Scarce Image from the 1872 Chinese Educational Mission

[Elijah and Spencer Laishun] [Stereoview Photograph]

Houseworth, Thomas

Notes: A very scarce stereoview photograph of Elijah Thien Foh and Spencer Tseng Laisun (Zeng Dugong), the eldest sons of Zeng (Chan) Laishun, the first Chinese national to attend college in the United States (he ran short of money and did not graduate). This image was taken in San Francisco1872, when the Laishun family came to the US as part of the first Chinese Educational Mission, in which the Chinese government sponsored the American education of thirty students.

The educational mission settled in Springfield, Massachusetts, where Elijah and Spencer attended high school. Both boys then attended Yale, with Elijah earning a degree in civil engineering in 1877; his promising career was cut short by his early death. Spencer did not graduate but became a pioneering journalist in Hong Kong.

While Elijah and Spencer Laishun did not spend many years in the United States, they and the other member of their family were among the most prominent 19th century Chinese in the US.

For an excellent history of the Laishun family in the 19th century, see In the Shadow of Yung Wing: Zeng Laishun and the Chinese Educational Mission to the United States by Edward Rhoads in the Pacific Historical Review, February 2005. This image is reproduced on p. 38. As with many Chinese names, particularly in the 19th century, they are spelled many different ways in English. Laishun is also seen as Lai Sun, Lai-sun, and Laisun.

Images 3-1/8 by 3-1/8 inches; albumen prints with curved tops, mounted side-by-side on a flat orange card. The card is stamped in gilt on the left edge: "Thomas Houseworth & Co's | Yo-Semite Gallery." and "9 Montgomery St, San Francisco." on the right. The image is not captioned. The New York Public Library has a version of this stereoview with a different mount that is captioned only "Spencer Laisun." The Huntington Library has another example captioned "E. & S. Laisun."

Edition + Condition: A very good example. Images with medium contrast; minor spotting to photographic paper. Mount with light edgewear. The blank verso (back) of the mount has a few old stains.

Publication: San Francisco: Thomas Houseworth & Co.'s Yo-Semite Gallery, [1872].

Item No: #362536

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