Hugh L Robinson was a medical missionary in China
Directory card sent to Colby College from Hugh L. Robinson in Tongzhou, Hebei
Robinson began his work at T’ungchow Hospital as the Superintendent and physician in 1932. He arrived months before the Defence of the Great Wall brought war close to Beijing. With this war came an influx of wounded soldiers and refugees. Robinson and the Hospital treated the most severe cases in which other hospitals didn’t have the equipment or expertise to treat. On some days they treated over 100 refugees a day, treating over 10,000 over the course of the year. This conflict only lasted a few months but was an omen of the greater conflicts to come.
T’ungchow Hospital’s 1934 Annual Report
Robinson worked closely with his colleague Dr. Chang Chih-hsun to provide modern and christian medical care to the local population. Robinson frequently conducted examinations, clinics, and vaccinations at local Chrisitan schools. He lectured once a week at the North China American School and Jefferson Academy. He also regularly taught at the Winter School for Farmers.
A Day in T’unghsien China, written by Olga Olsen, describing an average day at T’ungchow Hospital
In 1937, Japan invaded China and Robinson had his vacation cut short as he rushed back to the hospital to deal with the flood of wounded soldiers and refugees. The Hospital became the busiest it has ever been, taking days for patients to receive a bed as the war raged closer. Soon the frontlines reached the gates of the hospital and the hospital itself was hit by multiple bullets. Every patient that could flee did so and thus the hospital was suddenly relieved of most of its demand. Robinson, as the superintendent of the hospital, oversaw the chaos that the war brought. Robinson rallied the hospital to fight malnutrition and poverty that afflicted those who were left behind after the frontlines had passed them. In March of 1941, the US State Department advised the evacuation of Robinson and his family, however he only sent his family back to the US. He believed that he could not abandon Dr. Chang treated the population of T’unghsien alone, and stayed until November 1941, when the immediately imminent war between US and Japan became impossible to ignore.