Overview
| Repository: |
Yale University Divinity School
Library
409 Prospect Street New Haven, CT 06511 Email: divinity.library@yale.edu Phone: (203) 432-5301 |
| Call Number: | Record Group No. 89 |
| Creator: | Japan International Christian University Foundation. |
| Title: | Archives of the Japan International Christian University Foundation, Inc., |
| Dates: | 1911-1995 |
| Physical Description: | Total archival boxes 74 (incl. 3 oversize); total linear footage 30' |
| Language(s): | Materials in English. |
| Summary: | The records primarily document the operations and policies of the Japan International Christian University Foundation and also include documents generated by or descriptive of the International Christian University itself. The collection provides valuable evidence about the university as well as the cooperation between Japanese and American Christians that led to its creation and success. Of interest is documentation of JICUF as a church-related non-profit support agency, particularly the role of women in its work. Discussions to establish a Christian college in Japan began in 1945, only months after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In 1948, the original committee was dissolved into a legal foundation, the Japan Christian University Foundation, Inc., which provided signicant early publicity and financial support, distributing academic materials, sponsoring Western faculty members and, later, coordinating alumni activities. In 1949, the constitution of the ICU was adopted and the first freshman class was admitted four years later. In 1957, the first graduate school, the School of Education, was opened. By the 1990s, ICU was a highly distinguished university with more than 2,000 students. |
| View/Search: | To view and/or search the entire finding aid, see the Full HTML or the Printable PDF. |
| Finding Aid Link: | To cite or bookmark this finding aid, use the following address: http://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/divinity.089 |
| Request Materials: | To view manuscript and archival materials at the Yale Divinity Library, please submit the request form at http://www.library.yale.edu/div/request.htm. |
| Catalog Record: | A record for this collection may be available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog. |
Administrative Information
Information about Access
Open to qualified researchers.
Cite As
Archives of the Japan International Christian University Foundation, Inc., Record Group No. 89, Special Collections, Yale Divinity School Library.
Historical Sketch
Discussions that led to the establishment of The International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan began only months after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The discussions began with the board of trustees of Tokyo Woman's Christian College but soon included a larger group of Japanese Christian leaders. An American deputation sent to Japan in October, 1945 by the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in North America and the Foreign Missions Conference of North America joined the discussions and returned to America with the vision of facilitating the creation of a new Christian university in Japan.
The Federal Council and the Foreign Missions Conference formed a "Joint Committee for a Christian University in Japan" in March, 1947. While planning for the establishment of the university went on in Japan, the American committee developed a structure to provide advice and financial support. In January, 1948 the International Christian University Research Institute, an embyro form of the University, was inaugurated. In November, 1948 the Joint Committee was dissolved into a legal foundation, the Japan Christian University Foundation, Incorporated (the word "International" was inserted later).
On June 15, 1949 the constitution of the International Christian University was adopted and four years later the first freshman class was admitted to its College of Liberal Arts. In 1957 the first graduate school of the ICU, the School of Education, was opened. By the 1990s, ICU was a highly distinguished university with more than 2,000 students.(A full history of the university is available in Charles W. Iglehart's Intrenational Christian University - An Adventure in Christian Hihger Education in Japan, Tokyo: ICU, 1964).)
The Japan International Christian University Foundation, Inc. provided significant early publicity and financial support for the university, as well as distributing academic materials, sponsoring Western faculty members, and coordinating alumni activities.
Notable leaders of the Foundation are as follows:
Presidents:
Ralph E. Diffendorfer
1948-1951
Kenneth S. Latourette 1951-1968
Andrew W.
Cordier 1969-1975
David H. C. Read 1976-1990
Paul R.
Gregory 1990-
Executive Directors and Executive Secretaries:
Thoburn T. Brumbaugh
1946-1958
Charles J. Turck 1958-1961
Henry Bovenkerk
and Ruth Miller 1961-1964
Ruth Miller 1964-1982
Betty
Gray 1983-1991
The Foundation has its headquarters at 475 Riverside Drive in New York City.
Description of the Papers
I. Official Documents and Minutes
II. Organization and Personnel Records/ Correspondence
III. Events, Programs
IV. Financial and Fundraising Records
V. Publications/ Photographs
VI. ICU Buildings, Blueprints, and Property.
While these records primarily document the operations and policies of the Japan International Christian University Foundation, they also include documents generated by or descriptive of the International Christian University itself. The record group provides valuable evidence about the university as well as the cooperation between Japanese and American Christians that led to its creation and success. The record group's thorough documentation of a church-related non-profit support agency is also of interest, particularly from the standpoint of the strong role of women in its work.
Series I provides the official definition of the Foundation, its policies, and programs, including legal documents and full sets of minutes for the various administrative and program entities within the Foundation.
Series II includes correspondence, proposals, reports, and other records documenting the formation and development of the Foundation, and its relationships with the ICU. An initial section of chronologically arranged documentation is followed by files arranged by administrative and program entities, and by individual names. The individual files represent officers and leaders of the Foundation, as well as of the ICU itself. Reports of the ICU Presidents are included in their individual files. Information about the decision to close the Foundation office in New York is available in the files for Kunio Oguchi and Philippa Hughes.
As is the case with many archives of organizations, there is considerable overlap among files and series. For example, documentation of the relationship between the Foundation and the ICU is available primarily in the historical material of Series II and the records of meetings and consultations in Series III, but can also be found within the individual files of Foundation and ICU leaders. It should also be noted that the extensive input of the executive directors of the Foundation, particularly Ruth Miller and Betty Gray, may not be immediately apparent from the finding aid. Suffice it to say that all these files were in some sense those of the executive directors of the Foundation.
The first section of Series III focuses on meetings and consultations related to the evolving relationship between the Foundation and the ICU. The remainder of the Series documents events and programs sponsored by the Foundation to provide publicity and financial support for the ICU. These events and programs, of course, were organized by the various committees and individuals of the Foundation, so there is overlap of documentation between Series I, II, and III.
The financial and fundraising records of Series IV are extensive because a major role of the Foundation was to provide financial support for the ICU. Financial documentation is also available in the Finance Committee minutes of Series I and in the individual files of financial officers in Series II.
The publications of Series V include newsletters, radio scripts, and brochures designed to engender support of the Foundation and the ICU. Copies of several articles about the ICU that appeared in church-related periodicals provide a good overview of the origins and philosophy of the university. The photographs in this series are in addition to those filed amidst the documentation of events and programs in Series III.
The records found in Series V are a rather eclectic mixture of documentation of the ICU campus. These items collected and retained by the Foundation office in New York undoubtedly represent a small sample of similar documentation available in the archives of the ICU in Japan.