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Dr. Theodore Hsi-en Chen (1902-1991): Chinese American Education Pioneer and Founder of East Asian Studies at USC

A thank-you letter written by Roy L. Kidman, University Librarian on January 31, 1977

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In his later years Dr. Chen focused on building USC’s East Asian collections. He donated his personal library of over 2,500 volumes of Chinese books to the USC Libraries in the 1970s, which became one of the foundational collections of the current East Asian Library. He and his wife also made several contributions to the library fund for East Asian materials during the 1970s and 1980s. Dr. Chen's family donated his personal papers to the USC Libraries, which includes invaluable materials such as newspaper clippings, administrative notes, and academic publications that document his groundbreaking contributions and legacy. In early 2022, a new endowment in his name was established at USC to honor and continue his legacy of library support.
Contents of this path:
1. 顏氏家訓二卷 [Family instructions for the Yan Clan]. 1719. Donated by Dr. Chen. Yan Zhitui 顏之推 (531-ca. 591), an early medieval Chinese courtier, writer, and scholar, wrote this important Chinese classical book about Confucius teaching. Yan discusses a variety of topics in the book, including family relationships and remarriage, religious faith, philology, cultural arts, and public and private codes of conduct. Dr. Chen most likely brought this book from his family's collection in Fuzhou, China, to the United States in order to preserve his family's tradition and heritage.
2. Select books donated by Dr. Chen on Communist and Nationalist regimes, events, and figures in China and Taiwan during the Cold War. Dr. Chen donated his personal library of over 2,500 volumes of Chinese books to the USC Libraries in the 1970s, which became one of the foundational collections of the current East Asian Library. Many of his donated books, as evidenced by the displayed titles, were relevant to his research interests and dealt with Communist and Nationalist regimes, events, and figures in China and Taiwan during the Cold War.
4. Theodore Hsi-en Chen papers 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. These materials were donated by Theodore Hsi-en Chen and Wen Hui Chen in several installments, beginning in 1972. Available for public viewing, after reservation with USC Special Collections.