Letter from William E. Souter, Chinese-Foreign Famine Relief Committee, Shanghai, to Alfred E. Stearns September 5, 1929
Dear Dr. Stearns, My friend Mr. C.Y.Sun has just come to Shanghai, and he has shown me his letter to you. I suggested that he might send you an extra copy of this letter with a view to your sending it on to Charlie with a covering letter from you. I am sure if you did this that it would be of great help to the young man to get over his disappointment and at the same time encourage him to carry on with his studies in view of the London position. We are in the midst of our work here for the present famine and our campaign has so far resulted in raising over $350,000- While conditions are somewhat improved in the famine areas there is still a great need in some of the provinces, and this need will continue right through the winter. In all this big effort for the famine sufferers Mr. Sun has been as always a tower of strength, and has given himself freely to this service and does more than his share of work in all our efforts at relief. With kind regards and best wishes for you in all your work, believe me, Yours sincerely, P.S. Mr. Sun is not very well and certainly looks tired & worn out. He mentioned that he wanted to write Charlie himself, but in case he does not do so feeling as he is now, the letter from you to Charlie would be of great help.
Letter from William Filene's Sons Company, Boston, to Alfred E. Stearns, October 13, 1926 (regarding Mary Sun)
Dear Sir; All the charges on the enclosed bill were made by Mary Sun and were sent to 175 Florida Street, Springfield, Mass. Yours very truly,
Letter from William J. Burns, Andover, to Alfred E. Stearns, September 29, 1919
Sept 29, 1919 Mr. Alfred E. Stearns. Phillips Academy. Andover, Mass. Dear Sir: Mr. K.F.Tsai has recently opened an account at our store and he has given you as the guardian of his bills while at Andover. We are enclosing itemized account of his bill to date. We would greatly appreciate your advice as to how much credit we should extend to Mr. Tsai, and we shall await your santion before we let him make any further purchases. Thanking you for advice you may give us, we are. Yours very truly. The Burns Co.
Letter from William J. Newlin, Amherst College, to Alfred E. Stearns September 14, 1923
Sept. 14, 1923 Principal Alfred E. Stearns, Phillips Andover Academy, Andover, Mass. My dear Mr. Stearns: Kuo Fang Tsai has just come into my office, having found, to his dismay, that he had been informed by some student or other that the Amherst examination which he was to take in geometry came today, when in fact it came yesterday. However, upon checking up his verbal report of his credits, I find we ought to be able to credit him with Mathematics A, French A, B, German A, English 1, and four points in Chinese. If he passes our examination in English 2 on Monday we could credit him with that point also. In this case he can enter Amherst conditioned in geometry, and I hope we may be able to arrange for him to take a special entrance examination in that subject in the near future. In the meantime, I am asking him to get into my hands as soon as possible the credits which he has from Harvard and from your brother's school. Cordially yours,
Letter from William J. Newlin, Amherst College, to Alfred E. Stearns, June 22, 1923
June 22, 1923 Mr. Alfred E. Stearns, Principal Phillips Academy Andover, Mass. My dear Mr. Stearns: Your letter to Mr. Esty has been referred to me for information concerning the admission of Kuo Fang Tsai. It is the case here that we are ready to accept the study of the Chinese classics in lieu of Latin provided we can get some acceptable assurance that it has been a practical equivalent in character and amount to our requirement in Latin. This would mean a minimum of five years actual "classical" study in Chinese. If there is any way in which Mr. Tsai can present documents showing such preparation we will be very happy to credit him. Tom asks me to extend to you his very warmest regards. Cordially yours
Letter from William O'Brien, Justice of the Peace to Mr. A.E. Stearns, July 8, 1915
Typed letter sent from William O'Brien, justice of the peace, to Dr. Alfred E. Stearns. States Shop of Jenkins, Inc. Haberdashers placed a claim for collection from Y.C. Lee. Explains Lee promised to pay before college ended, but did not. Contacts Stearns to pay bill. Written postscript states Lee received itemized bill and approved bill.
Dear Sir: The Shop of Jenkins, Inc. Haberdashers, have placed a claim for $21.00 for collection from your, Ward, Mr. Y.C. Lee, # 333 York Street, Yale College. The account has been placed with me for collection previous to college closing Mr. Lee wrote me and told me he would pay the bill before College Closed, but has failed to do so, and I must now place the above statement before you and ask you to kindly favor me with your check in settlement per return mail, thanking you in advance. Very truly yours,
Letter from William Rice, Dean of Tufts College Dental School to Dr. Alfred E. Stearns, October 7, 1927
Typed letter sent from William Rice, Dean of Tufts College Dental School to Dr. Alfred E. Stearns. Explains only unclassified schools can accept dental students with only a high school diploma. Lists 3 schools, including Tufts. Agrees with opinion that there should be a school for foreign students who don't fulfill all requirements in order to gain some experience.
