jacket
Catalog Number
1941.23.23aDescription
Japanese suit jacket presented to Hope College President Phillip Phelps, Jr. by Japanese student R. Tugawa in 1870.History
Philip Phelps, Jr. was born in New York on July 12, 1826. By 1844 he had graduated from Union College (in New York). He the attended the New Brunswick Theological Seminary in New Brunswick, New Jersey, graduating in 1849.In 1859 Phelps was appointed as the principal of the Holland Academy in Holland, MI. After the Civil War ended, Phelps helped Albertus C. Van Raalte create start Hope College. In 1866 Phelps was named the first president of Hope College, a position he held until 1878.
Phelps was married to Margaret Jordan. They had the following children: Frances Phelps Otte; Philip Tertius Phelps; Elizabeth Phelps; Edward Phelps; and, Theo Phelps.
In 1884, after the final Phelps child graduated from Hope, the family returned to New York. Philip Phelps, Jr. died on 9-4-1896.