Kenneth Scott Latourette
Encyclopedia
Kenneth Scott Latourette (August 6, 1884 – December 26, 1968) was an American historian of China, Japan, and world Christianity. His formative experiences as Christian missionary and educator in early 20th century China shaped his life's work. Although he did not learn the Chinese language, he became known for his magisterial scholarly surveys of the history of world Christianity
, the history of China, and of American relations with East Asia.
, Oregon
, the son of DeWitt Clinton Latourette and Ella (Scott) Latourette. His mother and father both attended Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, where they both graduated in 1878. DeWitt Clinton Latourette was a lawyer in Oregon City.
In 1904, Latourette was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree from Linfield College
in Oregon. He continued his education in New Haven, Connecticut at Yale
, earning his BA in 1906, his MA in 1907 and his PhD in 1909.
.
In 1910, he joined the faculty of Yale-China Association
's Yali School
at Changsha in Hunan Province; but this period of teaching was cut short in 1912 when he was forced to return to the United States for health reasons.
After recovering his health, Latourette joined the faculty at Reed College
in Portland, Oregon; and from 1914 through 1916, he was a professor of history at Reed.
In 1916, he accepted a position at Denison University
in Granville, Ohio. His time at Denison lasted from 1916 through 1921. In 1918, while at Denison, Latourette was ordained as a Baptist
minister.
Latourette joined the faculty of the Yale University Divinity School in 1921. At Yale, he accepted appointment as the D. Willis James Professor of Missions and World Christianity (1921-49), and he was later made the Sterling Professor of Missions and Oriental History (1949-53). In 1938, he was named Chairman of the Department of Religion at Yale. He took on greater responsibilities in 1946 as Director of Graduate Studies at the Yale Divinity School. From his retirement in 1953 until his death in 1968, he was Sterling Professor Emeritus at the Divinity School.
Latourette was killed at age 84 when an automobile accidentally hit him in front of his family home in Oregon City, Oregon.
, the American Baptist Convention, the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society and the Japan International Christian University
Foundation.
He was a leader in the ecumenical movement, and he held leadership positions in the American Baptist Missionary Union
, the Far Eastern Association, the International Board of the Y.M.C.A., the United Board for Christian Colleges in China and the World Council of Churches
.
Throughout his life he remained active in the Yale in China Association.
At the Yale Divinity School, the "Latourette Initiative" is a proactive program to preserve and provide access to the documentation of world Christianity. It provides funding for the microfilming of published and archival resources documenting the history of Christian missions and Christian life.
In 1938 he received the Order of Jade from the Government of China
.
He is also honored at the campus of William Carey International University in Pasadena, California
. The institution's main library is called the Latourette Library.
Linfield College named one of their residence halls in his honor in 1946.
The single work for which Latourette is most remembered is the two-volume History of Christianity. In addition, he wrote extensively on China.
Latourette's papers are archived in the Divinity Library Special Collections of the Yale University Library.
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, the history of China, and of American relations with East Asia.
Early life
Latourette was born in Oregon CityOregon City, Oregon
Oregon City was the first city in the United States west of the Rocky Mountains to be incorporated. It is the county seat of Clackamas County, Oregon...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, the son of DeWitt Clinton Latourette and Ella (Scott) Latourette. His mother and father both attended Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, where they both graduated in 1878. DeWitt Clinton Latourette was a lawyer in Oregon City.
In 1904, Latourette was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree from Linfield College
Linfield College
Linfield College is an American private institution of higher learning located in McMinnville, Oregon, United States. As a four-year, undergraduate, liberal arts and sciences college with a campus in Portland, Oregon, it also has an adult degree program located in eight communities throughout the...
in Oregon. He continued his education in New Haven, Connecticut at Yale
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, earning his BA in 1906, his MA in 1907 and his PhD in 1909.
Career
From 1909 through 1910, Latourette served as a traveling secretary for the Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign MissionsStudent Volunteer Movement
The Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions was an organization founded in 1886 that sought to recruit college and university students in the United States for missionary service abroad. It also sought to publicize and encourage the missionary enterprise in general...
.
In 1910, he joined the faculty of Yale-China Association
Yale-China Association
The Yale-China Association , founded in 1901, is a private, nonprofit organization with more than a century of experience contributing to the development of education in and about China and to the furtherance of understanding and knowledge between Chinese and American people...
's Yali School
Yali School
Yali School , also simply known as Yali is a secondary school located in Changsha, Hunan Province in the People's Republic of China. It is a first-tier key school in Hunan's public school system and is one of the most selective schools in the nation...
at Changsha in Hunan Province; but this period of teaching was cut short in 1912 when he was forced to return to the United States for health reasons.
After recovering his health, Latourette joined the faculty at Reed College
Reed College
Reed College is a private, independent, liberal arts college located in southeast Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus located in Portland's Eastmoreland neighborhood, featuring architecture based on the Tudor-Gothic style, and a forested canyon wilderness...
in Portland, Oregon; and from 1914 through 1916, he was a professor of history at Reed.
In 1916, he accepted a position at Denison University
Denison University
Denison University is private, coeducational, and residential college of liberal arts and sciences founded in 1831. It is located in Granville, Ohio, United States, approximately 30 miles east of Columbus, the state capital...
in Granville, Ohio. His time at Denison lasted from 1916 through 1921. In 1918, while at Denison, Latourette was ordained as a Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
minister.
Latourette joined the faculty of the Yale University Divinity School in 1921. At Yale, he accepted appointment as the D. Willis James Professor of Missions and World Christianity (1921-49), and he was later made the Sterling Professor of Missions and Oriental History (1949-53). In 1938, he was named Chairman of the Department of Religion at Yale. He took on greater responsibilities in 1946 as Director of Graduate Studies at the Yale Divinity School. From his retirement in 1953 until his death in 1968, he was Sterling Professor Emeritus at the Divinity School.
