Foreign Study Group - 1926-27

| The Foreign Study Plan | The Foreign Study Plan Directors |
| Scope and Content |

Raymond Watson Kirkbride, 1892-1929

The basic concept of the plan was that juniors could take a year of supervised study abroad; supervision being necessary because of the differences in European and American education. The students would live with a family rather than in a dormitory. English was not to be spoken and students would be exposed to operas, plays, and musical events as well as limited travel so that their horizons would be broadened.

President Hullihen was impressed with the plan as outlined by Professor Kirkbride and was able to obtain financial support so that Kirkbride could spend a year in France (this being the country selected for the plan) in preparation for the first Foreign Study Group.

Dr. Hullihen felt that a program of this nature would be worthwhile since the United States was experiencing great economic, as well as commercial and political, growth. He anticipated that a large number of college graduates would be needed, especially men and women with foreign training and experience who would be valuable for positions in business and governmental agencies. There was already a need for well qualified language teachers in the schools. Not only would a large reservoir of college-trained men and women--each possessing a knowledge of the language, ideas, and culture of a country--be created, but the way might be paved toward international understanding and good will.

Administration of the plan was by a Faculty Committee on Foreign Study, chaired by President Hullihen. The Committee appointed Professor Kirkbride director of the program, charging him with full responsibility for the administration of the facilities abroad as well as the general welfare and supervision of the academic programs of the students. Kirkbride appointed the professors and preceptors, in addition to the regular staff (secretary, bookkeeper, and librarian) of the foreign bureau. Much of the initial financial support for the operation of the program came from donations made by P.S. du Pont.

The first Foreign Study Group sailed from New York on July 7, 1923. It consisted of 8 students, each carefully selected from the Class of 1925 for his "intellectual gifts, mature character, industrious habits and linguistic ability." This group's schedule was one which became standard over the years for the Foreign Study Groups. They took several weeks (from 6 to 11) of preliminary linguistic training of an extensive nature at the University of Nancy. (After 1932, the preliminary session was held at Tours under the auspices of the University of Poitiers). In November the group began the regular French academic year at the Sorbonne. Most students took the "Cours de Civilisation," a course designed for foreign students, consisting of an overview of French civilization--literature, history, art, philosophy, economic and social development. In addition, some students took courses in economics, political science and international relations at the Ecole Libre des Sciences Politiques. Although the French professors graded the work of the students, the director of the Foreign Study Plan was responsible for transmitting and evaluating the students credits.

The first year was a success and in succeeding years students from other colleges and universities were invited to transfer to the University of Delaware for the completion of their college careers. It was also possible to enroll for just the junior year, transferring credits earned back to the college in which a student was matriculated. The Delaware Foreign Study Plan acquired a reputation of such high academic standards that no college has ever been known to refuse credits earned in it.

Although the students lived in French homes, much of their time was spent in the Paris Bureau of the University of Delaware. This facility occupied an entire building and consisted of administrative and secretarial offices; study, conference and lecture rooms; a salon; and a library. (After the death of Professor Kirkbride in 1929, the library was named the Kirkbride Memorial Library). The Bureau's facilities were open from 8 A.M. to 8 P.M. and were used constantly.

In 1932 the Plan was extended to include Germany, but because of the political situation there, it was decided in 1934 not to send any more students to that country.

Switzerland hosted a group in 1938 and after World War II was the country in which the groups studied (because of post-war conditions in France) until the Plan was discontinued in 1948.

A total of 902 students took part in the Delaware Foreign Study Plan (768 in France, 40 in Germany and 94 in Switzerland). All of these students formed an alumni association which held reunions in Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Washington. They also published a directory of "Delforians" (derived from Delaware Foreign Study) and at the outbreak of World War II, they began a campaign to finance "Delforian Ambulances for France." It is obvious that they were, indeed, an unusual group!

The death of President Hullihen in 1944, as well as post-war conditions in France, cast a grave shadow on the Plan. When one considers all of this, plus the fact that private financial backing was reduced, it is clearly indicated that the days of the Delaware Foreign Study Plan were numbered.

Edwin C. Byam, Secretary of the Foreign Study Committee, in his Brief Report on the Foreign Study Plan (May 18, 1948), states:

The Secretary of the Committee on Foreign Study was requested by President Carlson to report to the Faculty at its meeting on December 1, 1947, that he had submitted to the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees the recommendation that the University of Delaware suspend operation of the Foreign Study Plan until such time as it can be placed on sound financial basis. That same month, indeed, the Trustees voted to discontinue the Plan at the close of the current academic year. The Faculty and friends of the University of Delaware can derive legitimate satisfaction from the record: The Plan was an educational innovation which unquestionably brought prestige to the University of Delaware, both in the United States and abroad; it has been a distinct contribution to the cause of international understanding; and it has become a movement, the values of which are so great that it is being carried on enthusiastically by other colleges.

The Foreign Study Papers were transferred to the Archives in two groups; the first being material which had been gleaned from the Foreign Study Office files for inclusion in the Delawareana Collection of the University Library by William Ditto Lewis (Librarian, 1930-1961), and the second consisting of the Foreign Study files from the Delaware Office (including one file drawer salvaged from the Paris Bureau's Office in 1948). Mr. Lewis collected and bound his selection in a volume entitled Selected Papers from the Foreign Study Office, 1922-48, which is found in Folder #1 of the collection. Original order has been maintained where possible and re-established where necessary.

Copies of the academic records of the Foreign Study students are maintained in the Office of the University Registrar. The originals have been lost.

Since the University of Delaware was a pioneer in the field of Foreign Study, the Foreign Study Papers serve as an excellent source for studying the history and development of the Foreign Study Movement.

The following served as Directors of the Foreign Study Plan as listed by country and date below:

France
	1923-1928	Professor Raymond W. Kirkbride
	1928-1934	Professor George E. Brinton
	1934-1935	Professor Joseph E. Barker
	1935-1939	Dr. George D. Hocking
	1939-1940	Dr. David M. Dougherty
Germany
	1932-1934	Dr. Samuel A. Nock
Switzerland
	1938-1939	Miss Madeleine Z. Doty
	1946-1947	Dr. David M. Dougherty
	1947-1948	Dr. Harold L. Clapp

SCOPE AND CONTENT

The records of the Delaware Foreign Study Plan, as represented in the University Archives, consist basically of the files which were kept in the Foreign Study Office of the University of Delaware from 1922 (when the Plan began) until 1948 (when the office was closed and the Plan was terminated), and similar files which were salvaged from the University's Paris Bureau in 1948. Included are: printed reports and bulletins, operations and general correspondence files, files of correspondence between the University of Delaware and institutions which had students in the Plan, files of correspondence between the students in the Plan and the Delaware Office, and the Delfor Alumni Association files. Copies of the academic records of each student are not included in the Archives but are maintained in the Office of the University Registrar.