Powell, John Benjamin (1886-1947), Papers, 1910-1952 (C3662)
2.9 linear feet
INTRODUCTION
The papers of a journalist include correspondence, literary works, printed material, photographs, and a scrapbook. Drafts for My Twenty-Five Years in China and Powell's articles (1941-1947) predominate. Information on China, Japan, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Central Asia, India, Philippine Islands, World War II, and the Washington Conference.
DONOR INFORMATION
The Powell Papers were donated to the University of Missouri by Martha P. Hensley through the University of Missouri Library Journalism Branch on 26 September 1977 (Accession No. 4107)
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
John Benjamin Powell, an influential newspaperman in Asia, was born in Marion County, Missouri. After graduating from Gem City Business College, Quincy, Illinois, he completed a degree in journalism at the University of Missouri in 1910. He was married to Martha Hinton.
During his professional career, spent mainly in China, Powell filled many posts, including advertising manager, Courier Post, Hannibal, Missouri, 1910-1913; instructor, University of Missouri, 1913-1917; and managing editor, China Weekly Review, Shanghai, China, 1917-1941. He was also special representative of American commercial interests in China at Washington from 1920 to 1922 (obtaining Congressional enactment of the China Trade Act); editor, China Press, 1923-1925; Chicago Tribune special correspondent, 1918-1938; and correspondent, Manchester Guardian and Daily Herald, London, 1925-1936.
As a reporter he covered the Conference on Limitation of Armament and Pacific Problems, 1921-1922; Nationalist Revolution in China, 1926-1927; Sino-Russian conflict, 1929; Sino-Japanese conflict, 1931-1932; Russo-Japanese crisis, 1934-1935; Far Eastern preparations for war; and the Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1941. As an author he published Building a Circulation: Methods and Ideals for Small Town Newspapers (1914), Getting Subscribers for the Country Newspaper (1915), Newspaper Efficiency in the Small Town (1915), Who's Who in China... (1926), and My Twenty-Five Years in China (1945).
Due to his editorial hostility to Japanese aggression, Powell was imprisoned in Shanghai from December 1941 to May 1942. Neglected, his physical condition deteriorated severely. After release he participated in the war effort by denouncing the Japanese in print and through personal appearances. Consequently he became a widely known symbol of Japanese brutality. Never fully recovered from his ordeal, he died in 1947.
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
The Powell Papers are arranged into the following series:
The bulk of the papers consists of drafts for his book My Twenty-Five Years in China and his articles written
during 1941 to 1947. More complete descriptions of the series are in the folder list.
FOLDER LIST
| f. 1-6 | 1917-1952. Shanghai, 1917; Twenty-one Demands; capture of Powell by Chinese bandits, 1923; imprisonment by Japanese; and literary productions. |
| f. 7 | Notes, n.d.--1943, on Manchuria, China, and Japan. |
| f. 8-14 | Speeches, 1942-1947. Powell on China, Manchuria, Shanghai, Japanese, Russians, Sino-Japanese War, World War II, and personal experiences in China, 1917-1941. |
| f. 15-16 | Letters to the editor, New York Herald-Tribune and PM's Daily Picture Magazine, 1942-1945. |
| f. 17-19 | Book reviews, 1942-1945. |
| f. 20-23 | Newspaper articles, 1942-1945. |
| f. 24-35 | Magazine articles, 1942-1945. |
| f. 36 | Yearbook of American University Club, 1936. |
| f. 37 | Journalism in Wartime and The China Society Booklet, 1943. |
| f. 38-58 | Funk and Wagnalls' The New International Year Book, A Compendium of The World's Progress for the Year. 1943-1945. |
| f. 38-46 | Events of 1943 in China, Japan, USSR. |
| f. 47-51 | Events of 1944 in China, Japan, USSR. |
| f. 52-58 | Events of 1945 in China, Japan, Korea, Manchuria, Mongolia, Siam. |
| f. 59-132 | My Twenty-Five Years in China. |
