MacNair, Harley Farnsworth, 1891-1947

Harley Farnsworth MacNair was born on July 22, 1891 in Greenfield, Pennsylvania. He received a Ph.B (1912) and a Litt.D (1935) from the University of Redlands (1912), an A.M. from Columbia University (1916), and a Ph.D from the University of California (1922). His dissertation was published in 1924 as The Chinese Abroad: Their Position and Protection.

An authority on Far Eastern international relations, MacNair spent many years in China, both as a Christian missionary and as a professor. His first appointment was as an instructor at St. John’s University in Shanghai, China from 1912 to 1916. From 1916 until 1932 he was a professor of History and Government at St. John’s, including a stint as head of the department (1919-1932). In 1927 MacNair returned to the United States to serve as associate professor of Far Eastern Government and Diplomacy at the University of Washington, while retaining his position at St. John’s for several more years. In 1928 MacNair joined the faculty of the University of Chicago’s department of History. While at the University of Chicago, MacNair served as acting chair of the History department, and his official title was professor of Far Eastern History and Institutions.

MacNair works include Short Stories for Chinese Students (1919), Introduction to Western History for Chinese Students (1922, with Alice M. Atkinson), Modern Chinese History: Selected Readings (1923, editor), The Chinese Abroad: Their Position and Protection (1924), China’s New Nationalism and Other Essays (1925), Far Eastern International Relations (1928, with H.B. Morse), Modern Far Eastern History (1934), and Far Eastern International Relations in the Twentieth Century (1949, with Donald Lach). He was also one of those responsible for the creation of The Far Eastern Quarterly in 1941, and served as an active member of its advisory board.

MacNair married Florence Wheelock Ayscough (1875-1942), a native of Shanghai who also wrote on China, on September 7, 1935.

Harley Farnsworth MacNair died on June 22, 1947.

From the guide to the MacNair, Harley F. Papers, 1935-1973, (Special Collections Research Center University of Chicago Library 1100 East 57th Street Chicago, Illinois 60637 U.S.A.)