Early Chinese Alumni of Grinnell College

1891-1947

About the Project

This website is devoted to the lives of the Chinese alumni who attended Grinnell College from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century. We are showcasing some of their experiences at and beyond Grinnell through images and text at this website, organized by both themes and biographical sketches of individuals. Grinnell’s early Chinese alumni were caught in the maelstrom of twentieth-century social, political, and cultural transformations both in China and across the globe. They were products of history even as they made history in a world increasingly divided by ideological tribes and geopolitical tensions. While more longitudinal studies are still needed to fully excavate the rich and complex cultural and educational exchanges between Grinnell College and China over the past century or so, we hope this website can provide a platform to connect Grinnellians past, present, and future as we navigate the choppy waters of Sino-US relations.

This project grew out of my research into Chinese students’ experiences at Grinnell College in the first half of the twentieth century. I started it in 2023 under the auspice of the five-college grant “Abolition for All Time,” funded by the Adrew Mellon Foundation. From Fall 2025-Spring 2026, I worked with Chikako Inoue, a fourth-year Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies major and Vivero Fellow (a student research assistant mentored by digital specialists) at Grinnell College to construct a website devoted to the lives of the Chinese alumni who attended Grinnell College from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century. We are showcasing some of their experiences at and beyond Grinnell through images and text at this website.

This website would not have come into existence without the kind assistance of colleagues such as: Daniel Kaiser, Professor Emeritus of History at Grinnell, who has provided invaluable research assistance and feedback on the stories; Christopher Jones and Allison Haack, Grinnell College archivists; Elizabeth Rodrigues and Tierney Steelberg, digital specialists who mentor Vivero Fellows; and Dr. Gao Peng 高鹏 and Dr. Chen Xin 陈鑫, China-based scholars of Nankai history and alumni of Nankai School and Nankai University respectively. Thanks also go to the students enrolled in my CHI 498 “Readings in Chinese Literature” in Spring 2026: Clara Chaput, Grace Cuddihy, Beatrice Durham, Yiqing Wang, and Cameron Welch-Groves, whose interest and translation efforts contributed to this project. Finally, there are too many other names to be listed individually here, but I do remember every one of you and appreciate all your support along the way.

Jin Feng

Department of Chinese and Japanese

Grinnell College

May 2026