Theodore Hsi-en Chen papers
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Scope and Contents
The Theodore Hsi-en Chen papers consist of administrative and faculty papers from Dr. Chen's chairing of the East Asian Studies Center and its predecessors from 1960 to 1971. The collection also includes material from the 1940s and 1950s, a scrapbook of newspaper clippings on Dr. Chen's career, photographic slides showing Theodore Chen and Wen Hui Chen's tour of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia in 1962, research reports and theses, and a photocopied biography of Theodore Chen. Lastly, the collection contains an oral history interview with Theodore Chen conducted by Ken Klein in 1986. Theodore H.E. Chen (Ph.D. 1939) was chairman of USC's Department of Asian Studies from 1940 to 1968, and from 1960 to 1971 he directed the East Asian Studies Center, in support of which he had obtained the first federal grants. Chen also secured outside funding for a project to help train and advise high school teachers of Chinese and Japanese. A native of Fuzhou, China, Chen was president of Fukien Christian University in 1946 and 1947 while on leave to participate in postwar rehabilitation. He also helped organize Tunghai University in Taiwan as a representative of the United Board of Christian Colleges. He was the author of nine books, including Thought Reform of Chinese Intellectuals and Maoist Educational Revolution and Chinese Education. Dr. Chen died on May 7, 1991.
Dates
- Creation: circa 1940s-1971
- Creation: 1991
Creator
- Chen, Theodore Hsi-en, 1902-1991 (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE: Advance notice required for access.
Conditions Governing Use
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Department of Special Collections at specol@usc.edu. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Rights Statement for Archival Description
Finding aid description and metadata are licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.
Extent
6.56 Linear Feet (6 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Chinese
Abstract
The Theodore Hsi-en Chen papers consist of administrative and faculty papers from Dr. Chen's chairing of the East Asian Studies Center and its predecessors from 1960 to 1971. The collection also includes material from the 1940s and 1950s, a scrapbook of newspaper clippings on Dr. Chen's career, photographic slides showing Theodore Chen and Wen Hui Chen's tour of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia in 1962, research reports and theses, and a photocopied biography of Theodore Chen. Lastly, the collection contains an oral history interview with Theodore Chen conducted by Ken Klein in 1986. Theodore H.E. Chen (Ph.D. 1939) was chairman of USC's Department of Asian Studies from 1940 to 1968, and from 1960 to 1971 he directed the East Asian Studies Center, in support of which he had obtained the first federal grants. Chen also secured outside funding for a project to help train and advise high school teachers of Chinese and Japanese. A native of Fuzhou, China, Chen was president of Fukien Christian University in 1946 and 1947 while on leave to participate in postwar rehabilitation. He also helped organize Tunghai University in Taiwan as a representative of the United Board of Christian Colleges. He was the author of nine books, including Thought Reform of Chinese Intellectuals and Maoist Educational Revolution and Chinese Education. Dr. Chen died on May 7, 1991.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Theodore Hsi-en Chen and Wen Hui Chen in several installments, beginning in 1972.
Processing Information
The Theodore Hsi-en Chen papers used to be split into two separately described collections: one collection designated as USC University Archives and the other as USC East Asian Library. In 2021, the USC Libraries merged the two collections into a single University Archives collection and described all of its contents in this finding aid. Many of the boxes in this collection are still physically labeled with "East Asian Library" box labels. The former University Archives collection (the smaller of the two) had been given the collection number 5131. The collection record with number 5131, which was never published, has been deleted.
Ken Klein, former head of the USC East Asian Library, authored a detailed document listing the contents of various donations to the USC Libraries from Theodore Chen and Wen Hui Chen in the form of personal papers, artifacts, published books, and other materials. Some of the description in this finding aid was taken from Ken Klein's inventory, which is available on request. However the inventory authored by Klein describes materials, such as published books, that were separated from the Theodore Hsi-en Chen papers.
In March of 2022, the USC Libraries deaccessioned ten boxes of artifacts and textiles from the collection, returning the items to Theodore Hsi-en Chen's family. The ten deaccessioned boxes were numbered two through twelve. The boxes in the collection are now numbered 1, 13, 14, 15, and 16 (with a ten-number gap from the deaccesioned boxes).
Subject
Genre / Form
- Administrative records
- Biography
- Dissertations
- Faculty papers
- Film reels
- Handbooks
- Moving images
- Scrapbooks
- Slides (photographs)
Geographic
Topical
- 10 boxes of artifacts and textiles, including ceramics, tea sets, vases, flags, banners, robes, and wooden figurines.
- Title
- Finding aid for the Theodore Hsi-en Chen papers
- Status
- Minimally Processed
- Date
- 2010
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Revision Statements
- 2021 October: Finding aid updated by Bo Doub: added container records, updated collection-level extent and notes, merged the separate collections that were previously designated as East Asian Library and University Archives, and added an accrual to the collection.
- 2022 March: Finding aid updated by Bo Doub to document a deaccession of ten boxes from the collection.
- 2023 May: Finding aid updated by Bo Doub: added digital object link to the digital Scalar exhibition titled "Dr. Theodore Hsi-en Chen (1902-1991): Chinese American Education Pioneer and Founder of East Asian Studies at USC."
- 2023 July: Finding aid updated and materials added in Box 17 by Marissa Chavez for History Associates Incorporated.
Repository Details
Part of the USC Libraries Special Collections Repository
Doheny Memorial Library 206
3550 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles California 90089-0189 United States
specol@usc.edu