Letter from Dr. Alfred E. Stearns to May Wright Sewall, August 5, 1908
Dublin Core
Title
Letter from Dr. Alfred E. Stearns to May Wright Sewall, August 5, 1908
Subject
Letter from Dr. Alfred E. Stearns to May Wright Sewall, August 5, 1908
Description
Typed letter sent from Dr. Alfred E. Stearns to May Wright Sewall. Unsure of who could present Confucianism at conference. Recommends Mr. Koo of Columbia and Mr. Wong of Yale. Directs Sewall to contact Dr. Henry D. Fearing for recommendations. Expresses disappointment in Wong Vung Lung's progress. Believes unusual domestic situation is largely to blame. States Wong's sister's progress is similarly irregular. Plans to discover the reasons behind difficulties and hopefully remedy them.
Transcription
August 5th, 1908
Miss May Wright Sewall,
Green Acre,
Eliot, York Co.,Maine
My dear Miss Sewall:
Your letter of July 23rd was forwarded to me from Andover and reached me Just as I was leaving the woods to return to my home, hence the delay in acknowledging Its receipt.
I do not know whom to recommend as a suitable person to present Confucianism at your conference. At our conference here last year one of the boys, I think Mr. Koo of Columbia, presented the subject in a very interesting and striking way. My impression, too, is that hr. Wong of Yale, who seemed to me about the strongest and sanest Man here last summer, could do this acceptably. I do not know the summer addresses of either of these boys. It has occurred to me that hr. Henry D. Fearing of Amherst, who for years has kept in close personal touch with most of these foreigners, will be far better able than I am to advise you intelligently on this point. I am sorry that I feel so incompetent myself but I must be frank to admit limitations.
A word as to Wong Vung Lung. Yes, I have been disappointed in that boy. impression is that the unusual domestic situation which has surrounded him as a school boy has been largely to blame for his seeming lack of progress. I have always felt more than usual interest in these Chinese students and when Wong first appeared, I was immensely attracted to him. My wife often laughed at enthusiasm on this point. The boy seems to lack a sense of responsibility and apparently fails to feel the importance of such natural business obligations as we are accustomed to encounter and of necessity must meet in a businesslike way. His work has been constantly interrupted and has been irregular and incomplete.
Personally I feel that the year has done very little for him in so far as the attainment of the ideal of his father is concerned I confess that from the outset the boy seems to have been handicapped by his surroundings and I am hopeful that a way can be found to make things easier for him in the future. From what I have heard I infer that his sister's record this past year must have been equally irregular. I know at least that she spent days at a time in Andover to the injury of the boy's work and I have no doubt to the detriment of her own.
Perhaps I am unduly disturbed for I confess that my feelings are shaped more by general impressions than by overt and definite acts on the boy’s part. Still I was naturally prejudiced in his favor and I don't believe that my feelings would have undergone such a change without some good -reason. I shall do my best to get in closer touch with him from now on in the hope that I may be able to discover the real difficulty and, if possible, supply a remedy.
With Kind personal regards,
believe me
Very sincerely yours,
Miss May Wright Sewall,
Green Acre,
Eliot, York Co.,Maine
My dear Miss Sewall:
Your letter of July 23rd was forwarded to me from Andover and reached me Just as I was leaving the woods to return to my home, hence the delay in acknowledging Its receipt.
I do not know whom to recommend as a suitable person to present Confucianism at your conference. At our conference here last year one of the boys, I think Mr. Koo of Columbia, presented the subject in a very interesting and striking way. My impression, too, is that hr. Wong of Yale, who seemed to me about the strongest and sanest Man here last summer, could do this acceptably. I do not know the summer addresses of either of these boys. It has occurred to me that hr. Henry D. Fearing of Amherst, who for years has kept in close personal touch with most of these foreigners, will be far better able than I am to advise you intelligently on this point. I am sorry that I feel so incompetent myself but I must be frank to admit limitations.
A word as to Wong Vung Lung. Yes, I have been disappointed in that boy. impression is that the unusual domestic situation which has surrounded him as a school boy has been largely to blame for his seeming lack of progress. I have always felt more than usual interest in these Chinese students and when Wong first appeared, I was immensely attracted to him. My wife often laughed at enthusiasm on this point. The boy seems to lack a sense of responsibility and apparently fails to feel the importance of such natural business obligations as we are accustomed to encounter and of necessity must meet in a businesslike way. His work has been constantly interrupted and has been irregular and incomplete.
Personally I feel that the year has done very little for him in so far as the attainment of the ideal of his father is concerned I confess that from the outset the boy seems to have been handicapped by his surroundings and I am hopeful that a way can be found to make things easier for him in the future. From what I have heard I infer that his sister's record this past year must have been equally irregular. I know at least that she spent days at a time in Andover to the injury of the boy's work and I have no doubt to the detriment of her own.
Perhaps I am unduly disturbed for I confess that my feelings are shaped more by general impressions than by overt and definite acts on the boy’s part. Still I was naturally prejudiced in his favor and I don't believe that my feelings would have undergone such a change without some good -reason. I shall do my best to get in closer touch with him from now on in the hope that I may be able to discover the real difficulty and, if possible, supply a remedy.
With Kind personal regards,
believe me
Very sincerely yours,
Creator
Dr. Alfred E. Stearns
Publisher
Phillips Academy
Date
August 5, 1908
Rights
All Rights Reserved By Phillips Academy
Language
English
Type
Correspondence