Rich Fare From Special Collections
....
Quite a different project by Claremont Graduate School Professor of Education John Regan and scholars from China concerns the William Pettus Papers which are in the California College in China Collection. The California College in China was first established in 1910 in Peking as the North China Union Language School, a school for English-speaking missionaries, businessmen, and diplomats. The California College in China Foundation was incorporated in 1930 by William B. Pettus "for the training of Americans in knowledge of China, its civilization, language and trade customs." With the Japanese invasion of China in World War II, Pettus moved the College to the UC Berkeley campus in 1942. Later the Colleges books and Pettus papers came to the Claremont Graduate School (now Claremont Graduate University). Professor Regan has been studying the Pettus papers in an effort to find connections to Claremont and Claremont scholars with the California College in China.

Professor Regan and his Chinese colleagues have discovered that Pettus corresponded with such notable figures as General Joseph Stilwell, Pearl S. Buck, Dr. Hu Shih, Ambassador to the U.S., U.S. Ambassador Leighton Stuart, and Mei Lan Fan, the honored Beijing opera star. Some of the trustees and overseers of the California College in China Foundation included General David P. Barrows, Harry Chandler, Pomona College President Charles K. Edmunds, Douglas Fairbanks, John Carruthers, Mrs. E.W. Shirk, A.P. Gianni, President Robert G. Sproul, Dr. Seeley G. Mudd, and Dr. Robert A. Millikan.

In an essay entitled "Lost and Forgotten III: A Sino-American Relationship Reconstructed" by Professor Regan and Wei Jian Zhang, Visiting Pettus Fellow, they explain, "Our intention of this paper is to provide for Western readers information on these people who are almost household names among the Chinese people. . . In addition, this paper will argue for the importance of reestablishing the memory of what was, in some ways, a golden era of exchange, respect, and appreciation across the Pacific." 

The California College in China Papers include 14 boxes of correspondence, College files, minutes of the Board of Directors, financial statements, and reports and recollections about the Japanese invasion of China. Professor Regan began investigating the William B. Pettus papers in 1994 and continues today to research the contribution and influences of Pettus and the California College in China to the United States and China.

These three collections show the diversity found in Special Collections. Large portions of books in Special Collections are now represented in Blais, the Libraries online catalog. Because other collections, particularly manuscripts, photographs, maps, playbills, and ephemera are not found in Blais, Special Collections staff urge researchers to telephone (909) 607-3977, or email spcoll@libraries.claremont.edu, or visit during our open hours, Monday-Thursday 1 to 5pm and Friday 9-12 and 1 to 5 p.m.
 

Jean Beckner
Honnold/Mudd, x73977