Letter from Alfred E. Stearns to C.Y. Sun, Tientsin September 30, 1929
Letter from Alfred E. Stearns to C.Y. Sun, Tientsin September 30, 1929
Alfred E. Stearns
Phillips Academy
September 30, 1929
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My dear Mr. Sun:
Thank you so much for your good letter of September 6.
I am forwarding the copy of this letter to Charlie as suggested, and am urging him again to do his best to overcome his disappointment and make the most of the opportunities that he still has for increasing his efficiency for his future life work. From the tone of Charlie's letters, he has already accepted the situation with remarkably good sense and fortitude and I have been very proud of him for this reason. I do hope, however, that the opening in the London field will materialize, for I am sure that not only would Charlie give an excellent account of himself in such a position, but that he would gain much that would be of distinct value to him in his later career.
Trusting that you may continue to gain health and strength until these have been re-established once more at their best levels, and with kindest personal regards, believe me
Very sincerely yours,
English
Correspondence
Letter from Alfred E. Stearns to C.Y. Sun, Tientsin June 7, 1926
Letter from Alfred E. Stearns to C.Y. Sun, Tientsin June 7, 1926
Alfred E. Stearns
Phillips Academy
June 7, 1926
All Rights Reserved By Phillips Academy
June 7. 1926
Mr. C. T. Cun
44 Cambridge Road
Tientsin, China
My dear Mr. Sun:
Your exceptionally friendly and appreciative letter of May 12 has just reached me, and I beg to express my very sincere gratitude for your kindly sentiments. I must admit that Mary’s case has furnished a difficult and complicated problem, but thanks to the generous help which Dr. Sze has given me, coupled with my assurance of your confidence, I have been able to work out the problem, I think, to a fairly satisfactory conclusion.
Within the past day or two I have received assurance from Almira College that Mary will be granted admission credits on the work she has already covered at Abbot and the Whittier School for 14 1/3 points out of the 15 points for admission. It is suggested that she work up some Algebra during the summer to complete the requirement and that, so far as possible, also, she should broaden her preparation in English and possibly French. Just at resent I was trying to work out the best solution for the summer, and I think that I am on the right track.
The first plan suggested by Dr. Sze, and highly approved by me, was to locate Mary for the summer in the home of a member of the faculty of Almira College where she would have not only necessary instruction but wholesome influence and proper guidance. The plan fell through at the last minute, as the good woman on whom Dr. Sze had counted for this work decided to pass the summer abroad. No other suitable place or person appeared to be available. Dr. Sze then suggested that Mary might spend the summer at Ithaca, New York, taking work in the Cornell Summer School and living in one of the dormitories reserved, I understand, for girls and over which an officially appointed matron would exercise a certain amount of control. As Dr. Sze advised me further that he, himself, and his family were to spend their summer in Ithaca, it seemed to me that this would perhaps be the best solution of the problem. Frankly, though, I did not quite relish the idea of leaving Mary for the entire summer in a large university town with more or less of a floating and unstable population and subject to the somewhat free and easy influences and ways that are apt to be in evidence under those conditions. I know from experience that the chaperonage provided in university centers and dormitories for girls is often a pretty nebulous thing. One cannot always tell what the strongest influence working on an individual student is going to be.
Just after I had tentatively expressed to Dr. Sze my approval of this plan, I was confronted with the problem of providing a place for Mary for the three weeks intervening between the close of her school year at the Whittier School and the beginning of the summer session at Cornell. My own home is in such a turmoil at this time of year, with the commencement season just ahead, that I could not, much to my regret, arrange for Mary to be with me at that particular time. I also hesitated to bring her again in such intimate touch with the influences at and connected with Abbot Academy which had worked so much mischief for us all in the past. Some one suggested the Sea Pines School at Brewster, Mass., a rather unusual school for girls, and which I found had a regular summer session. Friends of mine, who have had their daughters there and who have been wholly concerned about the cultural and Christian influences under which they wished their daughters to come, have spoken to me in the highest terms of this school and its atmosphere. The Misses Bickford, who conduct it, are known to be women of unusually high ideals and character. I called Miss Pickford on the telephone and found to my great satisfaction that she would be willing and glad to take care of Mary for the period in question and that she was even eager to welcome a Chinese girl at the school, believing that her presence would exert a wholesome influence on her own students in whom she has always sought to inculcate more of an international mind. Miss Bickford, herself, happened to be in Boston just when Mary’s school at Merrimac closed; so that the transfer was easily made. Miss Clemons meeting Mary in the city and putting her in Miss Bickford’s charge.