| f. 59-79 | Chapters 1-10 |
| f. 80-105 | Chapters 11-20 |
| f. 106-122 | Chapters 21-30 |
| f. 123-132 | Chapters 31-40 |
| f. 133-181 | Miscellaneous Drafts, 1942-1947. Arranged alphabetically under three
categories: geographical, biographical, and miscellaneous. |
| f. 133 | Central Asia. |
| f. 133a-154 | China: army, 1944; civil war period, 1917-1926; government; journalism; Nationalist revolution; Shanghai; Sian Incident; United States-China trade. |
| f. 155 | India |
| f. 156-165 | Japan |
| f. 165 | Japan and Mongolia. |
| f. 166 | William Bullitt, Chang Hsueh-liang, and Sterling Fessenden. |
| f. 167-168 | Sterling Fessenden. |
| f. 169-170 | Thomas Millard |
| f. 171 | Thomas Millard and John Powell |
| f. 172-173 | Soong family |
| f. 174 | Ignatius Trebitsch-Lincoln |
| f. 175 | Cairo Declaration, Russo-Japanese and Sino-Russian relations. |
| f. 176 | Washington Conference and Who's Who in China. |
| f. 177-179 | World War II postwar plans for Asia. |
| f. 180-181 | Fragments. |
| f. 182-191 | Newspaper articles, n.d., 1923-ca. 1952. |
| f. 192-193 | Periodical articles, n.d., 1943-1948. |
| f. 194 | Press releases and programs, 1937-1945. |
| f. 195 | Programs, announcements, certificates, and scrapbook, 1944-1945. |
| f. 195-196 | Scrapbook of newspaper clippings concerning Powell's visit to the University of Missouri in 1945. |
| f. 196 | Booklet, Japan's War on Foreign Business in China, ca. 1938. |
| f. 197-199 | Photographs, notably of Powell. |
INDEX TERMS
These index terms are the subjects, people, places, etc. under which this collection is listed in all available indexes at the Western Historical Manuscript Collection-Columbia. If you are interested in a specific index term, please contact the reference staff.
- Anderson, Roy
- Berube, Marcel
- Bullitt, William Christian (1891-1967)
- Cairo Declaration
- Chang Hsueh-liang (1898)
- Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975)
- Chiang Kai-shek, Madame (1899- )
- China
- China Press, Shanghai, China
- China Weekly Review, Shanghai, China
- China, Army, 1944
- China, Shanghai
- China, Shanghai, 1920s
- China, Shanghai, 1930s
- China, Sinkiang, 1940s
- China--Foreign relations--Soviet Union
- China--History--1912-1949
- China--Politics and government, 1911-1947
- China--Sian Incident
- Chinese-American trade
- Communism--China
- Crane, Charles Richard (1858-1939)
- Davis, John K.
- Fearen, Anne Walter
- Fessenden, Sterling
- Gibbons, Floyd
- Harris, Morris
- Japan
- Japan, Emperor Worship
- Japan--Foreign opinion, 1940s
- Journalism, China
- Korea
- Kung, H.H. (1881- )
- Labor and laboring classes--China, 1910s
- MacMurray, John Van Antwerp (1881-1960)
- Manchuria
- Maryland Club, 1912
- McBride, Mary Margaret (1899-1976)
- Millard, Thomas Franklin Fairfax (1868-1942)
- Miners--China, 1920s
- Mongolia
- Narcotic traffic, Asia, 1900-1945
- Narcotic traffic, Japan
- Philippines, 1930s
- Powell, John Benjamin (1886-1947)
- Railroads, China
- Reinsch, Paul Samuel (1870-1923)
- Robbers & outlaws
- Schurman, Jacob Gould (1854-1942)
- Siam
- Sino-Japanese conflict, 1937-1945
- Sino-Japanese conflict, 1937-1945, Aerial operations
- Sino-Japanese conflict, 1937-1945, Atrocities
- Sino-Japanese conflict, 1937-1945, Destruction & pillage
- Sino-Japanese conflict, 1937-1945, Naval operations
- Soloman, Lee
- Soviet Union
- Soviet Union, Foreign relations, Japan
- Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925)
- Thomas, James A.
- Trebitsch-Lincoln, Ignatius Timothy
- University of Missouri, Commencements, 1945
- Washington Conference, 1921-1922
- Williams, Walter
- World War, 1939-1945--Aerial Operations, China
- World War, 1939-1945--Atrocities
- World War, 1939-1945--China, Shanghai
- World War, 1939-1945--Destruction and Pillage, China
- World War, 1939-1945--Far East
- World War, 1939-1945--India
- World War, 1939-1945--Naval Operations, China Sea
- World War, 1939-1945--Postwar Planning, Asia
- Wu P'ei-fu (1878-1939)
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