Patricia Koo Tsien and Kia Chi Tsien papers, 1910s-2018, bulk 1932-1999

Summary Information

Abstract

The Patricia Koo Tsien and Kia Chi Tsien papers document the decades of internationally rooted lives of the Tsien couple, as well as family history materials on the Koo and Tsien families. The bulk of the papers consist of files associated with the professional and personal trajectories of Patricia Koo Tsien and Kia Chi Tsien, arranged in respective series. Also included are materials pertaining to the research of Koo and Tsien's family histories, in particular manuscripts, transcripts, and annotated copies of the Wellington Koo Memoir, and materials on Oei Huilan, Madame Wellington Koo.

顧菊珍與錢家騏檔案記錄了顧錢夫婦數十年輾轉多國的個人生活以及家族史料。檔案的主體部分展現了顧錢各自的職業生涯及個人歷程,其餘部分包括顧錢家族史研究的材料,特別是《顧維鈞回憶錄》的口述歷史稿件和批註本,以及有關黃蕙蘭夫人的材料。

At a Glance

Bib ID:
17690239 View CLIO record
Creator(s):
Koo, V. K. Wellington, 1888-1985; Koo Tsien, Patricia; Tsien, Kia Chi
Repository:
C. V. Starr East Asian Library
Physical Description:
16.5 Linear Feet (32 full manuscript boxes, 1 half manuscript box, 2 flat boxes, 1 photo album box)
Language(s):
English , Chinese .
Access:

The collection has no restriction.

Description

Scope and Contents

The Patricia Koo Tsien and Kia Chi Tsien papers comprise materials resulted from the personal and professional lives of Patricia Koo Tsien and Kia Chi Tsien. Arranged respectively in Series I and II, the bulk of the collection consists of career files of each of them, from correspondences and memoranda created during Patricia Koo Tsien's terms in the United Nations, to newspaper clippings, publications, and exhibition ephemera produced during Kia Chi Tsien's career as a physicist, radiologist, and photographer. Additional files include certificates, awards, forms, and affidavits collected at different stages of their lives. The papers also include files pertaining to the legacy of Dr. Wellington Koo and the Koo family, including correspondences with research institutions, publishers, and museums in China and the United States, clippings and correspondences on the topic of Koo family's remaining properties in China, and a Series on collected photographs of Oei Huilan, Madame Wellington Koo. Furthermore, Series VI includes copies of manuscripts, transcripts, and annotated copies of the Wellington Koo oral history and memoir.

顧菊珍與錢家騏檔案包含了顧錢二人個人生活與職業生涯所產生的各類材料。該檔案的主題爲二人職業生涯的檔案文件,分別留存於第一與第二系列中,包括顧菊珍在聯合國任職期間的通信與備忘錄,以及錢家騏作爲物理學家、放射學家和攝影師生涯中留存的剪報、出版物和展覽印刷品。其餘的檔案文件包括二人的各類證書、獎狀、公務表格和宣誓證明書。另外,檔案還囊括了有關顧維鈞博士和顧氏家史及遺產的材料,包括與中美的研究機構、出版社和博物館的通信,和有關顧家在中國尚存的財產的剪報和通信,以及顧錢收藏的黃蕙蘭女士的照片。此外,第六系列還包括顧維鈞口述歷史和回憶錄的手稿、 抄本和副本。

Arrangement

Collection is arranged into 7 series by subject and material type.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access

The collection has no restriction.

Preferred Citation

Identification of specific item, Date (if known); Patricia Koo Tsien and Kia Chi Tsien papers, Box # and Folder #; C.V. Starr East Asian Library, Columbia University Libraries.

Related Materials

V. K. Wellington Koo papers, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Libraries.

Chinese oral history project collection, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Libraries.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Ying-Ying T. Yuan, 2015

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, C. V. Starr East Asian Library

Processing Information

Processed by Evian Yiyun Pan, 2023

Biographical / Historical

Patricia Koo Tsien (October 17, 1917, Washington DC – April 25, 2015, Montgomery Village, Maryland) was the daughter of May Tang Koo and V.K. Wellington Koo, the prominent Chinese diplomat. Patricia Tsien went to the Garden School in Buckinghamshire, England, and received Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from University of London, before joining the United Nations in 1947. During the decades of work at the UN, she became a senior official in the Department for Political Affairs, Trusteeship, and Decolonization. Her work centered on the project of decolonization in particular. Patricia Tsien was the founding president of the Ad Hoc Group on Equal Rights for Women in the UN Secretariat. After her retirement in 1979, Patricia Tsien was a long time member of the Association of Former International Civil Servants and served as its president for 3 years.

