Helen Emily Chapman Springer
Helen Emily Chapman Springer
(1868-1949)
Helen Emily Chapman Springer was a pioneer Methodist Episcopal Church missionary
to Rhodesia and the Congo. She graduated from Holyoke High School in
Massachusetts and Women’s Medical College in Philadelphia. In 1890 she sailed
for Africa and soon married William Rasmussen (n.d.-1895). The Rasmussens
arrived in Lower Congo, Africa, in 1891. Due to ill health they were forced to
return to the United States after only a year and a half.
When they return to the mission field in 1894, they were assigned to Isangila,
Congo, but she was forced to leave Africa again due to failing health. In 1901
she returned to Africa and was stationed in Rhodesia at Old Umtali where she
stated a girl’s boarding school. On January 2, 1905, she married John McKendree
Springer, and they continued to work as missionaries in Africa. Helen Springer’s
work focused on translating Christian literature and scriptures into native
languages. She also assisted her husband in his duties as bishop and missionary.