Latourette was killed at age 84 when an automobile accidentally hit him in front of his family home in Oregon City, Oregon.
Other achievements
Latourette served as president of the American Historical AssociationAmerican Historical Association
The American Historical Association is the oldest and largest society of historians and professors of history in the United States. Founded in 1884, the association promotes historical studies, the teaching of history, and the preservation of and access to historical materials...
, the American Baptist Convention, the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society and the Japan International Christian University
International Christian University
There are several rankings related to ICU, shown below.-Alumni rankings:According to the Weekly Economist's 2010 rankings and the PRESIDENT's article on 2006/10/16, graduates from ICU have the 24th best employment rate in 400 major companies, and their average graduate salary is the 4th best in...
Foundation.
He was a leader in the ecumenical movement, and he held leadership positions in the American Baptist Missionary Union
American Baptist Missionary Union
American Baptist Missionary Union is an international Protestant Christian missionary society founded in 1814 in the United States...
, the Far Eastern Association, the International Board of the Y.M.C.A., the United Board for Christian Colleges in China and the World Council of Churches
World Council of Churches
The World Council of Churches is a worldwide fellowship of 349 global, regional and sub-regional, national and local churches seeking unity, a common witness and Christian service. It is a Christian ecumenical organization that is based in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland...
.
Throughout his life he remained active in the Yale in China Association.
At the Yale Divinity School, the "Latourette Initiative" is a proactive program to preserve and provide access to the documentation of world Christianity. It provides funding for the microfilming of published and archival resources documenting the history of Christian missions and Christian life.
Honors
Latourette was awarded honorary doctorates from seventeen universities in five countries.In 1938 he received the Order of Jade from the Government of China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
.
He is also honored at the campus of William Carey International University in Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
. The institution's main library is called the Latourette Library.
Linfield College named one of their residence halls in his honor in 1946.
Writings
Latourette was the author of over 80 books on Christianity, Oriental history and customs, and theological subjects. He also wrote and spoke out about issues of his time, as for example, when he warned his fellow Americans in 1943 about the unwanted consequences of revenge after Japan should eventually lose the war they started with the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.The single work for which Latourette is most remembered is the two-volume History of Christianity. In addition, he wrote extensively on China.
Latourette's papers are archived in the Divinity Library Special Collections of the Yale University Library.
Selected works
- 1917 -- The History of Early Relations Between the United States and China, 1784-1844. New Haven: Yale University PressYale University PressYale University Press is a book publisher founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day. It became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but remains financially and operationally autonomous....
. OCLC 262540765 -- full text link - 1917 -- The Development of China. Boston: Houghton MifflinHoughton MifflinHoughton Mifflin Harcourt is an educational and trade publisher in the United States. Headquartered in Boston's Back Bay, it publishes textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, reference works, and fiction and non-fiction for both young readers and adults.-History:The company was...
. OCLC 504850 -- full text online - 1918 -- The Development of Japan. New York: MacmillanMacmillan Publishers (United States)Macmillan Publishers USA, also known as Macmillan Publishing, is a privately held American publishing company owned by the Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group. It has offices in 41 countries worldwide and operates in more than 30 others....
. OCLC 1114012 -- full text link - 1919 -- The Christian Basis of World Democracy. New York: MacMillan. OCLC 978620 --full text online
- 1929 -- A History of Christian Missions in China. New York: MacMillan. OCLC 1494316
- 1934 -- The Chinese: Their History and Culture. New York: Macmillan. OCLC 220885107
- 1936 -- Missions Tomorrow. New York: Harper & Brothers OCLC 500892
- 1945 -- A History of the Expansion of Christianity. New York: Harper & Brothers. OCLC 277266105 7 vol.
- 1946 -- The United States Moves Across the Pacific: The A.B.C.'s of the American Problem in the Western Pacific and the Far East. New York: Harper & Brothers. OCLC 1099575
- 1947 -- The History of Japan. New York: MacMillan. OCLC 217535133
- 1946 -- A Short History of the Far East. New York: MacMillan. OCLC 1061096
- 1949 -- "The Christian Understanding of History," Presidential address delivered at the annual meeting of the American Historical AssociationAmerican Historical AssociationThe American Historical Association is the oldest and largest society of historians and professors of history in the United States. Founded in 1884, the association promotes historical studies, the teaching of history, and the preservation of and access to historical materials...
in Washington on December 29, 1948. American Historical Review 54: 2 (January 1949): 259-76. full text online - 1967 -- Beyond the Ranges, the Autobiography of Kenneth Scott Latourette. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans. OCLC 996572
- 1958-1969 Christianity in a Revolutionary Age: A History of Christianity in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. OCLC 382082
- 1969 -- Christianity in a Revolutionary Age. Vol. I: The Nineteenth Century in Europe: Background and the Roman Catholic Phase.
- 1959 -- Christianity in a Revolutionary Age. Vol. II: The Nineteenth Century in Europe: The Protestant and Eastern Churches.
- 1969 --Christianity in a Revolutionary Age. Vol. III : The Nineteenth Century Outside Europe: The Americas, the Pacific, Asia and Africa.
- 1958 -- Christianity in a Revolutionary Age, Vol. IV: The Twentieth Century in Europe: The Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Eastern Churches.
- 1962 -- Christianity in a Revolutionary Age, Vol. V: The Twentieth Century Outside Europe: The Americas, the Pacific, Asia, and Africa: The Emerging World Christian Community.