Ernest H. Forster was an Episcopal missionary who served in China for nearly two decades (1919-1939). After graduating from Princeton University in 1917, Forster assumed the role of assistant headmaster at St. Paul's School in Baltimore before accepting a teaching position at Mahan School in Yangzhou. Forster was transferred to Nanjing in 1937 and remained in the city throughout the massacre, although his wife returned home to Boston. Forster worked closely with John Magee in running the International Committee for the Nanjing Safety Zone.