曾仲毅/曾中毅 (1897-1986)
Chung I Tseng entered the US via San Francisco in September 1918, together with a cohort of Tsing Hua graduates including fellow Grinnellian Liang Chao Cha. Born in Nanchang, Jiangxi province, Tseng had graduated from Nankai School in 1914 before entering Tsing Hua.
At Grinnell Tseng was known for his oratory skills. Not only did he give the main speech at a newly reorganized Jesse Macy Club on campus, talking about the “Shantung [Shandong] Question” (SB 03/03/1920), but he also won the second place at the annual Spaulding Contest in public speaking in 1919, with his speech titled “Dedication of the Chinese Flag to the War Cause” (GH 06/13/1919). As the first Chinese student to ever qualify for the contest and excelling in a very close contest, he won admiration from the town newspaper for having mastered English so well only one year after his arrival in the US (GH 04/18/1919). He certainly made good use of the power of speech, giving talks both on campus and at mission society meetings in town. He also participated in the Chinese students’ celebration of the Republic of China in October 1918 and co-hosted the visiting Chinese educators in November 1918, including Zhang Boling, the President of his alma mater, Nankai. Tseng graduated from Grinnell in 1920, earning a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and education.
1920-1922 saw him enrolled in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University, and he studied at Harvard Law School from 1922-1923, though apparently without earning any advanced degrees. In 1929 he hosted the visiting Zhang Boling again in Chicago, together with other Chinese students there. The 1930 US Census listed him as a single businessman selling vacuum cleaners in Chicago. In 1937 he was married to Ngai Chen Shih, whom he had met at Grinnell in 1918, if not in China earlier on. The 1940 Census listed Tseng as head of the household, Shih as his wife (called Nancy on the record), and their 11-month daughter, Cynthia. This time he was listed as a tea importer.
According to a report, when World War II broke out, Tseng “took a course in engineering at the Universities of Chicago and Illinois,” though records show only that he took a course in “Die Design” at the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1945. He operated a drill press at the Whiting Corporation in Harvey, Illinois, an industrial suburb of Chicago in 1943. As the only Chinese involved in war production in the area, Tseng was appointed to the Employee Token Committee of the company and received an “E” pin as a recognition of his service, together with several elderly American colleagues who had worked for the company for decades. This work experience must have paved the way for his next employment as a research technician at an automobile company in Michigan, as listed in the 1950 U.S. census, likely the Ford Corporation, since he lived in the company’s Dearborn dormitory at the time. The same census showed that his wife Nancy and daughter Cynthia were living in Detroit with Nancy’s sister, Evelyn Shih. Tseng passed away in Oakland, Michigan in 1986, at the age of 89.
“Chinese Aids War.” Chicago Tribune (CT) 04/18/1943.
“Eight Men Qualify.” GH 04/18/1919.
“Shantung Question Macy Club Subject.” SB 03/08/1920.
Social Security Death Index.
US Census, 1930, 1940, 1950.
“Walter Meek Wins.” GH 06/13/1919.