Signs of Boone

Boone University Gallery

 

How fitting to discover another Boone legacy right around my father's birthday.  My Chinese language teacher first noticed the family name in the basement of the campus library and asked me if I knew anything about it.  From the look of shock on my face it was easy to tell that I had no idea.   She showed me the Boone memorial gallery displaying old photos of this University from its earliest years.  The information was in Chinese, but even with the interpretations there was little information about Mr. Boone.

Later in the week my teacher put me in contact with a librarian who knew more on this topic.  He traveled to the US in the early 1990s to research the Boone Memorial School. At that time there were VERY few records of Boone in China.  This librarian's research through Yale’s divinity school archives delivered most of the records currently held in China.

Central China Normal University, (Hua Zhong) opened in 1871 as Boone Memorial School.  It was named after one of the first Episcopal Bishop in China and his son, (Bishop of Shanghai), helped to open it in his honor. The school became Boone Memorial University in 1904 and in 1924 it became Hua Zhong University.  During the first fifty years Boone Memorial School grew from a small elementary to a widely well-recognized University and introduced several Western activities such as marching bands, baseball, and boy scouts.   

The story of William Jones Boone can be found online thanks to the work of librarians and archivists in the US.  One can also find the work of Mary Elizabeth Wood.  Her years of missionary work created the first public library in China as part of Boone Memorial School.  This library eventually was taken over and privatized through the University of Wuhan, but it still exists today. 

Yesterday I searched through CCNU’s archives and read through a small book that was found buried in a box along with 9 silver dollars from 1908.  The box was unearthed in the early 1990s while the University was digging for the construction of a new building.  Thanks to this treasure the mystery of this school’s earliest years was beginning to unfold. 

Following the archives visit I got a sneak peak at the University’s museum. It aims to educate its students about the history of the school, but the English translations still need a lot of work.  I will work with them this Saturday before attending the tulip festival at the Botanical Gardens.

Aside from discovering my family’s long-lost Chinese legacy I’ve explored a few other destinations in the city.   

Yaks and crackers

The zoo left a very memorable impression.   A few foreign friends joined me along with a couple of teachers from the kindergarten.  I was shocked at the deplorable state of the animals.  To be fair, at least the birds had decent habitat areas, but the other animals were poorly maintained.  The animals seemed to be either in a state of rage or complacency.   

The cages of many primate and felines species were small and bare.  People, (young and old alike), threw everything from pink sausages, crackers, peanuts, and plastic bags at the animals.  The lions don't chase after peanuts the way you'd expect them to hunt wildebeests.  Despite the signs on almost every cage advising against this behavior the place was full of evidence to this ignorance.  

The look of disgust and sadness was plastered on our foreign faces throughout the visit.  We treated ourselves to homemade ice cream and a plate of Western-style food at a Hawaiian restaurant not far from the zoo.  Ice cream may not solve issues in animal abuse, but at least it sweetens the bitterness and aids in searching for solutions.

A very special wildlife biologist friend will be here in April and give a talk about understanding animals with young children.  Hopefully the teachers will be so inspired from the workshop that their students will help redesign the zoo.