Xu Yi Zhen (Mrs. Niu Hui Sheng)
Description
Alternate name spellings found in primary source documents: Tsü Ih-djen (Mrs. W. S. New) (Zee Yuh-tsung)
1894-1981
Xu was originally from Suzhou (Soochow). Before Ginling, she went to the Elizabeth Yates Memorial All Girls’ School and graduated in 1910. Then she taught in Shanghai from 1910-1915. In 1919 she got BA in history from Gingling, then became dean of the Women’s Department of Central University in Nanjing. She moved to Beijing in 1920 to teach at Women’s Higher Normal School there. She went to the United States in 1922 to get her Masters from Columbia University’s Teachers College in 1923, and then married Dr. Way-sung New in 1924. She was the Alumnae Representative to the Board of Control Ginling Alumnae Association in 1925-26, and President of the Shanghai Ginling College Association. She became Chairman of the Methodist School Board of Shanghai, and in 1927, Chairman of the Executive Committee of Ginling Board of Control (the first Chinese person to hold this position). She recommended Wu Yi Fang for the position of Ginling’s President. She also attended the Institute of Pacific Relations conference in 1927. In 1932, she and her husband helped wounded soldiers after war in Shanghai. She continued relief work at the International Red Cross after her husband died in 1937. Then she was an English teacher at St. Stephen’s College in Hong Kong from 1939-1941, a school that her son Peter attended. She held numerous positions on boards and councils, as she was a Member of the Preparatory Committee of the Chinese Delegation at the founding of the United Nations (UN) in 1945; a member of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in 1947 as a representative for China; the President of the Ginling Association Hospitality Committee; the Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Ginling; and acted as a general representative of the school in the US. Helped start Chinese Organization of University Women in Shanghai in 1947. She traveled to various arts and social progress conferences in America, as well as delivering speeches at colleges, churches, and social clubs. She supported the American Bible Society and other evangelization efforts by the Board of Home Missions Assistant Dean to Western College for Women in Ohio in 1955, and then retired and focused on church responsibilities and being active in the Ginling alumnae group. She moved to St. Petersburg, Florida.
1894-1981
Xu was originally from Suzhou (Soochow). Before Ginling, she went to the Elizabeth Yates Memorial All Girls’ School and graduated in 1910. Then she taught in Shanghai from 1910-1915. In 1919 she got BA in history from Gingling, then became dean of the Women’s Department of Central University in Nanjing. She moved to Beijing in 1920 to teach at Women’s Higher Normal School there. She went to the United States in 1922 to get her Masters from Columbia University’s Teachers College in 1923, and then married Dr. Way-sung New in 1924. She was the Alumnae Representative to the Board of Control Ginling Alumnae Association in 1925-26, and President of the Shanghai Ginling College Association. She became Chairman of the Methodist School Board of Shanghai, and in 1927, Chairman of the Executive Committee of Ginling Board of Control (the first Chinese person to hold this position). She recommended Wu Yi Fang for the position of Ginling’s President. She also attended the Institute of Pacific Relations conference in 1927. In 1932, she and her husband helped wounded soldiers after war in Shanghai. She continued relief work at the International Red Cross after her husband died in 1937. Then she was an English teacher at St. Stephen’s College in Hong Kong from 1939-1941, a school that her son Peter attended. She held numerous positions on boards and councils, as she was a Member of the Preparatory Committee of the Chinese Delegation at the founding of the United Nations (UN) in 1945; a member of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in 1947 as a representative for China; the President of the Ginling Association Hospitality Committee; the Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Ginling; and acted as a general representative of the school in the US. Helped start Chinese Organization of University Women in Shanghai in 1947. She traveled to various arts and social progress conferences in America, as well as delivering speeches at colleges, churches, and social clubs. She supported the American Bible Society and other evangelization efforts by the Board of Home Missions Assistant Dean to Western College for Women in Ohio in 1955, and then retired and focused on church responsibilities and being active in the Ginling alumnae group. She moved to St. Petersburg, Florida.
Source
Photograph: Ginling College Magazine June 1928, Archives of the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia, Group 11, Box 151, Folder 2950, Yale Divinity Library, http://divinity-adhoc.library.yale.edu/UnitedBoard/Ginling_College/Box%20151/RG011-151-2950.pdf.