Nora Hsiung Chu

Nora Hsiung Chu
A newspaper photograph of a smiling young Asian woman with bangs and a bobbed haircut.
Nora Hsiung as a young student, from a 1923 newspaper
Born1902
Hunan, Qing
Died1977 (aged 74–75)
Other namesTze Hsiung Chu, Chih Hsiung, Chu Hsiung-chih, N. T. H. Chu, Xiong Zhi, Nora Xiong
Alma materBarnard College (BA)
Columbia University (MA)
Occupationeducator
Children5
ParentXiong Xiling

Nora Tze Hsiung Chu (1902 – 1977) was a Chinese educator. As secretary general of the National Association for Refugee Children in the 1940s, she oversaw dozens of orphanages and programs for child refugees in China.

Early life

Hsiung was born in Hunan province in 1902 (some sources give 1900 as the date),[1] the daughter of Chinese philanthropist and politician Hsiung Shi-ling (Xiong Xiling). Her mother, Chu Ch'i-hui (Zhu Qihui), was a leader of women's and charitable organizations.[2][3] After her mother died in 1931, her father married Mao Yen-wen (1898–1999).[4]

A black-and-white newspaper photograph of two young Asian women, side by side, photographed outdoors. The woman on the left is not smiling or wearing a hat; the woman on the right is smiling and wearing a hat.
Nora and Rose Hsiung, from a 1922 newspaper.

Nora Hsiung and her sister Rose were educated in the United States.[5] Nora attended Mount Ida School, Mount Holyoke College[6][7] and Barnard College.[8][9] While in Boston, she was in the cast of two short plays produced by Chinese students to benefit Chinese relief work.[10] While she was in New York City, she was photographed doing carpentry ahead of the 1925 Oriental Bazaar, a benefit for the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.[11] She received a bachelor's degree at Barnard in 1926; she also earned a master's degree in 1927 from Teachers College Columbia University.[12][3]

Career

On her return to China, Nora Hsiung Chu served on the staff of the National College of Rural Reconstruction.[3] She toured European and American child welfare programs and gave a series of lectures in China about what she found, and how Western ideas might be adapted for Chinese use.[13]

In 1942, Chu became secretary general of the National Association for Refugee Children, an organization directed by Soong Mei-ling and based in Chongqing during and after World War II.[12] Chu was responsible for overseeing dozens of orphanages, schools, and programs for child refugees.[14][15][16] She was described as "the leading Chinese child-welfare specialist" after she chaired a national conference in Shanghai in 1946.[17] She went to the United Kingdom on a United Nations fellowship in 1949.[18]

Chu was living in Taiwan when she served on the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women when it met in Geneva, Switzerland in 1956.[19] Later that year, she crossed the United States, visiting educators in New York City, Washington, D.C., Cincinnati, West Lafayette, Berkeley, and Seattle along the way.[18] In 1967, Chu attended the World Girl Guide Association meeting in Canada.[20] She participated in the Regional Meeting of Teacher Educators in Asia, held in The Philippines in 1969.[21]

Personal life

Nora Hsiung married Chu Ling (also known as Lynn Chu), a Chinese air force officer. They had five children;[18][22] four of their children lived their adult lives in the United States, and the fifth lived in Taiwan.[23][24] Her husband was director of the Astronautical Society of the Republic of China, and was involved in international meetings on the "peaceful uses of space".[25][26] She died in 1977, aged 75 years.[27]

Her younger sister, Rose Hsiung, married British author Robert Payne in 1942; they divorced in 1951.[28] Her granddaughter Linda Hsiung Dech[24] was a founder of the Minnesota Breastfeeding Coalition, and in 2019 became executive director of the Minnesota Milk Bank for Babies.[29][30]

