Elizabeth Janet Gray Vining (October 6, 1902 – November 27, 1999) was an American professional

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time ...

and author who tutored

Emperor Akihito of Japan is a member of the Imperial House of Japan who reigned as the 125th emperor of Japan from 7 January 1989 until his abdication on 30 April 2019. He presided over the Heisei era, ''Heisei'' being an expression of achieving peace worldwide. Bor ...

in English while he was

crown prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wi ...

. She was also a noted author, whose children's book '' Adam of the Road'' received the

Newbery Medal The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished cont ...

in 1943.

Early life and education

Elizabeth Janet Gray was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

on October 6, 1902. She was a graduate of Germantown Friends School and received an AB from

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh: ) is a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Founded as a Quaker institution in 1885, Bryn Mawr is one of the Seven Sister colleges, a group of elite, historically women's colleges in the United ...

in 1923. In 1926, she earned an MS in

library science Library science (often termed library studies, bibliothecography, and library economy) is an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary field that applies the practices, perspectives, and tools of management, information technology, education, an ...

from the Drexel University, and became a librarian at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

. She married Morgan Fisher Vining, associate director of the Extension Division of UNC, in 1929. In 1933, her husband was killed in a New York City automobile accident, and Vining was severely injured. During her convalescence, she converted to the Quaker faith. Vining soon became known as an author, primarily of children's books, and was awarded the 1943 Newbery Medal for ''Adam of the Road''. She had published eleven books by the end of

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 opposing ...

Private Tutor to the Japanese Imperial Family

From 1946 to 1950 during the

Allied occupation of Japan Japan was occupied and administered by the victorious Allies of World War II from the 1945 surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of the war until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect in 1952. The occupation, led by the United States w ...

after the war, Vining was selected by

Emperor Hirohito Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...

himself (and not the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

government, as is erroneously claimed) to become a private tutor to Crown Prince Akihito, the

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

to the

Chrysanthemum Throne The is the throne of the Emperor of Japan. The term also can refer to very specific seating, such as the throne in the Shishin-den at Kyoto Imperial Palace. Various other thrones or seats that are used by the Emperor during official functions ...

. As part of her teaching program, she arranged for closely supervised occasions when four Western teenaged boys in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

would get together to help the crown prince practice English conversation. She nicknamed the prince “Jimmy”. ‘His interests in those days were almost entirely confined to fish,’ she wrote later, ‘and I felt they needed broadening.’ The influence of this American pacifist on the young prince was regarded with resentment by right-wing intellectuals; one of them would later complain that Akihito had contracted a spiritual and intellectual ‘fungus’ from his tutor. In addition to teaching English-language skills, Vining introduced the children of the Imperial Household — Prince Hitachi and the Princesses Kazuko, Atsuko and Takako — to Western values and culture. She also lectured at

Gakushūin The or Peers School (Gakushūin School Corporation), initially known as Gakushūjo, is a Japanese educational institution in Tokyo, originally established to educate the children of Japan's nobility. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2002)"Gakushū- ...

and at

Tsuda College is a private women's university based at Kodaira, Tokyo. It is one of the oldest and most prestigious higher educational institutions for women in Japan, contributing to the advancement of women in society for more than a century. History The u ...

. For her work, she was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure, third class, shortly before her return to the United States in 1950.

Later life

After her return to the United States, Vining wrote a book about her experiences in Japan in '' Windows for the Crown Prince'', which appeared in 1952. Vining went on to write over 60 fiction and non-fiction books in her lifetime. She also worked on the Board of Trustees of Bryn Mawr, as vice-president from 1952 to 1971 and was vice-chairwoman of the board of directors at the same time. In 1954 Vining received the Women's National Book Association Skinner Award, for "meritorious work in her special field". She received an honorary Doctorate of Literature from Wilmington College in 1962.

Honors

* Order of the Sacred Treasure, 1950 *

Order of the Precious Crown The is a Japanese order, established on January 4, 1888 by Emperor Meiji of Japan. Since the Order of the Rising Sun at that time was an Order for men, it was established as an Order for women. Originally the order had five classes, but on Apr ...

Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia
"The Emperor's Tutor."
/ref>

Publications

*''Meredith's Ann'' (1927) *''Tangle Garden'' (1928) *''Tilly-Tod'' (1929) *'' Meggy MacIntosh'' (1930) *''Jane Hope'' (1933) *'' Young Walter Scott'' (1935) *''Beppy Marlowe'' (1936) *'' Penn'' (1938) *''Contributions of the Quakers'' (1939) *''The Fair Adventure'' (1940) *'' Adam of the Road'' (1942) *''Sandy'' (1945) *''Windows for the Crown Prince'' (1952) *''The World in Tune'' (1952) *''The Virginia Exiles'' (1955) *''Friend of Life: A Biography of Rufus M. Jones'' (1958) *''The Cheerful Heart'' (1959) *''Return to Japan'' (1960) *''I Will Adventure'' (1962) *''Take Heed of Loving Me'' (1963) *''Flora: A Biography'' (1966) *''I, Roberta'' (1967) *''Quiet Pilgrimage'' (1970) *''The Taken Girl'' (1972) *''Being Seventy: The Measure of a Year'' (1978) *''Harnessing Pegasus: Inspiration and Meditation'' (1978) *''Mr. Whittier'' (1974) *''A Quest There Is'' (1982)

References

Sources

* Bix, Herbert P., (2000). ''

Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan ''Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan'' is a book by Herbert P. Bix covering the reign of Emperor Hirohito of Japan from 1926 until his death in 1989. It won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction The Pulitzer Prize for General N ...

.'' New York:

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News ...

. ;

External links

* Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia
"The Emperor's Tutor."

* ttp://greenfield.brynmawr.edu/items/show/1452 Interview with Elizabeth Gray Viningfrom The Albert M. Greenfield Digital Center for the History of Women's Education
Elizabeth Gray Vining Collection
from Bryn Mawr College Art and Artifact Collections * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vining, Elizabeth Gray American non-fiction children's writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers American librarians American women librarians American expatriates in Japan American Quakers Bryn Mawr College alumni Converts to Quakerism Drexel University alumni Newbery Medal winners Newbery Honor winners Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure Order of the Precious Crown members Tsuda University faculty Germantown Friends School alumni 1902 births 1999 deaths 20th-century American women writers University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty American women academics 20th-century Quakers