I have had a letter from Mary only this morning in which she says that she is very lonesome; but of course that is natural and to be expected, for the first plunge in a new environment is hard enough for anyone, and especially for a foreigner. I shall be greatly surprised if Mary doesn’t find within a short time that the atmosphere at Pines is far more congenial and satisfying than at Whittier. In any case I am strongly disposed just at present to authorize Mary’s continuance at Sea Pines through the summer rather than to take what I feared would be somewhat of a risk by sending her to Cornell. The Sea Pines authorities advised me that a prompt decision will be necessary because their list for the summer is already practically full and in justice to other applicants they must know whether or not Mary is to occupy a place. I have written Dr.Sze about the matter and am inclined to think, from the letter received from him yesterday, that he approves of the plan, although, of course, he doesn’t pretend to know much about the school in question. What I do know is that there is a marked emphasis placed on Christian character and an exceptionally wholesome physical life provided for the pupils, a life which includes sea bathing, horseback riding, tennis, and other outdoor activities. “Whatever the final decision is, I can assure you that it will be the result of careful and prolonged thought and the earnest desire to do only what will prove best for Mary in the end and most nearly in accord with your personal wishing.
I hope very much that Mr. Robinson is going to get here before I leave for my summer vacation, though I inferred from a recent letter from Dr. Sze. as well as from a remark which Tom dropped the other day, that he might not appear until early in July.
With warm personal regards, believe me
Very sincerely yours,
English
Correspondence
Letter from Thomas Sun, Middlebury College, to Alfred E. Stearns October 3, 1929
Letter from Thomas Sun, Middlebury College, to Alfred E. Stearns October 3, 1929
Thomas Sun
Phillips Academy
October 3, 1929
All Rights Reserved By Phillips Academy
English
Correspondence
Letter from Thomas Sun, New York City, to Alfred E. Stearns June 29, 1929
Letter from Thomas Sun, New York City, to Alfred E. Stearns June 29, 1929
Thomas Sun
Phillips Academy
June 29, 1929
All Rights Reserved by Phillips Academy
Dear Dr. Stearns,
I just received my marks from Middlebury college for the past year. They are as follows;
Social Psychology- 86
Business Law-- 70
International Law—--81
Social efficiency——8l
Economic Geography of
Europe-- 86
Ave. 80.8
This is the highest average yet attained by me, and I think that I have done well considering the courses that I had. International Law and Business Law are the two hardest courses I ever had in one year. Last semester I got 72 in International Law, add I raised that mark to 81 for this semester. In Business Law, I dropped three points. I had an average well over eighty until I took the examination for which I got 50. That pulled my average way down. I am very disappointed in that courses.
As a whole, my average improved by two whole points, and I am also satisfied as to the courses I took. They were well worth the while.
I am here in Columbia for the Summer school. I haven’t decided yet what courses I will take yet, but I am sure that they will be in the Political science department. I have been thinking strongly to take some courses in International Law. I like it very much, and I sometimes think that I want to be a Diplomat rather than a Political Scientist.
I realized the fact that the summer will be an expensive one for me. Whatever it costs, I value the Chinese friends whom I have met twice that amount, You do not know how much I appreciate Chinese association after four years of ‘isolation’. During those four years, I met not a single Chinese. Therefore I welcome this change to come into contact with them.
Charlie came unexpectedly into my room last night. I understand that he plans to attend the Summer School at Columbia also.
Mary left three days ago for New Haven where she had to resume her work.
Very Sincerely yours
Thomas Sun
English
Correspondence
Letter from Thomas Sun, Middlebury College, to Alfred E. Stearns February 6, 1929
Letter from Thomas Sun, Middlebury College, to Alfred E. Stearns February 6, 1929
Thomas Sun
Phillips Academy
February 6, 1929
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English
Correspondence
Letter from Charlie Sun, Amherst, Mass., to Alfred E. Stearns February 8, 1929
Letter from Charlie Sun, Amherst, Mass., to Alfred E. Stearns February 8, 1929
Charlie Sun
Phillips Academy
February 8, 1929
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English
Correspondence
Letter from Alfred E. Stearns to Charles Sun, Amherst, Mass. February 11, 1929
Letter from Alfred E. Stearns to Charles Sun, Amherst, Mass. February 11, 1929
Alfred E. Stearns
Phillips Academy
February 11, 1929
All Rights Reserved by Phillips Academy
February 11, 1929
Mr. Charles Sun
P. 0. Box
93 Amherst, Mass.
Dear Charlie:
Thank you for your note received this morning. I am glad that the examinations are out of the way and hope that means that you will not be working under quite such a strain for the next few weeks, at least.
It is difficult for me to find out just how Mary is going in her work, though I have tried on numerous occasions to get the information desired. My impression is that she is really doing a bit better than at the start. At least, though some of her marks, when last I received them, were so seemingly low as to prompt me to write a somewhat severe letter to her. I felt that if she could or would not do well in work which she professed to like so much and which she had been allowed to take only reluctantly, as you know. XX her father and largely because of my own personal pleadings, there was certainly room for real anxiety. Mary always has a good excuse to offer for her failures, and she gave me seemingly good excuses for the low marks in question. If they do not improve by the end of this year, however. I shall seriously question whether Mary ought to stay in this country longer or attempt to go forward in her work.
I am due in Amherst the latter part of this month for a Sunday and shall certainly hope to have a chance to talk this all over with you in person.
