The Suzhou embroidery gifted to Professor E.G. Young by the Mechanical Engineering Class of 1925 at Nanyang University.

Graig Allen McCaleb, grandson of the former Xi'an Jiatong University (XJTU) Professor E.G. Young, traveled from the United States to Xi'an to visit the Jiaotong University Westward Relocation Museum on Sept 11.

Standing before the exhibition panel dedicated to his grandfather, McCaleb expressed deep emotion over the incredible growth of China's modern railway industry, reflecting on how his grandfather had once helped lay its early foundations. He added that many Americans, himself included, hope for an enduring friendship between the US and China.

Graig Allen McCaleb pauses for a photo in front of the exhibition panel dedicated to his grandfather, Professor E.G. Young.

In 2020, his older brother, Frank David McCaleb, traveled from Florida to XJTU to donate some precious family archives to the museum. Among the historical items that made the journey across the ocean, a piece of Suzhou embroidery featuring wild geese and reeds stands out.

Inscribed on the right side are the Chinese words, "Presented to Mr Yang Yiqi with the compliments of the Mechanical Engineering Class of 1925, Nanyang University," while the bottom right corner features an English inscription: "Prof. E.G. Young, a remembrance from the M.E. students of Class 1925, Nanyang University, China." This piece of Suzhou embroidery bears witness to the bonds between teachers and students on Chinese campuses in the 1920s, serving as valuable historical evidence of grassroots academic and engineering exchanges between China and the US in modern times.

Professor E.G. Young in his youth.

"Yang Yiqi" was the Chinese name of E.G. Young. Born in 1888, Young earned both his bachelor's and master's degrees in railway mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois in 1913 and 1916, respectively.

In 1919, he became a professor of mechanical engineering at Tangshan Engineering College (then under the Ministry of Communications), teaching courses in locomotive engineering and design.

When the Ministry of Communications established Jiaotong University in 1921, the Mechanical Department of Tangshan Engineering College was incorporated into the college's Shanghai campus, and Young relocated to Shanghai alongside the department's faculty and students. Starting in 1927, he served as a research professor of railway mechanical engineering at the University of Illinois Engineering Experiment Station.

Beyond his teaching, Young was deeply involved in academic life. When the Engineering Society of Jiaotong University's Shanghai campus was founded in 1921, he delivered a lecture on "Engineering Books" and compiled custom lecture notes titled Railway Mechanical Engineering for his students.

In 1925, the entire Mechanical Engineering Class of 1925 at Nanyang University presented him with this exquisite piece of Suzhou embroidery as a token of their respect and affection. The embroidery, alongside vintage photographs, letters, work badges, and other personal items, was eventually brought back to the US, surviving as a cherished artifact of early people-to-people academic and engineering exchanges between China and the US.