China Institute in America records, 1926-1976, bulk 1931-1959
Summary Information
Abstract
At a Glance
- Bib ID:
- 18572811 View CLIO record
- Creator(s):
- China Institute in America; Meng, Chih, 1900-1990
- Repository:
- C. V. Starr East Asian Library
- Physical Description:
- 65 linear feet (20 linear feet processed, including 45 document boxes and 6 half document boxes)
- Language(s):
- English , Chinese .
- Access:
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The processed portion of this collection is off-site, available to request.
The remaining part of the materials is under processing and will be made available in the fall of 2024.
The collection has no restriction.
Description
Scope and Contents
The China Institute records document the activities of the Institute's operations, projects, and services primarily between the 1930s and 2000s. Established in 1926 by the China Foundation for the Promotion of Education and Culture, the China Institute in America is a nonprofit organization dedicated to deepening the world's understanding of China. The processed portion of the collection dates roughly between 1931 and 1959 and is organized into 7 series by subjects and topics. The bulk of the files, which consist of administrative records, correspondence, reports, and manuscripts, illustrate the multidisciplinary projects and programs the Institute has conducted in the areas of education, publishing, business, and arts and cultural exchange. During WWII, the Institute played an important role in establishing channels of emergency relief provided to individuals and organizations. In 1944, the China Institute accepted a gift from the Henry Luce Foundation and relocated to the China House at 125 East 65th St, which became the Institute's home for the subsequent decades. Based at the China House, the Institute expanded its programming into publishing and the arts by holding numerous events and operating memberships. In addition, the China Institute was dedicated to supporting Chinese students and scholars visiting and studying in the United States through fellowships such as the Tsing Hua University Fellowship and the C. T. Loo and Frank M. Shu Fellowships. Lastly, the collection includes extensive files of Paul Chih Meng, who directed the China Institute between 1930 and 1967. The entirety of the collection, which includes records from the 1960s and onwards, is expected to be made available in the fall of 2024.
華美協進社檔案記錄了這一著名機構從1930年代至2000年代的各類項目運作及活動。華美協進社於1926年由中華文化教育促進會創立，是一個致力於加深世界對中國理解的非營利組織。該檔案已歸檔的部分大致涵蓋1931年至1959年，並按主題分爲7個系列。檔案的大部分內容由行政記錄、信件、報告和手稿組成，展現了機構在教育、出版、商業、藝術和文化交流等多領域的項目與活動。二戰期間，華美協進社在爲個人和組織提供緊急救援與資助方面發揮了重要作用。1944年，華美協進社接受了來自亨利·盧斯基金會的贈款，遷至紐約東65街125號的中國之家。在之後的數十年裏，機構的項目擴展到出版和藝術領域，舉辦了大量活動並運營會員制度。此外，華美協進社致力於支持中國學生和學者來美訪問和學習，通過清華大學獎學金和盧芹齋獎學金等項目爲其提供資助。檔案還收錄了1930年至1967年間擔任華美協進社主席的孟治先生的文件。整批檔案，包括1960年代及以後的材料，預計將在2024年秋季歸檔完成並對外開放。
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Series I: General Program Files, bulk 1931-1955
Series I details the general program files resulting from China Institute's decades of operations. Tracing as early as 1931, five years after the Institute's founding, the bulk of the files includes correspondences, reports, and meeting minutes. The files have been grouped chronologically by decade. Sub-Series I.1 consists of important correspondences that shed light on the Institute's work as a recently established organization. The batch of alphabetically-organized correspondences from between 1933 and 1934 indicate a gap of missing files to be identified. Sub-Series I.2 includes files from the late 1930s to 1940s and highlight a group of correspondences in Chinese that may advise inter-continental exchanges following the end of WWII. Sub-Series I.3 consists of select files from the 1950s.
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Series II: China Foundation, 1940-1950
China Institute was initially established in 1926 by the China Foundation for the Promotion of Education and Culture. Following China Institute's reorganization and incorporation in 1929, the China Foundation continued to participate in its budget and program. Series II, therefore, gathers budget and account statements, receipts and bills, and other funding and budget-related files. In particular, it includes the financial underflows of the Committee on Wartime Planning for Chinese Students in the United States between 1944 and 1947. Please refer to the subsequent Series III for additional files on wartime activities.
