Finding aid for the Theodore Hsi-en Chen papers 3266
USC Libraries Special Collections
2010
Doheny Memorial Library 206
3550 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles, California 90089-0189
specol@usc.edu
Contributing Institution:
USC Libraries Special Collections
Title: Theodore Hsi-en Chen papers
Creator:
Chen, Theodore Hsi-en, 1902-1991
Identifier/Call Number: 3266
Identifier/Call Number: 96
Physical Description:
7.81 Linear Feet
5 boxes
Date (inclusive): circa 1940s-1971
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 the Chens' collection of Chinese artifacts and an oral history interview of 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.
Language of Material:
English
, Chinese
.
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 the Chens' collection of Chinese artifacts and an oral history interview of 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.
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.
Preferred Citation
[Box/folder# or item name], Theodore Hsi-en Chen papers, Collection no. 3266, University Archives, Special Collections, USC
Libraries, University of Southern California
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).
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Theodore Hsi-en Chen and Wen Hui Chen in several installments, beginning in 1972.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
East Asia -- Study and teaching -- Archival resources
East Asia specialists -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
Education
Universities and colleges -- Faculty -- Archival resources
Administrative records
Dissertations
Faculty papers
Moving images
Scrapbooks
Slides (photographs)
Chen, Theodore Hsi-en, 1902-1991 -- Archives
University of Southern California. East Asian Studies Center -- Archives
University Archives files
Processing Information
The material described under this series used to be described separately as part of a two-box University Archives collection
prior to the 2021 merging of multiple archival collections relating to Theodore H.E. Chen.
Box 1, Folder 1
Friend of Chinese Studies (blank certificates)
Box 1, Folder 2-3
Japanese scholarships
1965-1968
Box 1, Folder 4
Asian Studies Society
1960-1972
Box 1, Folder 7
Asian-Slavic Studies Center
1960-1968
Box 1, Folder 8
East Asian Studies Center
1968-1972
Box 1, Folder 9-10
Faculty minutes
1966-1972
Box 1, Folder 11
Asian Studies interdepartmental
Box 1, Folder 12
Asiatic Studies majors
1963-1971
Box 1, Folder 13
ldyllwild Conference
1964-1966
Box 1, Folder 14
Department of Asian Studies, reports and plans
1942-1970
Box 1, Folder 15
Department of Asian Studies
Box 1, Folder 16
Asian Studies Department (General)
Box 1, Folder 17
Department of Asiatic Studies. Research Staff. Information Handbook
Box 1, Folder 18
Theodore Hsi-en Chen oral history transcript, news clippings, and correspondence about the Chen papers
Box 13
Theodore Chen and Wen Hui Chen tour of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia
1962
Box 14
Scrapbook of newspaper clippings on Theodore Hsi-en Chen's career
Box 16
Research reports and theses
General
Many of these research reports and theses were created under the direction of Theodore Hsi-en Chen.
