Chinese Textbooks Collection
The Library’s holdings of materials relating to education in China are connected to the history of Teachers College’s interaction with Chinese educators. In the early 1900s the College began to attract a large number of international students, including substantial numbers from Asia, who were interested in learning the most modern western educational ideas and practices, as they were presented here. The College also attracted a significant group of American students preparing for missionary work in China. Both groups worked with the special guidance of Professor Paul Monroe, who served as an official and an advisor for several agencies providing direct assistance to education in China.
Beginning in 1923, these groups of students, and some of the technical assistance activities, came under the aegis of the International Institute of Teachers College, of which Monroe was the Director. The students, their advisors, and the Institute, all recognized the need to collect Chinese publications related to education, including historical and theoretical works, school textbooks and curricula, government reports, and similar materials, to support their comparative education studies and technical assistance work. In 1920, a committee of Chinese graduate students acquired a significant group of Chinese publications and contributed them to the Library. The International Institute, building on Monroe’s several trips to China, developed a library of its own, which included extensive sets of Chinese textbooks and other publications; this collection was transferred to the Teachers College Library in the 1930s.
With these early holdings as a core, the Library has resumed its effort to acquire Chinese educational materials. Some educational materials have been transferred from the East Asian Library; others, including textbooks, have been acquired for the library by Chinese graduate students or donated by Chinese agencies, and additional items have been purchased for the main collection.
Beyond library holdings of publications are the related archival and manuscript collections. The archival records of the Office of the President and of the International Student Adviser both contain important documentation relating to Chinese students attending Teachers College. Of greatest interest is the manuscript collection of the Paul Monroe Papers. Included there are correspondence, reports, scrapbooks, and photographs relating to his work in China and his interaction with Chinese educators.
Created By: Pocket Master
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