Kia Chi Tsien (Kiachi Tsien, June 11, 1916, Beijing, China – June 14, 1993, New York, New York) was born in an influential family from Jiashan, Zhejiang and moved to Shanghai at an early age. Tsien attended the Nanyang High School and in 1935, the Jiao Tong (Chiao Tung) University and earned his undergraduate degree in physics in 1939. After his graduation, Tsien travelled to the interior of China and got a job with the Ministry of Transportation to supervise the establishment of telephone lines. Soon he was appointed as instructor by the Chinese Red Cross to teach the X-Ray technology to students. In 1941, Tsien was appointed assistant professor of physics at the Jiao Tong University campus in Chongqing. Together with his family, Tsien moved to England in 1944 and earned his MA degree in physics from University of Cambridge in 1946. Between 1949 and 1952, Tsien was offered an appointment with the UNESCO in Paris and worked on surveys of technical facilities and communication statistics related to film and radio. Since the 1950s and on, Tsien gradually confirmed his career interest in radiology through working as a Physicist at the Memorial Hospital in New York, NY and as Assistant Professor of Radiological Physics at the Temple University School of Medicine and Hospital in Philadelphia, PA. In 1959, he became Senior Officer of Medical Section at the International Atomic Energy Agency and attended conferences in Vienna, Austria. In 1964, Tsien was appointed Professor and Director, Section of Radiation Physics, Department of Radiology, and Professor of Medical Physics, Temple University Health Sciences Center, and continued this job until his retirement in 1976. Throughout his career, Tsien was also an artist and photographer and had held multiple exhibitions across various venues, and served, both before and after his retirement, as consultant to different physics, radiological, and cultural organizations.

In late 1940, Patricia Koo joined the Chinese Red Crosses' X-Ray Unit and met Kia Chi Tsien. They were married in 1941 and had their son, Michael (澄清, 1941-2010) the same year. Their daughter, Ying Ying (英英), was born in England in 1945. The family moved to the United States in 1946, lived in Bridgeport, CT, Parkway Village, NY, Mt. Vernon, NY, before moving to Manhattan, NY in around 1965. Both Patricia Tsien and Kia Chi Tsien were enthusiastic in preserving the rich family history of the Koos and Tsiens. In 1986, Kia Chi Tsien had compiled photographs of Dr. Wellington Koo, which were shown in exhibitions in Beijing and Tianjin, before becoming part of the permanent exhibition on Wellington Koo at the Jiading Museum, in Shanghai. Koo and Tsien also participated in the publication and translation of Reminiscences of Wellington Koo, the oral history and memoir of Dr. Wellington Koo.

顧菊珍出生於美國華盛頓特區,是中華民國外交官顧維鈞與第二任妻子唐寶玥的長女。顧菊珍在倫敦大學取得物理學學士學位後,於1947年加入聯合國。在三十二年的聯合國任期內,顧成爲聯合國政治事務、託管和去殖民化司的資深官員,致力於聯合國的去殖民化工作。與此同時,顧在聯合國祕書處內協創了女性平權的臨時工作小組。1979年退休後,顧又在紐約聯合國退休人員協會工作二十餘年,任主席三年。

錢家騏生於北京,祖籍爲浙江嘉善,幼年移居上海,就讀於南洋模範中學。1935年錢考入交通大學物理系,1939年獲得學士學位。畢業後,錢前往中國內地,短暫地在交通部工作,監督電話線路的建設。不久後,他被中國紅十字會聘爲講師,負責教授X光技術。1941年,錢被遷往重慶的交通大學任命爲物理學助理教授。1944年,錢攜家人移居英格蘭,兩年後獲得劍橋大學物理學碩士學位。1949至1952年間,錢獲得了巴黎聯合國教科文組織的聘任,參與有關電影和廣播技術設施的調查工作。自1950年代起,錢在放射學領域的才能逐漸顯現,先後於紐約市Memorial醫院和費城的天普大學醫學院等擔任物理研究院以及放射學助理教授的職務。1959年,錢成爲國際原子能機構醫學部的高級官員,並多次參加維也納的機構會議。1964年起至1976年退休,錢擔任天普大學放射學系輻射物理部門主任和教授,兼任天普大學醫學院的醫用物理教授。錢還是一位藝術家和攝影師,曾多次舉辦展覽,並在退休前後擔任物理學、放射學和其他文化類組織的顧問。

1940年末,顧菊珍加入了中國紅十字會的X光部門,結識了錢家騏。兩人於1941年結婚,同年兒子澄清 (Michael, 1941-2010) 誕生。1945年,女兒英英 (Ying Ying)在英格蘭出生。1946年舉家遷美,先居住在康涅狄格州的布里奇波特,後於1965年左右搬到紐約曼哈頓。顧錢夫婦都十分熱衷於家族歷史的保存工作。1986年,錢家騏彙編了顧維鈞博士的照片,用在北京和天津的歷史展覽中,後成爲上海嘉定博物館顧維鈞常設展的一部分。二人也參與了顧維鈞博士口述歷史的編輯、翻譯,以及《顧維鈞回憶錄》中文版的出版工作。

Subject Headings

The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.

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Genre/Form
Affidavits CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Awards CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Birth certificates CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Books CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Business cards CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Clippings (Information Artifacts) CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Correspondence CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Identity cards CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Interviews CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Letters (correspondence) CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Marriage certificates CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Memoirs CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Memorandums CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Passports CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Photographs CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Postcards CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Reports CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Speeches (documents) CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
symposia (conferences) CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Name
International Atomic Energy Agency CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Koo, Juliana Young, 1905-2017 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Oei, Hui-lan CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Temple University CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
United Nations CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
United Nations. Associations of Former International Civil Servants. CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
United Nations. Trusteeship Council CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
University of Cambridge CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Place
Shanghai jiao tong da xue CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Subject
Diplomats -- China CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
International relations -- History -- 20th century CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
United Nations -- Officials and employees, American CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
World War, 1939-1945 -- China CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
World War, 1939-1945 -- Diplomatic history CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID