.[1]

Stella Alexander
BornHelen Stella Tucker
1912 (1912)
Shanghai, China
Died1998 (aged 85–86)
RelativesJohn Calvin Ferguson (maternal grandfather)

Biography

Alexander was born in Shanghai, in June 1912, the daughter of American bullion broker George Edwin Tucker, and Helen Matila Ferguson, a Canadian-American mother who also grew up in China.[1][2] Her maternal grandfather was John Calvin Ferguson, sinologist and art historian.[3][4]

She went to university in Oxford, England, where she met and then married a British diplomat, John Alexander. They married in 1933 in Chelsea, London.[5] The couple returned to Shanghai following their marriage.[1] Her son was born in 1934 in Nanking.[6] She later applied for a delayed birth certificate from the U.S. indicating her American-born father and years lived in the United States in Anchorage, Kentucky from 1925-1928, and regular visits in the following years,[6] which contemporary passenger lists corroborate.[7]

At the time of their return to China, Shanghai was occupied by Japan.[8] In 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and foreign diplomats living in China were interned, the Alexanders in the Cathay Hotel in Shanghai. In 1942, they returned to the US following a citizen exchange between Japan and the US.

Alexander and her husband divorced in 1950 and she began working for the United Nations Association, becoming increasingly involved with the Quakers. In 1957, she represented the Quakers' London Yearly Meeting at the UN General Assembly.[1]

Alexander's interest in Yugoslavia began in the late 1950s, and between 1961 and the 1970s she travelled there almost annually. She travelled the country, often alone, learned Serbo-Croatian and wrote extensively on what she saw.[9] Her writings are rare eye-witness accounts on life in Eastern Europe during the Cold War.

She remained active in Quaker affairs till her conversion to the Catholic Church in 1991.[1]

Publications
  • Alexander, S. (1958). Quaker testimony against slavery and racial discrimination: an anthology. London: Friends' Home Service Committee.[10]
  • Alexander, S. (1979). Church and state in Yugoslavia since 1945. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.[11]
  • Alexander, S. (1987). The triple myth: A life of Archbishop Alojzije Stepinac. New York: Columbia University Press.[12]

References
  1. St John-McAlister, Michael (11 January 2018). "The fascinating life of Stella Alexander". Untold lives blog. British Library. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  2. U.S. Passport application for Helen Matilda (Ferguson) Tucker - 1919. Roll 977, 1919 Nov, certificate no 136876-137249
  3. "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M2VP-DDD  : accessed 8 May 2023), Helen M Ferguson in household of John C Ferguson, Newton Ward 7, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 979, sheet 2A, family 34, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 603; FHL microfilm 1,374,616.
  4. "United States Passport Applications, 1795-1925," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKDN-2XN5  : 16 March 2018), Helen F Tucker, 1919; citing Passport Application, China, source certificate #137167, Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 - March 31, 1925, 977, NARA microfilm publications M1490 and M1372 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
  5. "England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005," database, FamilySearch (8 October 2014), Helen S Tucker and null, 1933; from "England & Wales Marriages, 1837-2005," database, citing 1933, quarter 3, vol. 1A, p. 1101, Chelsea, London, England, General Register Office, Southport, England.
  6. National Archives and Records Administration; Washington, D.C.; Decimal Files, compiled 1910 - 1949; Record Group: 59, General Records of the Department of State, 1763 - 2002; Series ARC ID: 2555709; Series MLR Number: A1 3001; Series Box Number: 350; File Number: 131 / Source Information: Ancestry.com. U.S., Consular Reports of Births, 1910-1949 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. / Original data: Consular Reports of Birth, 1910–1949. Series ARC ID: 2555709 - A1, Entry 3001. General Records of the Department of State, Record Group 59. National Archives at Washington D.C. Name: Laidon Ferguson Alexander Gender: Male Birth Date: 27 Sep 1934 Birth Place: Nanking, China Current Residence: c/o British Cosulate [sic] - Nanking, China Parents marriage: 8 July 1933 - London, England Father: John Alexis Clifford Cerda Alexander - age 33 (1906); British subject Mother: Stella Tucker Alexander - age 27 (1913); American parents. Residence in the USA: 6 mo in 1916; 1925-1928 in Anchorage, Kentucky; short visits in 1930, 1934, 1938, 1939.
  7. "United States Border Crossings from Canada to United States, 1895-1956", database, FamilySearch (14 November 2019), Helen Stella Tucker, 1930. SS Empress of Asia: 20 June 1930 - Manila, P.I. She embarked this ship on 28 June 1930 in Shanghai, China. 12 July 1930 Victoria, B.C., Canada. Helen Stella Tucker - American citizen thru parents - born 14 June 1912 in Shanghai, China. Age 18; single Residence in US: Anchorage, KY.
  8. "Papers of Stella Alexander". The British Library. Gift of Caroline Upton, Stella Alexander's grand-daughter, Mar 2016. 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  9. Stella Alexander, Church and State in Yugoslavia since 1945 Cambridge: University Press, 1979
  10. Alexander, Stella (1958). Quaker testimony against slavery and racial discrimination: an anthology ... London: Friends' Home Service Committee. OCLC 1065415980.
  11. Alexander, Stella (2008). Church and state in Yugoslavia since 1945. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-08922-7. OCLC 237884534.
  12. Alexander, Stella (1987). The triple myth: a life of Archbishop Alojzije Stepinac. New York: Columbia university press. ISBN 978-0-88033-122-7. OCLC 489653821.
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