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Series III: Wartime Affairs and Activities, bulk 1942-1947
Organized alphabetically, and loosely chronologically within smaller groupings, Series III collects fruitful documentation that portrays China Institute's facilitative and intermediary activities during WWII. Not only does one see milestones of China Institute's own development – the acceptance of and relocation into the China House at 125 East 65th St, the Institute's home for the decades to come – one can identify exchanges between the Institute and important individuals across the pacific. Topics discussed range from services to students in China and the US, emergency relief and support to libraries and other educational institutions.
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Series IV: Publications Department, 1944-1949
Series IV consists of files generated out of China Institute's publishing and distribution activities, notably the National Reconstruction Journal and its Newsletter, and the China Institute Bulletin. The National Reconstruction Journal (學術建國嚴刊) was published by the Committee on Wartime Planning for Chinese Students in the United States, first in 1942, and was then distributed to various repositories including university libraries. Files relevant to the production of the China Institute Bulletin are also identifiable in the correspondences but the Bulletins are collected across the Series in the collection as they were used and distributed in various circumstances.
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Series V: Student and Scholarship Services, 1930s-1950s
For decades in the twentieth century, China Institute continued to administer scholarships and provide services to Chinese students. Files detailing this aspect of the Institute's work are gathered under Series V. Sub-Series V.1 gathers correspondence and application files of the Tsing Hua University Fellowships, whose establishment was first in communication in 1933, following when the National Tsing Hua University of China delegated the work of the Chinese Educational Mission to the US to China Institute. In the next two decades, China Institute welcomed applications from dozens of Tsing Hua students and professors to study in the United States. Sub-Series V.2 includes correspondence and application files for the C. T. Loo Chinese Education Fund and the Frank M. Shu Scientific Fellowship that took place throughout the 1950s. Sub-Series V.3 consists of files resulting from other scholarships and services such as the Office of Educational Fund, Gustavus and Louise Pfeiffer Research Foundation, China International Foundation. Notably, China Institute had also offered employment placement services to students, connecting them with opportunities for practical training.
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Series VI: Chinese Art Society of America, bulk 1943-1967
Series VI features the operations of the Chinese Art Society of America, established in 1944 and a close collaborator of the China Institute. The Chinese Art Society works to disseminate knowledge of Chinese art through publications and organized events and exhibitions. Select exhibitions took place at the China House of the China Institute.
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Series VII: Paul Chih Meng papers, 1929-1976
Paul Chih Meng (孟治, 1901-1990) headed the China Institute between 1930 and 1967 and directed the Institute's various sets of developments, in particular, the educational aspect of the work such as scholarship and teaching services. Meng's prolific portfolio of writings on the topics of literature and arts, international politics and diplomacy, formulation of cultural identities is documented through Sub-Series VII.1. Sub-Series VII.2 collects correspondences from 1930s and 40s, and from post-retirement years between 1967 and 1975. Additional correspondences from the in-between years are possibly integrated in the general program operations files. Sub-Series VII.3 consists of the Institute's Executive Committee meeting minutes from the years of Meng's directorship.
Arrangement
Processed materials have been arranged into 7 series by topic.
- Series I: General Program Files, bulk 1931-1955
- Series II: China Foundation, 1940-1950
- Series III: Wartime Affairs and Activities, bulk 1942-1947
- Series IV: Publications Department, 1944-1949
- Series V: Student and Scholarship Services, 1930s-1950s
- Sub-Series V.1: Tsing Hua University Fellowships, 1933-1951
- Sub-Series V.2: The C. T. Loo Chinese Educational Fund and The Frank M. Shu Scientific Fellowship, 1951-1958
- Sub-Series V.3: Additional Scholarships and Services
- Series VI: Chinese Art Society of America, bulk 1943-1967
- Series VII: Paul Chih Meng papers, 1929-1976
Using the Collection
Conditions Governing Access
The processed portion of this collection is off-site, available to request.