References

  1. ^ China Handbook. Macmillan. 1937. pp. xxvii.
  2. ^ Yu-ning, Li (1991-12-01). "Chu Ch'i-hui and Her Family". Chinese Studies in History. 25 (2): 66–87. doi:10.2753/CSH0009-4633250266. ISSN 0009-4633.
  3. ^ a b c Hayford, Charles Wishart (1990). To the People: James Yen and Village China. Columbia University Press. pp. 49–51, 193. ISBN 9780231072045.
  4. ^ Lee, Lily Xiao Hong (2016-07-08). Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: v. 2: Twentieth Century. Routledge. p. 400. ISBN 9781315499246.
  5. ^ "Flapper Revolution for China". The Evening News. July 7, 1922. p. 8. Retrieved November 5, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ College, Mount Holyoke Seminary and; Seminary, Mount Holyoke Female (1917). Annual Catalogue of the Mt. Holyoke Seminary and College in South Hadley, Mass. Mount Holyoke College. p. 127.
  7. ^ "Chinese Equestrienne". The Marion Star. May 31, 1922. p. 12. Retrieved November 5, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Personal News". The Chinese Students Monthly. 20: 74. December 1924.
  9. ^ "Here's a Student from the Land of the Dragon" Boston Globe (October 14, 1923): 102. via Newspapers.com
  10. ^ "Two Plays by Chinese Students". The Boston Globe. February 27, 1921. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  11. ^ "She's Carpenter". Santa Ana Register. April 30, 1925. p. 5. Retrieved November 5, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ a b China Year Book. China Publishing Company. 1947. pp. 615, 657.
  13. ^ Tillman, Margaret Mih (2018-10-02). Raising China's Revolutionaries: Modernizing Childhood for Cosmopolitan Nationalists and Liberated Comrades, 1920s-1950s. Columbia University Press. pp. 132, 147. ISBN 9780231546225.
  14. ^ "Those China-Girl Nurses". Muncie Evening Press. April 20, 1944. p. 10. Retrieved November 4, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Colossal Child Care Task is Faced in China". Statesman Journal. June 27, 1945. p. 4. Retrieved November 4, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Director of Orphanages Pleads for Trained Workers". News of United China Relief: 7. January 8, 1944 – via Internet Archive.
  17. ^ Price, Mildred (January 1947). "For Welfare of Chinese Children". The Child: Monthly News Summary: 123.
  18. ^ a b c Elliott, Kathleen (July 17, 1956). "Chinese Education Leader Plans to Use Craftwork in Teaching". Journal and Courier. pp. 4, 9. Retrieved November 5, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Moscow Takes Over a Seminar". The Decatur Daily Review. September 1, 1956. p. 4. Retrieved November 4, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ Flexman, Muriel (September 26, 1967). "Understanding is Key". The Ottawa Citizen. p. 38. Retrieved November 4, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ ERIC (1970). ERIC ED041860: Curriculum Development in Teacher Education in Asia. Final Report of the Regional Meeting of Teacher Educators in Asia. (Quezon City, P.I., Sept. 23-Oct 3. 1969).
  22. ^ "Untitled news item". Oklahoma City Star. September 14, 1945. p. 4. Retrieved November 5, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ "Jack W. Chu". The Morning Call. June 18, 2003. p. 25. Retrieved November 4, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ a b "Hugo S. W. Hsiung". Pioneer Press. August 8, 2018. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
  25. ^ Congress, United States. Reports and Documents. p. 1277.
  26. ^ "General from Formosa Talks at Junior High". The San Bernardino County Sun. 1963-11-22. p. 15. Retrieved 2019-11-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ Shi, Xia (2018-03-20). At Home in the World: Women and Charity in Late Qing and Early Republican China. Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231546232.
  28. ^ McDowell, Edwin (1983-02-22). "Robert Payne, Author, Dies at 71; Published More Than 100 Books". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
  29. ^ "Announcing New Leadership Team". Minnesota Milk Bank For Babies. August 27, 2019. Retrieved 2019-11-05.
  30. ^ "Our Team". Minnesota Milk Bank For Babies. Retrieved 2019-11-05.