Sidney Lewis Gulick (April 10, 1860 – December 20, 1945) was an educator, author, and
missionary
A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...
who spent much of his life working to promote greater understanding and friendship between
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
ese and
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
cultures.
Biography
Gulick was born April 10, 1860, in
Ebon Atoll
Ebon Atoll (Marshallese language, Marshallese: , ) is a coral atoll of 22 islands in the Pacific Ocean, forming a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its land area is , and it encloses a deep lagoon with an area of . ...
,
Marshall Islands
The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Internati ...
. His father was missionary
Luther Halsey Gulick Sr. (1828–1891), and mother was Louisa Mitchell (Lewis) Gulick (1830–1893). He was the brother of
Luther Halsey Gulick, Jr. and grandson of the missionary couple
Peter Johnson Gulick
Peter Johnson Gulick (March 12, 1796 – December 8, 1877) was a missionary to the Kingdom of Hawaii and Japan. His descendants carried on the tradition of missionary work, and included several scientists.
Life
Peter Johnson Gulick was born Marc ...
and
Fanny Hinckley Thomas Gulick. He graduated from
Oakland High School in 1879.
He received an A.B. degree from
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...
with his brother Edward Leeds Gulick in 1883, an A.M. degree in 1886 and a D.D. degree in 1903. He also held D.D. degrees from Yale and
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...
.
He was ordained a Congregational minister in 1886, and then was a supply minister at the Willoughby Avenue Mission,
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
. He married Clara May Fisher (1860?–1941) on November 7, 1887.
In 1888 Gulick traveled to
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, where he worked for the
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) was among the first American Christian missionary organizations. It was created in 1810 by recent graduates of Williams College. In the 19th century it was the largest and most imp ...
through the following twenty-five years. He mastered the
Japanese language
is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or Japanese- Ryukyuan language family. There have been ma ...
, fluently giving sermons and writing books in it. He taught English, science, and religion at several schools and universities in Japan. In his last seven years there, he served as Professor of Theology at
Doshisha University
, mottoeng = Truth shall make you free
, tagline =
, established = Founded 1875,Chartered 1920
, vision =
, type = Private
, affiliation =
, calendar =
, endowment = €1 ...
in
Kyoto
Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...
and as lecturer at the
Kyoto Imperial University
, mottoeng = Freedom of academic culture
, established =
, type = Public (National)
, endowment = ¥ 316 billion (2.4 billion USD
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to disting ...
.
After returning to the United States in 1913, Gulick was dismayed to find growing discrimination and resentment against
Japanese Americans
are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 census, they have declined in number to constitute the sixth largest Asi ...
. He campaigned against California's anti-Asian legislation and urged equality of treatment for all nations. An ardent worker in the cause of
world peace
World peace, or peace on Earth, is the concept of an ideal state of peace within and among all people and nations on Planet Earth. Different cultures, religions, philosophies, and organizations have varying concepts on how such a state would ...
, he was a vigorous proponent of the entry of the United States into the
World Court
The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...
.
After passage of the
Immigration Act of 1924
The Immigration Act of 1924, or Johnson–Reed Act, including the Asian Exclusion Act and National Origins Act (), was a United States federal law that prevented immigration from Asia and set quotas on the number of immigrants from the Eastern ...
, which virtually halted immigration to the U.S. from countries seen as "undesirable", Gulick decided that the most productive way to encourage international understanding was through children.
Gulick was instrumental in forming the "Committee on World Friendship Among Children". In 1927, its first project was to organize the sending of American dolls to Japan for
Hinamatsuri
, also called Doll's Day or Girls' Day, is a religious (Shinto) holiday in Japan, celebrated on 3March of each year. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2005)"Hina Matsuri"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 313. Platforms covered with a red carpet–mater ...
, an annual doll festival. This project had an overwhelming response from the American public, and altogether, 12,739 of these "American Blue-eyed Dolls" were sent to Japanese schools, each with an accompanying letter professing friendship.
The Japanese later sent 58 dolls back to the United States – one for each state, plus more for states with larger populations. These
Japanese friendship dolls
Friendship Dolls were an international gift exchange between Japan and the United States in 1927. or Japanese ambassador dolls and the were sent between Japan and the United States. The dolls were meant to improve the deteriorated relationship ...
were around three feet high, and were dressed in traditional Japanese clothing. They came with a trunk full of their belongings including equipment for the tea ceremony. After these dolls toured the United States, they went back to their state.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, many of the dolls, especially the ones in Japan, were seen as the enemy and were burned or stabbed. Many people saved dolls by hiding them until the war was over.
Gulick wrote many books about Japanese-American relations.
He died in
Boise, Idaho
Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown are ...
, on December 20, 1945. According to his grandson, Sidney Gulick III, "his ashes were entombed in three places: alongside his father's in Springfield, Massachusetts; in Boise, Idaho; and in Kobe." He had three sons,
Luther Halsey Gulick
Luther Halsey Gulick (1892–1993) was an American political scientist, Eaton Professor of Municipal Science and Administration at Columbia University, and Director of its Institute of Public Administration, known as an expert on public administra ...
(1892–1993) who developed theories of government policy, Leeds Gulick (1894–1975), and Sidney Lewis Gulick Jr. (1902–1988), and two daughters, Mrs. Leverett Davis and Mrs. John Barrow.
His grandson mathematics professor
Denny Gulick
Denny Gulick, born Sidney Lewis Gulick III, is a professor of mathematics at University of Maryland, College Park.
Life
Gulick obtained his PhD from Yale University, with his main interest of operator theory
In mathematics, operator theory is the ...
(Sidney Lewis Gulick III) has tried to revive the doll exchange project.
Family tree
Selected works
*
*
*
*
*
* ''America and the Orient; outlines of a constructive policy'' (1916)
* ''Comprehensive immigration policy and program'' (1916)
*
* ''Japanese in California'' (1921)
*
*
* ''International goodwill'' (1924)
* ''New factors in American Japanese relations and a constructive proposal'' (1924)
* ''Toward understanding Japan; constructive proposals for removing the menace of war'' (1935)
*
Japanese titles
* ''Shinshinkaron'' (1911)
* ''Jinrui shinkaron / Shidoni Gyurikku cho.'' (1913)
* ''Nihon e yoseru sho / Gyurikku Hakase'' (1939)
Biography
* ''Advocate of understanding : Sidney Gulick and the search for peace with Japan'' by Sandra C. Taylor, Kent State University Press, 1984.
Notes
External links
*
*
Sidney Gulickat the Open Collections Program
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gulick, Sidney
1860 births
1945 deaths
Oberlin College alumni
Congregationalist missionaries in Japan
American Congregationalist missionaries
American Congregationalist ministers
American expatriates in Japan