Pettus Archival Studies

Locations and Sign Posts Leading to the "Buried Treasure".

This website segment is a record of personal connections among historical Chinese and Claremont related people. It is not a record for academic study of Chinese-American history, diplomacy, etc. Rather, it is designed to fill in corners - simple, small, personal views into times, persons, and events that have been mostly forgotten by history.

Therefore no one section is so complete that it gives a total picture of an individual or an event. Certainly, no part is comprehensive. That is not the purpose. Rather, taken together they are small details sometimes charming, sometimes tragic, from corners of lives and times. And again each section is a signpost to the Claremont "buried treasures" that we uncovered during a decade of searching in our archived records.

Hence, this website section provides a type of map of paths leading to other paths. And from this map emerging is an understanding that each point leads to all of the rest. These interlocking stories discovered in the Pettus-China Archives give glimpses of people, times, friendships, relationships, and as Colonel John Easterbrook said, "Pettus is the hub of the wheel. The individual stories and accounts are the spokes of the wheel."

In Part I are recorded moments in the lives of those who, from 1910 to the 1950s, walked on the grounds, talked, and studied at the College of Chinese Studies, a small paradise of tranquility, cultural respect, and learning. These people lived, taught, visited, administered, or simply enjoyed, as Pearl Buck said, “this lovely place,” an elegant educational institution within walking distance of the Forbidden City.

Part II contains also small sections on people and events that Pettus did not actually write to, but who have become significant part of our collection. And, the writers of these short summaries may later provide more information about each of the people and topics.

Two factors have caused us to add to our initial list of great names from those past times, beyond those the original Pettus research team discovered in Claremont:

I. People around the world who have learned of our studies, and

II. Visitors and associates who have sent books, letters, documents for our safe keeping.

For example, there is a considerable amount of materials sent from Jerusalem by Irene Eber, author of The Choice and a central scholarly figure in the film "Shanghai Ghetto"; Colonel John Easterbrook, military man, businessman, scholar, and grandson of General Joseph Stilwell; Colonel Thomas Constant, once an advisor to Madame Chiang Kai Shek, son of the assistant military attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing; Benis Frank, United States Marine Corp historian; and Ambassador Arthur Hummel, Jr., and his father (the chief historian of Oriental Department, the Library of Congress).

We had to make the choice whether to omit the paths of connections or allow the interlocking reality of the total to show itself. The danger was that, if we did just focus on a specific number of individuals rather the interacting actuality, a reader would not know what these people had sent to us from around the world. After all, we decided that we were not aiming at producing a scholarly document, but rather a view of connections that had been lost even to the innermost circles of historians.

And the internet has allowed our nonlinear, galaxical material to find a place together in these pages.

Part I: Significant People of Pettus

Part II: People and events associated with Pettus

| Irene Eber | Benis M. Frank | Studies on Pettus College by Weijiang Zhang |