The remaining part of the materials is under processing and will be made available in the fall of 2024.
The collection has no restriction.
Preferred Citation
Identification of specific item, Date (if known); China Institute records, Box # and Folder #; C.V. Starr East Asian Library, Columbia University Libraries.
Related Materials
Wan-go H.C. Weng film collection, circa 1938-1991, C. V. Starr East Asian Libraries, Columbia University Libraries.
Hu Shih diaries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Libraries.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of China Institute in America, 2015
About the Finding Aid / Processing Information
Columbia University Libraries, C. V. Starr East Asian Library
Processing Information
Collection is currently being processsed by Evian Yiyun Pan, January 2024-
Biographical / Historical
China Institute in America was founded in New York City on May 25, 1926 by the China Foundation for the Promotion of Education and Culture, with the support of American educators John Dewey, Paul Monroe, and Chinese scholars Hu Shih and Kuo Ping-Wen (P. W. Kuo). The Institute was established for the purpose of promoting cultural and educational relations between China and the United States through a variety of projects, programming, and services. In 1929, the Institute was reorganized as a membership corporation; Chih Meng was appointed as the honorary secretary for reorganization and became the Institute's Director the following year. The educational programs of China Institute began to expand in 1931, when basic courses on China were offered at the Institute and exploratory programs were tried out at a few selected New York and New Jersey schools. In 1933, the School of Chinese Studies was formed and in-service credit courses were offered to teachers at the request of the Mayor and the Board of Education of the City of New York, which was the culmination of years of effort in bringing sinology or Chinese studies as a field of study beyond university-level education. In 1936, Chih Meng traveled extensively in China at the invitation of Tsing Hua University and the Chinese Ministry of Education.
China Institute played an important role in administering emergency relief funds to Chinese students stranded in the United States by the Second Sino-Japanese War that started in 1937. Through the intervention of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and the U.S. Economic Advisor Lauchlin Currie in 1938, the Institute obtained scholarship-in-aid for Chinese students in America from the Department of State. In 1940, the Chinese Government provided additional funds to Chinese students through the Committee on Wartime Planning administered by China Institute.
In 1944, the Institute was relocated from 119 West 57th St to the former Frederick S. Lee House at 125 East 65th St, which was gifted by the Henry Luce Foundation and named the China House. China Institute dissolved as a membership corporation and reincorporated as a tax-exempt educational institution chartered by the University of the State of New York. In 1949, Henry R. Luce was elected President of the Board of Trustees.
From the 1940s and on, the Institute administers scholarships and fellowships for Chinese students, including the China Foundation Fellows, Tsing Hua Fellows and Scholars, and so on. The C. T. Loo and Frank M. Shu Funds entrusted China Institute with the selection of recipients of its grants-in-aid to Chinese graduate students majoring in science and engineering at American universities. The Institute collaborates with American Educational Institutions such as the Harmon Foundation in the production of visual and other materials on China such as educational documentaries.
An extended biographical note will be added once the remaining materials are processed. Meanwhile, the China Institute in America has compiled a detailed timeline of its history, please see
Born in Beijing, Chih Meng (Paul Chih Meng, Meng Zhi, 孟治, 1901-1990) was a 72nd-generation descendant of the Chinese philosopher Mencius. Meng was a graduate of Nankai School and Tsing Hua University, Meng was a leader in the student patriotic movement on Tiananmen Square in 1919, against the World War I Versailles Treaty, which the students contended would encourage Japan to invade Manchuria. In the same year, Meng came to the United States on a five-year grant to study, first at Davidson College in North Carolina for two years, then in 1921 at Columbia University. He received his master's degree in 1924 and doctorate in 1927, both from Columbia University. In 1930, Meng was appointed Director of the China Institute and held the position until his retirement in 1967. During his term at China Institute, he was in charge of the Chinese Educational Mission to the United States and was the Executive Director of the Committee on Wartime Planning for Chinese Students in the United States. In addition, Chih Meng was a lecturer at the Institute of International Affairs, University of Virginia from 1932 to 1934, and in 1937; delegate to the Institute of Pacific Relations Conference in 1933 and 1936; lecturer at the Institute of World Affairs of California in 1937; advisor to the Chinese Delegation to the International Labor Conference held in New York in 1941. A prolific writer, Chih Meng had contributed to a number of American periodicals on international relations, including the Foreign Affairs and the Pacific Affairs. His book, titled China Speaks. On the Conflict between China and Japan, remains a valuable account on the Manchurian crisis of 1931 and the Sino-Japanese War. Chih Meng passed away in February 1990 in Sun City West, Arizona.
