Hugh Borton
Encyclopedia
Hugh Borton was an American historian who specialized in the history of Japan
, later serving as president of Haverford College
.
Borton was born on May 14, 1903, to a devout Quaker
household in Moorestown Township, New Jersey
. His parents sent him to Quaker schools and after graduating from Haverford College
in 1927, he and his wife Elizabeth Wilbur, proceeded to find a way of making a living that was in line with their Quaker beliefs. They looked to the American Friends Service Committee
, which set up teaching posts for them at a small school in the foothills of the Tennessee
’s Great Smoky Mountains
. In 1928 Borton and his wife were asked to travel to Tokyo
, Japan
, to help the Committee's work there.
Borton's three years living among the Japanese
affected his outlook to the extent that he thereafter devoted himself to studying Japan. Initially, Borton sought guidance from Sir George Sansom, a British scholar who was then serving in the British Consulate. In 1931, Borton returned to America to further his education. He completed a Master's degree in history at Columbia University
and studied briefly at Harvard University
. He then traveled across the Atlantic to pursue further study under the supervision of Professors J. J. L. Duyvendak and Johannes Rahder
at Leiden University
in the Netherlands
. He was awarded his PhD by Leiden after several years of work at Tokyo Imperial University. He returned to the United States to take a position on the faculty at Columbia, lecturing on modern Japanese history
and language. He also played a key role in structuring the first undergraduate program in Japanese studies in the newly-expanded Department of Chinese and Japanese. His research publications prior to the Second World War included Peasant Uprisings in Japan of the Tokugawa Period and Japan Since 1931: Its Political and Social Development.
Borton’s academic career was interrupted by America’s entry into the Second World War following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, diverting him into public service. Borton cited his Quaker principles in conscientiously objecting to serving in the armed forces, but he was interested in doing what he could to prepare for the peace after the war. In June 1942 he sought leave from Columbia to spend the summer serving on the faculty of the School of Military Government at the University of Virginia
at Charlottesville. In the fall he moved to the US State Department. It marked the beginning of six years during which he was in the midst of a corps of officials who focused not on the military advancement of the war, but in preparing peacetime measures not focused on punishing Japan, but on reforming it so that a similar war would be less likely to occur. Borton drafted many of the State Department proposals and was a proponent of many of its positions, including those that resulted in key decisions such as the decision not to prosecute Emperor Hirohito
as a war criminal and the decision to not replace the Japanese government
but to disband the Japanese military and replace the wartime leadership. His group also sought to implement fundamental reform of the Japanese constitution.
In 1948 Borton returned to academic life at Columbia, where he was a prominent organizer of the East Asian Institute as the University's centre of modern and contemporary East Asian studies. He replaced the inaugural director, Sir George Sansom, and later helped to establish the Association of Asian Studies, serving as its first treasurer and later as its president. Among his works were Japan Under Allied Occupation, 1945-1947 and Japan's Modern Century, which went on to become one of the most widely-used history texts of his period.
In 1957, Borton resigned his post at Columbia to accept an appointment to Haverford College
as its president, before retiring in 1967. In 1972 he retired to his farm in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts
to enjoy the farm life which he loved and to practice his Quaker faith. Borton died on August 6, 1995, at the age of 92 at his home in Conway, Massachusetts
.
History of Japan
The history of Japan encompasses the history of the islands of Japan and the Japanese people, spanning the ancient history of the region to the modern history of Japan as a nation state. Following the last ice age, around 12,000 BC, the rich ecosystem of the Japanese Archipelago fostered human...
, later serving as president of Haverford College
Haverford College
Haverford College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Haverford, Pennsylvania, United States, a suburb of Philadelphia...
.
Borton was born on May 14, 1903, to a devout Quaker
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
household in Moorestown Township, New Jersey
Moorestown Township, New Jersey
-Demographics:At the 2000 census, there were 19,017 people, 6,971 households, and 5,270 families residing in the township. The population density was 1,287.3 per square mile . There were 7,211 housing units at an average density of 488.1 per square mile...
. His parents sent him to Quaker schools and after graduating from Haverford College
Haverford College
Haverford College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Haverford, Pennsylvania, United States, a suburb of Philadelphia...
in 1927, he and his wife Elizabeth Wilbur, proceeded to find a way of making a living that was in line with their Quaker beliefs. They looked to the American Friends Service Committee
American Friends Service Committee
The American Friends Service Committee is a Religious Society of Friends affiliated organization which works for peace and social justice in the United States and around the world...
