Library of Congress Interview with Harvey Feldman The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project HARVEY FELDMAN Interviewed by: Edward Dillery Initial interview date: March 11, 1999 Copyright 2001 ADST Q: Let's start out by asking for a brief review of your early life. FELDMAN: I was born in New York City on June 25, 1931. I attended New York City public schools and then the University of Chicago. I got a BA in liberal arts from Chicago in 1951. I floated through graduate school in medieval history and even attended a few months of law school. Finally, I joined an interdisciplinary program on Far Eastern civilization; that got me an MA in 1954. It was a two year program that included Chinese language, literature, philosophy, relations between the U.S. and China and Japan, East Asian geography, political science, etc. One day I was in a bookstore in downtown Chicago; I was reaching for a book on Burma; someone was reaching for the same book at about the same time. We bumped into each other; he asked me whether I was a student of Burma. I saw I had a mild interest in that country and area. He said that he had just returned from there - very proudly. When I asked how he had gotten there, he told me he was a Foreign Service officer - even more proudly. That led to a conversation about the Foreign Service. It sounded interesting; so I asked how one became a Foreign Service officer. He told me that you had to take an exam given Interview with Harvey Feldman http://www.loc.gov/item/mfdipbib000363 Library of Congress once a year in December; if you passed it, you would be called in for an oral interview; if you passed that, you would be given a commission as a Foreign Service officer. I asked how one applied and he told me. So I wrote a letter and in the fullness of time took the exam and passed it. I had never expected to join the Foreign Service, but once having passed the written, I went on to the orals. I went to Washington at my own expense. At that time, candidates had to arrange their own travel and accommodations - this was 1954. I remember that I stayed in a rooming house called the “Allen Lee” - probably at the corner of G and 20th or 21st or 22nd. You have to remember that I really didn't care whether I was going to join the Foreign Service or not; my plans at the time were to get a Ph.D. in Chinese studies from the University of Chicago. I do remember that my panel was chaired by someone with the wonderful name of Cromwell T. Riches. I thought that that was a perfect name for a Foreign service officer. The first question that I was asked was whether “Red China” should be recognized. I thought about an answer for a bit. I decided to tell the panel what I really thought. So I said it that I thought it should be recognized. Several of the panel members became very upset with my answer. They wanted to know why I thought we should recognize that country. I pointed out that the Chinese were fighting us in Korea, but that no one seemed to know why they had done so. I suggested that it would be preferable to able to talk to them directly to try to understand their motivations, rather than to guess what they might be willing or wanting to do. So we got into a good discussion, which seemed to flow pretty smoothly for the rest of my time. Eventually, the examination ended and I was asked to wait outside the room for a few minutes. After about 15 or 20 minutes, Mr. Riches emerged and told me that I had passed, although he said “There were some committee members who did not like the way you slouched in your chair. I thought for sure that the issue of “Red China” would be the problem; I was quite surprised by the comment about my demeanor. Q: I had a similar experience. What happened after that? Interview with Harvey Feldman http://www.loc.gov/item/mfdipbib000363 Library of Congress FELDMAN: This all took place in the Spring of 1954. I got my MA in June. The Department told me that it might be a year before I was commissioned. There was a personnel “freeze” at the time while everyone was being recleared - consequence of the McCarthy period. The head of Security at the time was R.W. Scott McLeod. I remember that name. So all intake of new officers had to be stopped while this reclearance process was under way. After having received my MA, I decided to move forward to try to get a Ph.D. I didn't know whether I would ever get into the Foreign Service. It turned out that I had a major disagreement with the Chairman of the Chinese Language and Literature Department at Chicago - a professor named Herlee Glessner Creel. His specialty was early archaic China and especially interpreting oracle bones, which are inside tortoise shells, which were used for divination - one would carve on them in ancient Chinese characters questions like, “If the King goes hunting today, will he be successful?” Then the questioner would throw the shell on a fire and the results would be interpreted by the cracks in the shell. Creel was famous for a book that he had written called “The Birth of China.” So Creel was indeed a great scholar in oracle bones and in trying to decide what the culture of ancient China might have been. He wanted me to join him in his research since I was the departmental fellow who was going to be working directly with him for my Ph.D. I didn't think that this was the most interesting avenue to pursue. I told Creel that I really wanted to work on 19th Century treaty ports in China. That turned into something of a dust-up. This all took place early in the fall of 1954. About this time, I got a phone from the Department of State asking me how soon I could be available to enter the Service. I said: “How about in two weeks?” That was too quick for them, but the caller said he would be back in touch with me. I should mention that at the time, I was married with one little child about a year old. We were living in a small, rented apartment. No one had told me that when you went overseas your furniture would accompany at Department expense. So we sold our furniture and waited for the call from Interview with Harvey Feldman http://www.loc.gov/item/mfdipbib000363 Library of Congress the Department. And we waited; and we waited. We went from early October to mid- November waiting for that call. The call came and I was asked to report for duty immediately. I was informed that my first assignment would be Hong Kong as a Refugee Relief Program investigator. I said “Okay.” A couple of weeks later, at the end of November 1954, I found myself in a 19th Century Treaty port called Hong Kong. When I arrived, to my great delight, I was told that I would not be a Refugee Relief Program investigator, but rather that I would be a Vice Consul - the passport officer. Q: Let's go back in the story. Did you ever stop in Washington oyour way to the Far East? FELDMAN: I did; I had a one week program for secretaries and clerk typists. During the course of this orientation, one of our lecturers asked whether there were any Vice Consuls in the class. I raised my hand; I was the only one. All the rest were staff personnel. The lecturer expressed some surprise. After that one week, I was given airline tickets for my wife, my son and myself. We flew on a Boeing Stratocruiser - the one with the sort of belly lounge. We had bunks; my wife and son were in a lower bunk and I was in the upper. We took off from Washington; it was an incredible flight. From Washington, we flew to Pittsburgh, then Chicago, Minneapolis, Portland - or somewhere on the West Coast - someplace in Alaska, and finally Misawa (Japan). Unfortunately, my son got real air sick and threw up all over my wife. When we debarked in Misawa, she got off wearing a bathrobe. When the plane was cleaned, we got on board again and flew to Tokyo where we got off again. We stayed there for a day in a hotel. Then we reboarded, flew from Tokyo to Okinawa, then to Taipei and on to Hong Kong. The whole trip took about two and a half days. Interview with Harvey Feldman http://www.loc.gov/item/mfdipbib000363 Library of Congress Q: A ship would have been better!FELDMAN: Indeed it would have been. But the Department was in a great hurry to get me to Hong Kong, because slow visa issuance to refugees was becoming a congressional concern. Q: Did you any feeling for what a Consulate General was like? How iwas organized? FELDMAN: I had no idea. I didn't know what to expect. I was simply delighted to be going to a 19th Century Treaty Port which was after all what I wanted to study. I guess first posts are always very special and Hong Kong will always be very dear to me.