Howard S. Galt Collection of Chinese School Textbooks, 1900-1947

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Summary

Creators:
Galt, Howard Spilman (1872-1948)
Abstract:
Howard Spilman Galt, long term missionary and founder of the Education Department, Yenching University (1920-1949), amassed this collection of Chinese school textbooks published in the late Qing dynasty and the Republican era in China. These textbooks were written for different educational levels, from K-12 to college, and to general adult literacy classes. They cover a variety of subject areas in humanities, social sciences, and sciences. They also include curriculum and pedagogical materials as well as educational documents such as rules, regulations, and laws. The majority of textbooks in this collection were published by the Commercial Press （商務印書館), one of the three major publishers and distributors of Chinese school textbooks in the Republican Era.
Extent:
3 linear feet (3 records boxes)
Language:
Languages represented in the collection: Chinese and English .
Preferred citation:

[identification of item], Howard S. Galt Collection of Chinese School Textbooks (H.Mss.1115), Special Collections, The Claremont Colleges Library, The Claremont Colleges Services, Claremont, California.

Background

Scope and content:

The majority of the collection consists of primary and middle school textbooks covering a variety of subject areas in humanities, social sciences, and sciences, such as Chinese language, ethical education, history, geography, mathematics, physics, chemistry, etc.. They also include curriculum and pedagogical materials as well as educational documents such as rules, regulations, and laws.

Biographical / historical:

Howard Spilman Galt (1872-1948) was a long term American missionary and educator in China. He served in China over 45 years, and was one of the key administrators of Yenching University, the Chinese missionary university that collaborated with Harvard University to establish the Harvard-Yenching Institute in 1928 with funding from the estate of Charles M. Hall. Galt served in China for 45 years where he was popularly known as Dr. Gao Houde 高厚德博士.

Galt was born on September 15, 1872 in Shenandoah, Iowa, United States, to Martin Happer and Clara S. (Spilman) Galt. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1895 from Tabor College, Iowa, a Bachelor of Philosophy in 1896 from the University of Chicago, a Master of Theology from the Hartford Theological Seminary in 1899, a Master of Education in 1926 from Harvard University, and a Doctor of Education in 1927, also from Harvard University.

In 1899, Galt was appointed a missionary of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to North China, and arrived in Tungchow (currently Tongzhou 通州）in the same year. From 1900 to 1917 he served as the teacher, acting president, and president at the missionary operated North China Union College (华北协和大学, formerly known as Tungchou college 潞河书院、协和书院).

Howard S. Galt was a firm believer in the larger union for Christian higher education in North China. He played an important role in merging the North China Union College with the Methodist Peking University and the North China Union Women's College, to form Yenching University. Much of his time from 1911 to 1917 was spent in conferences and committee meetings while plans for this union moved forward.

During 1917-1918, Galt took a furlough to the United States, and was appointed Lecturer at Pomona College in California on the Henry D. Porter Foundation Endowment.

Upon returning to Peking in 1918, Galt was actively engaged with establishing the newly formed Yenching University, including recruiting Stuart Leighton as its president. In the next 30 or so years, Galt became a key figure in the academic and administrative affairs of Yenching University, creating the Department of Education, and serving as the department chairman until 1935. He also served as the chairman of the graduate division, 1931-1934, and acting president of Yenching University, 1923-1924, 1927-1928, and 1929-1930.

After the war between China and Japan broke out in 1937, Galt played a major role in keeping and maintaining Yenching University in Peking to serve as an independent higher education institution in the war-torn capital. He was incarcerated at the Japanese internment camp at Weihsien in 1943, and repatriated back to the United States in 1945. Galt passed away in Clarement, California, in 1948.

Howard S. Galt was a solid scholar in Chinese educational history. He had a keen interest in the Galt family genealogy. His books and articles, both published and unpublished, includes, but not limited to, the following:

  • "The Historical Development of the Theory of Education in China to the Close of the Han Dynasty, 220 A.D." Harvard University, 1927.
  • Oriental and Occidental Elements in China's Modern Educational System. 1928.
  • The Development of Chinese Educational Theory: The Historical Development of the Theory of Education in China to the Close of the Han Dynasty, A.D. 220. Commercial Press, 1929.
  • "A Comparative Analysis of the Most Fundamental Elements in Chinese and Western Culture." Chinese Social and Political Science Review, 1935.
  • "A Comparison between Theories of Education in Ancient China and in Ancient Greece." Chinese Social and Political Science Review, 1938.
  • The Kuo Tzu Chien: Its Historical Development and Present Condition. 1940.
  • A History of Chinese Educational Institutions, by Howard S. Galt, ... Vol. 1. to the End of the Five Dynasties, A.D. 960. [Foreword by J. Leighton Stuart.]. A. Probsthain, 1951.
  • Yenching University: Its Sources and Its History. United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia.
  • The Galt Families; Notes on Their Origin and Their History with Genealogical Lists. Unpublished manuscript.
Acquisition information:
Unknown
Processing information:

Processed by Xiuying Zou and Michael He in 2019.

Arrangement:

The collection is organized by subject in the following four series:

  • Series 1: Language and Literature, 1906-1949 and undated
  • Series 2: Ethics and Moral Education, 1909-1939
  • Series 3: Miscellaneous Subjects (History, Geography, Sciences), 1910-1939 and undated
  • Series 4: Curriculum Materials and Educational Documents, 1913-1941 and undated

Within each series, folders are arranged alphabetically by book title.

Accruals:

No additions to the collection are anticipated.

Physical location:
Please consult repository.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection open for research.

Terms of access:

All requests for permission to reproduce or to publish must be submitted in writing to Special Collections.

Preferred citation:

[identification of item], Howard S. Galt Collection of Chinese School Textbooks (H.Mss.1115), Special Collections, The Claremont Colleges Library, The Claremont Colleges Services, Claremont, California.

Location of this collection:
800 N. Dartmouth Ave.
Claremont, CA 91711, US
Contact:
(909) 607‑3977
specialcollections@claremont.edu
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