在美國教育家約翰·杜威和保羅·夢露，以及中國學者胡適和郭秉文的支持下，華美協進社由中華文化教育基金會創辦，於1926年5月25日在紐約市成立。該機構旨在通過各種項目、活動和服務促進中美之間的文化和教育交流。1929年，華美協進社重組爲會員制公，由孟治博士擔任重組期間的名譽祕書，孟在次年成爲該機構的主任。1931年，華美協進社開始擴展教育類的業務，例如在機構內開設了關於中國的基礎課程，並在紐約和新澤西的幾所公辦學校試行了教學項目。1933年，中國研究學院 (School of Chinese Studies) 成立，應紐約市市長和教育委員會的要求，開始向教師提供在職進修學分課程。1936年，孟治應清華大學和中國教育部的邀請訪問中國。
1937年中日戰爭爆發後，華美協進社在爲困於美國的中國學生提供緊急救濟基金方面發揮了重要作用。通過第一夫人埃莉諾·羅斯福和美國經濟顧問勞克林·柯里的牽頭，華美協進社於1938年從國務院獲得了對在美中國學生的獎學金援助。1940年，中華民國政府通過由華美協進社管理的戰時規劃委員會向中國學生提供了額外的補助。
1944年，華美協進社從曼哈頓西57街119號遷至由亨利·盧斯基金會捐贈的東65街125號弗雷德裏克·S·李故居，並將其命名爲中國之家。華美協進社解散了其會員制度，重新註冊爲由紐約州立大學特許的免稅教育機構。1949年，亨利·盧斯當選爲董事會主席。
從20世紀40年代起，華美協進社負責管理爲中國學生提供的獎學金和助學金，包括中國基金會獎學金、清華獎學金等。盧芹齋和弗蘭克·M·舒基金委託華美協進社甄選在美國大學主修科學和工程的中國研究生的助學金受惠者。該機構還與諸如哈蒙基金會等美國教育機構合作製作有關中國的教輔材料，包括紀錄片等。
若需參考華美協進社更細緻的時間線，詳見機構官網
孟治（1901-1990）出生於北京，是哲學家孟子的第72代後裔。孟治畢業於南開學校和清華大學。1919年，孟治領導了在天安門廣場舉行的反對第一次世界大戰凡爾賽條約的愛國學生運動，該條約被學生們認爲會鼓勵日本入侵滿洲。同年，孟治獲得五年獎學金赴美，先入北卡羅納州的戴維森學院，學習二年，於1921年轉學到紐約哥倫比亞大學攻讀社會學，後分別於1924年和1927年獲哥倫比亞大學碩士和博士學位。1930年，孟治被任命爲華美協進社主任，直至至1967年退休。在華美協進社任職期間，他負責管理中國留美教育使團，並擔任戰時在美中國學生規劃委員會的執行主任。此外，孟治還在1932年至1934年和1937年擔任弗吉尼亞大學國際事務研究所的講師；1933年和1936年擔任太平洋關係研究所會議的代表；1937年擔任加利福尼亞世界事務研究所的講師；1941年擔任在紐約舉行的國際勞工會議上中國代表團的顧問。孟治博士筆耕不輟，爲多家關注國際關係的美國期刊供稿，包括《外交事務》和《太平洋事務》。他的著作《中日衝突之中方說法》是關於1931年滿洲危機和中日戰爭的重要記錄。1990年2月，孟治在亞利桑那州的太陽城西過世。
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