Garfield Meets Another Academic

Yung Wing

Yung Wing’s Memorial,
Cedar Hill Cemetery

The entry for May 1, 1880 in James A. Garfield’s diary reads in part, “In the evening at seven o’clock dined at Secretary Evarts’ at a dinner given to the Chinese Minister Yung Wing […]. Cabinet officers, Senators, and Members, and Mrs. Evarts (the only lady present) attended.” The guest of honor at the dinner, Yung Wing had more than a few things in common with James A. Garfield.

Wing was born in China in Guangdong Province. In 1850, after impressing an American missionary worker with his academic abilities, he was invited to begin studying at Yale University. Four years later, he became the first Chinese citizen to graduate from an American college. He went on to become a vocal advocate for education, resulting in the formation of the Chinese Educational Mission, a program which brought 120 Chinese students to the United States. The Chinese Educational Mission was successful in educating these students at Yale, but the program was unpopular with both the Chinese Qing government officials who feared these students would return to China and push for reform, as well as the United States government who mistrusted immigrants and vocally opposed the students’ admission to West Point and the US Naval Academy.

Another commonality that Wing shared with our own James A. Garfield was that he had amassed a substantial collection of books. In 1876, Wing donated over 1200 volumes to the Yale University library, forming the core of the University’s now revered East Asian Studies Library. As the Gilded Age progressed, Chinese-American relations deteriorated, and James A. Garfield’s political image even came under attack when a false letter was circulated suggesting Garfield was in favor of Chinese immigration. It was not until the 1970s and 1980s when the United States made a serious effort to ‘normalize’ relations with China, that Chinese scholars returned en masse to American universities. They benefitted considerably from the early efforts of Yung Wing and his massive donation to Yale.