October 7, 1927 Mr. Alfred E. Stearns Phillips Academy Andover, Mass Dear Mr. Stearns: Under the rules of the Dental Educational Council only an unclassified school may accept a student for the study of dentistry who has high school work only as his preliminary education. The Dental Department of the University of California is an excellent school and is in the unclassified list, the other two being Cincinnati College of Dental Surgery and Texas Dental College neither of which should I be willing to recommend* Japan has several excellent schools, but of course it would not do to suggest that a Chinese attend a Japanese school. I am in accord with your opinion that there should be some responsible school where foreign students who do not fulfill to the "letter" all requirements for admission to Class A schools might be able to get a limited background in dentistry that would enable them to give Mr. Stearns much needed service in their native country. Sincerely yours
Letter from William Rice, Dean of Tufts College Dental School to Mr. Alfred E. Stearns, October 4, 1927
Typed letter sent from William Rice, Dean of Tufts College Dental School to Dr. Alfred E. Stearns. Explains Tufts couldn't admit the Chinese student except under the rules government admission of foreign students. States the student would have to pass a special English examination.
Mr. A. E. Stearns Phillips Academy Andover, Mass* Dear Mr. Stearns: We are sending under separate cover a copy of Tufts College Dental School catalogue in which you will find the information regarding the entrance requirements I regret to say that it does not seem possible for us to admit the young Chinese student mentioned in your letter except under the rules governing the admission of foreign students which are the same as those relating to American students with the exception of the English requirement which is as follows: "All applicants for dental student certificates upon credentials from foreign countries other than those in which English is the language of the people all or any part of which are earned or issued in said foreign countries, must pass a special examination in English* No counts are granted for passing the special English examination." We do not accept special students except graduates of foreign schools who desire instruction along special lines Yours sincerely William Rice
Letter from William S. Murray, Grand Central Terminal, New York City, to Alfred E. Stearns, December 3, 1926 (regarding Arthur Sun)
My dear Dr. Stearns: Your letter of November 30th about young Sun has just reached me. Please do not for a minute think that the matter is eating into my time and thought. As I wrote you before I am interested in young Sun and want to help him in any way I can. I am glad you sent me his letter, for it gives me a line on his makeup. The reaction is good. It would seem to me that the wisest thing he can do is to stick right by the job he has, holding it as a pivotal point against any change that can later be made either with Mr. Weston or Mr. Eddy. It is evident that Mr. Weston is interested in him by virtue of his invitation to dine with him some time when he is not busy, and something may develop there. A position with Mr. Eddy’s firm still seems to be a possibility, and he was wise to fill in the application blank. I have always thought it advisable for a young man to hold on to any honorable position he may have and move from it to another when justified, rather than have a blank space between the two jobs. I rather feel that Messrs. Metcalf & Eddy will later offer him some position, and if he could simply say to them, when he meets Mr. Eddy, that he is holding on to his job until they can take him on, it will strengthen his position. I have again written Mr. Moultrop as per copy. The boy is going to get there, although like the rest of us, he may have to wait a little while. Again I want to say, I liked his letter. I am returning it to you herewith. We are looking forward to seeing our youngsters, and hope that they will come back in good standing I think that they are making every best effort towards such a result. With kind regards,- WSM:R Very sincerely yours, Enclosures
Letter from William S. Murray, Grand Central Terminal, New York City, to Alfred E. Stearns, November 10, 1926 (regarding Arthur Sun)
My dear Dr. Stearns: I was most interested to have your letter of November 9th this morning. The pleasure of giving any worthy youngster a start, as you know yourself, carries its own compensation. For a Chinese boy to come over here and graduate at Technology means that he has something in him; and in the vernacular of the second American language, I’ve got my hat off to him.” I have often told my own sons, John and Bill they have all the advantage, and while I am always glad to render any help I can, that help will be withdrawn unless I have a very positive manifest of their first willingness to help themselves. They know that they have got to get through Andover on their own recognizance, and I truly believe that they realize and appreciate that fact - but I am degressing [sic]. When I talked with my friend, Thaddeus Merriman about Sun, he seemed to think that the wiser plan would be for Sun not to get a position with an operating organization for the reason that he would be assigned to a very specific and minor line of work, which might last for some time; but rather to get associated with some well recognized consulting firm of sanitary engineers, where the diversity of work would give him a broader experience of planning, designing, and with the undoubted opportunity of observing the fruition of these plans and designs. He expressed the same feeling that I had, that such a position would combine a sort of post graduate course with practical experience over a diversified field, and better fit him for future responsible work along these lines in his own country. I believe, too, that the step he has made is very constructive, since now holding an actual position with the Metropolitan District Commission, it puts him in a stronger position to approach Messrs. Metcalf & Eddy and Messrs. Weston & Sampson for his conference. Undoubtedly the Metropolitan District Commission will be glad to assist in any step along these lines that he may make. I wrote my friend, Dr. D.C. Jackson who is head of the department of electrical engineering at Technology telling him about Sun, and I have had a letter from him saying that he wants to meet this young man himself, and is arranging to give him an appointment. As I have written you before, I am very much looking forward to meeting him myself, for you have gotten me warmed up on him, and when once that sort of thing happens, I find it difficult to cool off. I am afraid I am in dutch with the boys on not going up to see the Andover-Exeter game next Saturday, but I have to be in Washington on that day. However, it is not necessary for me to say whom I am betting on. Very sincerely yours, WSM:R