Harriet Alice Chipman Dewey

Alice Chipman Dewey was an American educator, reformer, and writer who is remembered today in part for the letters gathered in Letters from China and Japan. Written during travels in 1919 and later published in 1920, these letters were originally sent to her children and have an easy, observant style that makes distant places feel immediate and human.

She was also closely connected with the world of progressive education and public thought through her work and partnership with philosopher John Dewey. In the published preface to Letters from China and Japan, she is described as having traveled with him to Japan and China, where both were lecturing and engaging with educational and democratic ideas.

What makes her writing stand out is its blend of intelligence and informality. Rather than sounding formal or distant, her letters notice clothes, streets, moods, and small surprises, giving readers a vivid sense of travel as it was actually lived.