Sylvia Churchill Prince

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​Sylvia Churchill was born in Tientsin (Tianjin), China, in a prestigious home built by her grandfather, Harry Churchill, Vice Consul of Foochow. Her father also lived in China and was a businessman. In 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and rounded up foreign nationals, putting them into concentration camps. Sylvia and her family spent three years in Weihsien Camp, where they learned firsthand how harsh their Japanese overseers would be. But they also learned what was important in life and to persevere despite the hardships of Weihsien and repatriation to a new country.

At war’s end, the Churchills sailed to America and settled in Cape Cod. Sylvia attended Massachusetts General Hospital School of Nursing and married James Rex Prince, after graduating in 1956. They lived in Richmond for three years, then moved to Kilmarnock, Virginia, where they raised their five children. Sylvia worked as a nurse for Doctor Broaddus Gravatt and at Rappahannock General Hospital, while Jim covered the county as the optometrist.

Books

One Leaf in Time

$15.95

Sylvia’s story of a childhood in Japanese-run internment camps in China during World War II. ​


by Sylvia Churchill Prince


One Leaf in Time chronicles the life of Sylvia Churchill Prince, born in Tientsin, China, where her father was a successful businessman. For the first eight years of Sylvia’s life, the Churchills enjoyed a life of luxury among a community of foreign businessmen and dignitaries. The outbreak of the Second World War brought that life to a sudden stop, as the Churchills were rounded up by Japanese occupiers and transported to an internment camp in Weihsien. Prince offers a warts-and-all description of camp life, describing the harsh treatment imposed by Japanese officials, but also the resilience of internees from countries across Europe and North America. As her account reveals, it was possible to find entertainment, respite, and even joy in an environment where danger was but one misstep away.
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