Payson J. Treat papers, 1907-1945

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Summary

Creators:
Treat, Payson J. (Payson Jackson)
Abstract:
Papers include articles and lectures, c. 1910-1940, pertaining to the politics and history of the Far East and World War I; class lecture notes, 1907-1945, and papers by students, 1911-1943; correspondence, bibliographies, and records pertaining to book purchases for the Stanford University Libraries; and miscellaneous correspondence, bibliographies, and book reviews.
Extent:
3.5 Linear Feet
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

[identification of item] Payson J. Treat Papers (SC0436). Department of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains papers of Payson J. Treat from 1907 through 1945. Boxes one and two primarily contain articles and lecture notes written by Treat on issues relating to the Far East. Box one also contains correspondence, bibliographies, and other miscellaneous personal documents. Box three contains class lecture notes from the classes that Professor Treat taught at Stanford and elsewhere. Box four contains business documents relating to the books Treat collected for the Hoover Library. Boxes five through eight (an addition added to the collection in 2004) contain papers by students in Treat's classes; they are arranged first chronologically then alphabetically by author. Box eight also contains a few miscellaneous publications, not by Treat. This collection pertains largely to Payson Treat's teaching career; there is an additional collection of Treat's papers in the Hoover Institution Archives.

Biographical / historical:

Payson Jackson Treat, a pioneer in Far Eastern studies, lived from 1879 to 1972. A native of New York City, he earned his A.B. from Wesleyan University in 1900, and began teaching at Barnard School while working on his A.M. at Columbia. In 1903, he came to Stanford to work with Professor Max Farrand in the history department, and was appointed an instructor at Stanford in 1905 . He received Stanford's first Ph.D. in history in 1910 with his dissertation, The National Land System, 1785-1820.

In 1906, Dr. Jordan, intrigued with the Far East, created a professorship in Far Eastern history and appointed Payson Treat to fill it. Dr. Jordan also planned for him a leave of absence from 1906-07 to visit the Orient and Australasia. This was to be the first of five extended trips to the Far East. On these trips, he not only took the opportunity to become one of America's leading scholars on the Orient, but he also began to gather materials from the East for the Stanford libraries.

During his career, he published numerous books and articles on the Far East. He participated in the activities of the Institute of Pacific Relations in an effort to maintain peaceful relations between East and West. For his efforts along these lines, he was decorated with the Third Class Order of the Sacred Treasure in 1935 by the Emperor of Japan. He served as department head of the Stanford history department from 1922-1929, and, even after his retirement from teaching in 1945, he remained active in the Stanford community.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Mrs. Virginia Davis, 1992 and 2004.
Physical location:
Special Collections and University Archives materials are stored offsite and must be paged 48 hours in advance. For more information on paging collections, see the department's website: https://library.stanford.edu/libraries/special-collections.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Materials are open for research use. Audio-visual materials are not available in original format and must be reformatted to a digital use copy.

Terms of access:

While University Archives is the owner of the physical and/or digital items, permission to examine collection materials is not an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Any transmission or reproduction beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or assigns.

Preferred citation:

[identification of item] Payson J. Treat Papers (SC0436). Department of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.

Location of this collection:
Stanford University Archives, Green Library
557 Escondido Mall
Stanford, CA 94305-6064, US
Contact:
(650) 725-1022
specialcollections@stanford.edu
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