Collection: E-tu Zen Sun papers (2024)

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Collection ID

10130

Collection

Staff Only
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Collection Organization
Summary
Background
Subjects
Using These Materials
Container Inventory

Collection organization

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Summary

Abstract

This collection includes photographs and scrapbooks from E-tu Zen Sun, who was a professor of history at Pennsylvania State University. She was the first female full professor for the history department and helped form the East Asian Studies program. Most of the photographs are of her, her parents, and her family during her childhood (circa 1920s and 1930s) and some of her college life in the 1940s. This collection also contains written documents, including correspondence with the Lushan Botanical Garden. Many of the photographs have captions only in Chinese, though some have English captions. The written documents are also in Chinese.

Dates

Creation: circa 1910-1956

Extent

1 Linear Feet

Background

Biographical / Historical

E-tu Zen Sun was born on July 24, 1921 in Beijing, China. She started her college education at the National Southwest Associated University in Kunming, China and continued at Vassar College in the United States from 1941 to 1944. She received her MA and PhD in Chinese history at Radcliffe College (Harvard University). She taught at Goucher College and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Page School for International Relations at the Johns Hopkins University. She became a full-time faculty member in the Pennsylvania State University History Department in 1966. She was the department's first female full professor. She helped establish the East Asians Studies Program and served as director in 1970-1977. Her area of study included the history of late imperial China. She married Shiou-chuan Sun, also a professor at Pennsylvania State University, in 1949.
Biographical information adapted from obituary of E-tu Zen Sun as found on website of Koch Funeral Home, State College.

Scope and Contents

This collection contains loose photographs, scrapbooks containing photographs, and written documents from E-tu Zen Sun. Many of the photographs have captions, mostly in Chinese, though there are some in English. Some loose photographs date from the late 1910s to the 1930s and include pictures of Sun's parents, Hongjun and Hengzhe "Sophia" Chen Ren, and Sun and her siblings as children. The photographs of this time range are located in China. Other photos are from the mid-1940s when Sun was in college (Vassar College) and graduate school (Radcliffe College, now part of Harvard University) in the United States and include photos of her graduation. An autograph book with a fabric cover contains hand written messages in Chinese and English, drawings, and clipped photographs of friends and well-wishers ranging from 1940 to 1941. Three scrapbooks contain photographs ranging from about 1926 to 1949. These photographs include pictures of family members and what appear to be vacation or travel photos. Most of these photographs have captions or are written on the back in Chinese, though some are also in English. Documents include a correspondence with the Lushan Botanical Garden which is written in Chinese.

Physical Location

For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Penn State University Libraries catalog via the link above. Archival collections may be housed in offsite storage. For materials stored offsite, please allow 2-3 business days for retrieval.

Custodial History

E-tu Zen Sun's sons, Albert Sun and Raymond Sun, donated these materials following her death in 2021. Materials were originally given to Jade Atwill, East Asian Studies Librarian at Penn State, who facilitated their transfer to Special Collections.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Albert Sun and Raymond Sun

Processing Information

These materials were minimally processed by Margaret Oldham at the point of accessioning. She put loose photographs into plastic sleeves and put scrapbooks and photographs into folders.

Subjects

China
Chinese language
College students
Faculty (Education)
Women
photographs
scrapbooks

Using These Materials

Repository Details

Part of the Eberly Family Special Collections Library Repository

https://libraries.psu.edu/specialcollections

Contact:
104 Paterno Library
Penn State University
University Park 16802 USA
(814) 865-1793

spcollections@psu.edu

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Photocopies of original materials may be made available for research purposes at the discretion of the Eberly Family Special Collections Library. Photocopies or reproductions of original materials may be subject to fees as outlined by the Pennsylvania State University Libraries reproduction policies.
Copyright is retained by the creators of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law. Patrons seeking advice on the availability of unpublished materials for publication should consult relevant copyright law and laws of libel.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], E-tu Zen Sun papers, 10130, Eberly Family Special Collections Library, Pennsylvania State University.

Title: Guide to the E-tu Zen Sun papers
Status: Minimal Record
Author: Margaret Oldham
Date: 2023
Description rules: Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description: English
Script of description: Latin

Citation

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