Uncovering Hidden Stories in Photographs from the Carleton-in-China Program, 1936-1939

Uncovering Hidden Stories in Photographs from the Carleton-in-China Program, 1936-1939

From 1937 to 1939 Paul Clifford Domke was one of two “Carleton-in-China” representatives appointed by Carleton College, in accordance with an arrangement with The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) dating from 1922, to teach English in the Ming I Middle School in Fenyang, Shanxi Province, China. The other C-in-C rep in those years, John R. Caton, had begun his teaching at the Ming I school a year earlier. This digital collection is a merged collection of photos taken by the two of them during their time as Carleton-in-China representatives from 1936 to 1939.

Domke and Caton visited and photographed many locations beyond Shanxi Province, including Xian, Chengdu, Yenan, and Cambodia during these war-time years. As Japanese troops advanced during their invasion of China from 1937 to 1939, the Carleton representatives travelled long distances with the teaching faculty and the students of the Ming I Middle School as they sought safety. Seeking to improve accuracy and enhance the description of the 3,107 photographs in this collection, Carleton turned to outside collaborators and crowd-sourcing. How did these collaborations work? And what did they reveal about the photographs taken during this tumultuous period of China’s history? In our poster session, we would like to share our findings.

Liu-Spencer, Hsianghui

Fu, Wei-Hsin

Hillemann, Eric

Lamb, Tom

Chinese American Librarians Association

2021-06-23

https://2021calaposter.wordpress.com/home/opening-calasys-to-all-members/ (Program Site)

application/pdf

eng

Poster; Text

2021-06-23

Liu-Spencer, Hsianghui, Fu, Wei-Hsin, Hillemann, Eric & Lamb, Tom (2021). Uncovering Hidden Stories in Photographs from the Carleton-in-China Program, 1936-1939. The Chinese American Librarians Association (CALA) Annual Conference 2021 poster session. Online. June 23, 2021.