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Old China Hands Oral History Project Collection

 Collection
Identifier: OCH-OCHOH

Scope and Contents

The Old China Hands Oral History Project Collection consists of nearly 200 audio interviews with "Old China Hands," foreigners who lived and worked in China before or shortly after the Communist takeover of China in 1949. Interview topics include 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 all interviews.

Many of the interviews were recorded at Old China Hands reunions, beginning with the 1996 reunion in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The collection is divided into seven series arranged chronologically, Las Vegas, Nevada Reunion (1996), Northridge, California (2002), Independent Interviews (2004-2019), Portland, Oregon Reunion (2006), Fremont, California (2011), Shanghai, China (2012), and China Marines (2014). Interviews are arranged in alphabetical order by the last name of the narrator for all series.

Series I, Las Vegas, Nevada Reunion contains oral histories conducted at the Las Vegas Old China Hands Reunion by a team led by Sue Fawn Chung, professor of history at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Series II, Northridge, California contains interviews conducted in 2002 at Northridge.

Series III, Independent Interviews contains interviews unconnected with a particular event.

Series IV, Portland, Oregon Reunion contains interviews conducted by the Old China Hands Archives at the Portland Old China Hands Reunion.

Series V, Fremont, California contains oral history interviews conducted by the Old China Hands Archives primarily at the Macau Cultural Center in Fremont, California. The bulk of these interviews are with descendents of Portuguese emigrants.

Series VI, Shanghai, China contains oral history interviews conducted by the Old China Hands Archives during a trip to Shanghai.

Series VII, China Marines Reunion contains oral histories recorded at the China Marines Reunion in Charleston, South Carolina by the Old China Hands Archives.

Dates

  • Creation: 1996-2019

Conditions Governing Access:

The collection is open for research use.

Conditions Governing Use:

Copyright for unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of this collection has not been transferred to California State University, Northridge. Copyright status for other materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Historical Note:

The library created this collection of materials for study and research.

Full Extent

94.6 Gigabytes (0 box)

Language of Materials

English

Chinese

German

Russian

Abstract

The Old China Hands Oral History Project Collection consists of oral histories of "Old China Hands," foreigners who lived and worked in China before or shortly after the Communist takeover of the country in 1949. The experiences of Old China Hands are particulary valuable to historians studying modern Chinese history and world history, as well as those interested in intercultural communications.

Arrangement of Materials:

Series I: Las Vegas, Nevada Reunion, 1996

Series II: Northridge, California, 2002

Series III: Independent Interviews, 2004-2019

Series IV: Portland, Oregon Reunion, 2006

Series V: Fremont, California, 2011

Series VI: Shanghai, China, 2012

Series VII: China Marines Reunion, 2014

Electronic Format

Interviews and transcripts in this collection are available electronically as a part of the Digital Collection Old China Hands Oral History Project.

Processing Information:

Jessica Geiser, 2014

Title
Guide to the Old China Hands Oral History Project Collection
Status
Completed
Date
2014-02-06
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Revision Statements

  • 2017: Mallory Furnier and Inderdeep Kaur
  • 2020, 2023, 2024: Mallory Furnier

Repository Details

Part of the Special Collections & Archives Repository

Contact:
University Library
California State University, Northridge
18111 Nordhoff Street
Northridge CA 91330-8326 USA
818-677-4594