Faithfully yours,
AES/G
English
Correspondence
Letter from Annie W. Goodrich, Yale School of Nursing, to Alfred E. Stearns February 15, 1929
Letter from Annie W. Goodrich, Yale School of Nursing, to Alfred E. Stearns February 15, 1929
Annie W. Goodrich
Phillips Academy
February 15, 1929
All Rights Reserved by Phillips Academy
Dr. Alfred E. Stearns,
Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts
My dear Dr. Stearns:
I have for some time been intending to write you concerning Miss Sun, though I fear I can not give a very different account than that conveyed in my letter of December 11th.
Miss Sun I think is sincerely interested in continuing in the school. On the recommendation of the instructor in Physiology she took a second examination but again failed. Mr. Taft is of the same opinion that you expressed in your letter of December 12th, that it is a matter of lack of effort rather than of intelligence. He made a suggestion which I believe may bear very directly upon her problem, namely that she memorizes rather than comprehends. This would account for her meaningless answers to some of the questions which have greatly puzzled the examiners.
Under ordinary circumstances we would have the student repeat the courses in which she has failed. For Miss Sun’s Physiology Mr. Taft has suggested as a better method that she be tutored. This would involve some expense. It would not perhaps be justified unless we are convinced that she can qualify in the other subjects. Miss Sun is very hesitant to have you troubled concerning the expense of tutoring. She feels she will be able to meet this from her allowance as her expenditures are very small. In the next six weeks she will have a particularly heavy program of theory. After careful consideration of the matter it was decided that it would be best to wait until she had completed this period, and if she was able to carry the subject satisfactorily we would then, with your approval, arrange to have her tutored in Physiology.
Miss Sun herself has suggested that this be arranged during the summer. Our course, however, is an intensive one extending over twenty-eight months with a month’s vacation each year. I would believe it better if possible for her to have her month free from any such demand. May I assure you that we are not as yet prepared to say that Miss Sun should not continue. I personally am of the opinion that she is quite capable of doing the work, and that if we patiently seek for the means through which she can be effectively assisted that she will eventually complete the course with credit.
Trusting that this will be in accord with your own desire
Very sincerely yours
Annie W. Goodrich
Dean
English
Correspondence
Letter from Alfred E. Stearns to Dean Annie W. Goodrich, Yale School of Nursing February 16, 1929
Letter from Alfred E. Stearns to Dean Annie W. Goodrich, Yale School of Nursing February 16, 1929
Alfred E. Stearns
Phillips Academy
February 16, 1929
All Rights Reserved by Phillips Academy
February 16, 1929
Dean Annie W. Goodrich 330
Cedar Street
New Haven, Conn.
My dear Miss Goodrich:
The morning’s mail brings me your letter of February 15 and one of the same date from our friend Mary Sun. Needless to say the news conveyed in both letters is not altogether pleasing.
I am writing Mary advising her to follow your suggestions and to arrange for immediate tutoring in Physiology, for I agree with you that this should not be postponed until a brief summer vacation. I am assuming that you will be able and willing to recommend a competent tutor for Miss Sun. Mary's father is perfectly capable to bear the expense, and I am sure it is a legitimate one in view of the conditions that confront us at the moment.
Mary's record at Yale has been a keen disappointment to me, and I have about given up trying to fathom her mind and purpose. Her father has always been extremely anxious that she should get a college degree in this country from one of our best colleges for women. It seemed very doubtful for several years whether Mary would be able to meet such high standards. I made a special trip to Washington to talk the matter over with Mr. Sze, the Chinese Minister, who is a personal friend of Mr. Sun, and on his recommendation entered Mary in Elmira College out in New York State. She was seemingly unhappy there from the start and floundered pretty steadily in her work. The Dean at Elmira gave me reports almost identical to yours and intimated that Mary had much more ability than she professed or than her achievements indicated.
All of this time Mary was constantly pleading with me to be allowed to study nursing. Her father, being an old-fashioned Chinese, could not look upon nursing as a high grade profession. I vigorously advocated the plan to study nursing, however, believing that Mary would be able to do her best under the influence and inspiration of this profession. When she was a member of my household a few years ago, she impressed everyone there with her natural gifts in this direction. I finally succeeded in persuading Mr. Sun that this was the proper thing for Mary to do, and he gave his consent. You can understand, therefore, that it is tremendously disturbing to me to feel that Mary is not doing her best in this particular work for which she claims such a deep interest and in which she unquestionably has talent.
Mary's older brother who is at Amherst and who is a sterling follow is as much disturbed over the situation as I am and is inclined to agree with me that if at the end of the year Mary shows that she cannot or will not meet the proper requirements of your school, she should be sent back to China. Anyway, I shall await with keen interest the results of the new arrangement and shall hope most earnestly to hear that Mary io making real progress with the assistance of such outside help as she may be able to secure under your guidance and approval.
Very sincerely yours.
English
Correspondence
Letter from Mary Sun, New Haven, Conn., to Alfred E. Stearns February 15, 1929
Letter from Mary Sun, New Haven, Conn., to Alfred E. Stearns February 15, 1929
Mary Sun
Phillips Academy
February 15, 1929
All Rights Reserved by Phillips Academy
English
Correspondence