Kenneth Scott Latourette | |
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| Born | (1884-08-06)August 6, 1884 Oregon City, Oregon, U.S. |
| Died | December 26, 1968(1968-12-26) (aged 84) Oregon City, Oregon, U.S. |
| Alma mater | |
| Awards | Order of Jade |
| Scientific career | |
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| Institutions | |
Kenneth Scott Latourette (August 6, 1884 – December 26, 1968) was an AmericanBaptist minister andhistorian, specialized inChinese studies,Japanese studies, and thehistory of Christianity.[1][2][3] His formative experiences as aChristian missionary andeducator inearly 20th-century Imperial China shaped his life's work.[1][2] Although he did not learn theChinese language, he became known for his study of thehistory of China, thehistory of Japan, his magisterial scholarly surveys onworld Christianity, and of American relations withEast Asia.[1][2][4]
Latourette was born inOregon City,Oregon, the son of DeWitt Clinton Latourette and Ella (Scott) Latourette. His mother and father both attendedPacific University inForest Grove, Oregon, where they graduated in 1878. DeWitt Clinton Latourette worked as alawyer in Oregon City.
The Latourette family migrated to Oregon during the 1860s; the family's origins can be traced back toearly modern France, where their ancestors fledreligious persecution asHuguenots and migrated toStaten Island, New York in the 1600s.
In 1904, Latourette was awarded aB.S. degree fromLinfield College inPortland, Oregon. He continued his education atYale University inNew Haven, Connecticut, earning aB.A. in 1906, aM.A. in 1907, and aPh.D. in 1909.[5]
From 1909 through 1910, Latourette served as a traveling secretary for theStudent Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions.[5] In 1910, he joined the faculty ofYale-in China'sYali School atChangsha, in theHunan Province ofImperial China. Hebegan to study the Chinese language, but in the summer of 1911 he contracted a severe case ofamoebic dysentery and was forced to return to the United States.[6]
As he began his recovery, Latourette joined the faculty atReed College inPortland, Oregon; and from 1914 through 1916, he was a professor of history at Reed.[5] In 1916, he accepted a position atDenison University, an institution withBaptist affiliations, inGranville, Ohio.[6] His time at Denison lasted from 1916 through 1921.[5] In 1918, while at Denison, Latourette was ordained as aBaptist minister.[3]
Latourette joined the faculty of theYale Divinity School in 1921. Latourette lived in a college dormitory suite during his time at Yale. He welcomed student groups to meet in the living room and was known as "Uncle Ken."[6] He accepted appointment as the D. Willis James Professor of Missions and World Christianity (1921–1949), and he was later made theSterling Professor of Missions and Oriental History (1949–1953).[5] In 1938, he was named Chairman of the Department of Religion at Yale. He took on greater responsibilities in 1946 as Director of Graduate Studies at the Yale Divinity School.[3] From his retirement in 1953 until his death in 1968, he was Sterling Professor Emeritus at the Divinity School.
Latourette was killed at age 84 when an automobile accidentally hit him in front of his family home in Oregon City, Oregon.[5]
Latourette served as president of theAmerican Historical Association, theAssociation for Asian Studies, theAmerican Baptist Convention, theAmerican Baptist Foreign Mission Society and the JapanInternational Christian University Foundation.[3]
He was a leader in the ecumenical movement,[3] and he held leadership positions in theAmerican Baptist Missionary Union, the International Board of theY.M.C.A., theUnited Board for Christian Colleges in China and theWorld Council of Churches.
Throughout his life he remained active in theYale-in-China Association.
At the Yale Divinity School, the "Latourette Initiative" is a proactive program to preserve and provide access to the documentation of world Christianity. It provides funding for the microfilming of published and archival resources documenting the history of Christian missions and Christian life.
Latourette was awarded honorary doctorates from seventeen universities in five countries.[5]
In 1938 he received theOrder of Jade from the Government ofChina.
He is also honored at the campus ofWilliam Carey International University[7] inPasadena, California. The institution's main library was called the Latourette Library.[8] (The WCIU campus was sold toEducation First and therefore no longer heralds Latourette's name).
Linfield College named a residence hall in his honor in 1946.[9]
Latourette was the author of over 80 books on Christianity, Oriental history and customs, and theological subjects.[3]
He also wrote and spoke out about issues of his time, as for example, when he warned his fellow Americans in 1943 about the unwanted consequences of revenge after Japan should eventually lose the war they started with the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.[10] In addition, Latourette later wrote extensively on China.
The single work for which Latourette is most remembered is the seven-volume"A History of the Expansion of Christianity".[11] Latourette noted within Volume 4 that only 5% of Americans in 1790 had formal ties to churches or synagogues.
Latourette's papers are archived in the Divinity Library Special Collections of the Yale University Library.
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