, which set up teaching posts for them at a small school in the foothills of the Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
’s Great Smoky Mountains
Great Smoky Mountains
The Great Smoky Mountains are a mountain range rising along the Tennessee–North Carolina border in the southeastern United States. They are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains, and form part of the Blue Ridge Physiographic Province. The range is sometimes called the Smoky Mountains or the...
. In 1928 Borton and his wife were asked to travel to Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, to help the Committee's work there.
Borton's three years living among the Japanese
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
affected his outlook to the extent that he thereafter devoted himself to studying Japan. Initially, Borton sought guidance from Sir George Sansom, a British scholar who was then serving in the British Consulate. In 1931, Borton returned to America to further his education. He completed a Master's degree in history at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
and studied briefly at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. He then traveled across the Atlantic to pursue further study under the supervision of Professors J. J. L. Duyvendak and Johannes Rahder
Johannes Rahder
Johannes Rahder , Dutch Orientalist, professor of Japanese at the University of Leiden and Yale University .-Biography:Rahder was born in the Netherlands Indies, where his father was governor of the west coast of Sumatra...
at Leiden University
Leiden University
Leiden University , located in the city of Leiden, is the oldest university in the Netherlands. The university was founded in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, leader of the Dutch Revolt in the Eighty Years' War. The royal Dutch House of Orange-Nassau and Leiden University still have a close...
in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. He was awarded his PhD by Leiden after several years of work at Tokyo Imperial University. He returned to the United States to take a position on the faculty at Columbia, lecturing on modern Japanese history
History of Japan
The history of Japan encompasses the history of the islands of Japan and the Japanese people, spanning the ancient history of the region to the modern history of Japan as a nation state. Following the last ice age, around 12,000 BC, the rich ecosystem of the Japanese Archipelago fostered human...
and language. He also played a key role in structuring the first undergraduate program in Japanese studies in the newly-expanded Department of Chinese and Japanese. His research publications prior to the Second World War included Peasant Uprisings in Japan of the Tokugawa Period and Japan Since 1931: Its Political and Social Development.
Borton’s academic career was interrupted by America’s entry into the Second World War following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, diverting him into public service. Borton cited his Quaker principles in conscientiously objecting to serving in the armed forces, but he was interested in doing what he could to prepare for the peace after the war. In June 1942 he sought leave from Columbia to spend the summer serving on the faculty of the School of Military Government at the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
at Charlottesville. In the fall he moved to the US State Department. It marked the beginning of six years during which he was in the midst of a corps of officials who focused not on the military advancement of the war, but in preparing peacetime measures not focused on punishing Japan, but on reforming it so that a similar war would be less likely to occur. Borton drafted many of the State Department proposals and was a proponent of many of its positions, including those that resulted in key decisions such as the decision not to prosecute Emperor Hirohito
Hirohito
, posthumously in Japan officially called Emperor Shōwa or , was the 124th Emperor of Japan according to the traditional order, reigning from December 25, 1926, until his death in 1989. Although better known outside of Japan by his personal name Hirohito, in Japan he is now referred to...
as a war criminal and the decision to not replace the Japanese government
Government of Japan
The government of Japan is a constitutional monarchy where the power of the Emperor is very limited. As a ceremonial figurehead, he is defined by the 1947 constitution as "the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people". Power is held chiefly by the Prime Minister of Japan and other elected...
but to disband the Japanese military and replace the wartime leadership. His group also sought to implement fundamental reform of the Japanese constitution.
In 1948 Borton returned to academic life at Columbia, where he was a prominent organizer of the East Asian Institute as the University's centre of modern and contemporary East Asian studies. He replaced the inaugural director, Sir George Sansom, and later helped to establish the Association of Asian Studies, serving as its first treasurer and later as its president. Among his works were Japan Under Allied Occupation, 1945-1947 and Japan's Modern Century, which went on to become one of the most widely-used history texts of his period.
In 1957, Borton resigned his post at Columbia to accept an appointment to Haverford College
Haverford College
Haverford College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Haverford, Pennsylvania, United States, a suburb of Philadelphia...
as its president, before retiring in 1967. In 1972 he retired to his farm in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
to enjoy the farm life which he loved and to practice his Quaker faith. Borton died on August 6, 1995, at the age of 92 at his home in Conway, Massachusetts
Conway, Massachusetts
Conway is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,809 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.- History :...
.
Books
- Peasant Uprising in Japan (1938)
- Japan's Modern Century From Perry to 1970 (1956)
- Spanning Japan's modern century : the memoirs of Hugh Borton (2002)