Old China Hands Archives Newsletter, Volume 3, Number 1

The Old China Hands Archives contains collections that tell many stories about the push and pull factors that brought foreigners to China. Many came to China seeking a place of refuge, while others were pulled by business, religious callings, military service, government work, or other opportunities.

PARAGRAPH ABOUT SPECIFIC GROUP

Several collections document the histories of THEME in China:

• Robert and Eva Tharp Collection Robert Tharp was born in 1913 to British missionary parents in the Jehol Province of Manchuria. Evangeline (Eva) Kok was born in 1914 in Yunnan, China, to Dutch missionary parents. In 1918, the family moved to Peking (Beijing), where her father served as the First Chancellor of the Netherlands Legation in China. Eva attended the Peking American School, graduating in 1931. She then attended the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, and returned to China to perform mission work after graduating in 1936. Robert began working as a full-time missionary in beginning in 1934. During World War II they worked in India before returning to missionary work in China after the war, and ultimately leaving China in 1949.
• Norman Filman Collection Norman J. Filman was born on November 23, 1920, in Calgary, Canada, and was taken to China soon after to live with his grandparents, John L. and Margaret Duff who had served as missionaries in the country since the early 1890s. He grew up in Kuling, China before attending the Western District Public School in Shanghai.
• Old China Hands Unpublished Manuscripts Collection This Collection includes Samuel J. Mills' "Boyhood in China" manuscript, which documents the history of his 19th century Presbyterian missionary family.

Additional collections in the Old China Hands Archives include a smaller number of photographs and research materials related to the presence of missionaries in China in the 19th and early 20th century.

Regional Text here

The Old China Hands Oral History Project Collection contains nearly 200 oral histories documenting a range of experiences. Interview topics include, but are not limited to, daily life in China, impressions of local culture and business, and experiences related to World War II such as the Japanese occupation and internment of Allied country citizens residing in China. Transcripts are available for most audio interviews. This issue we are featuring an excerpt of an interview conducted at PLACE and YEAR with INTERVIEWEE.

INTERVIEWEE BRIEF BIO. In this excerpt INTERVIEWEE talks about TOPIC:

The complete transcript, along with transcripts for many other interviews conducted at PLACE in YEAR, are available on Digital Collections or by request. For assistance with this collection, or access to other transcripts not yet available online, please contact mallory.furnier@csun.edu. 

FEATURED COLLECTION ABSTRACT