Oriental Study Expedition Archive
Oscar Guerrero, Shiv Pandya
Special Collections, Honnold/Mudd Library
800 North Dartmouth Avenue
Claremont, CA 91711
Email: specialcollections@claremont.edu
URL: https://library.claremont.edu/scl/
© 2023
The Claremont Colleges Library. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Oriental Study Expedition Archive
Dates: 1919-1989 and undated
Collection number: H.Mss.0591
Creator:
Armacost, Robert
Creator:
Avery, R. Stanton, 1907-
Creator:
Scott, Warren
Extent:
3.4 Linear Feet
(5 document boxes, 1 half-size document box, 1 custom
box)
Repository:
Claremont Colleges. Library. Special Collections, The Claremont
Colleges Library, Claremont, CA 91711.
Abstract: The Oriental Study
Expedition Archive contains records and memorabilia from a year-long expedition embarked in
1929 by ten Pomona College students to immerse themselves in Chinese life, culture, and
religion. The students traveled and studied throughout China, primarily in the Guangdong
province, Shanghai, and Beijing, and visited Hawaii, Japan, and Korea. The collection
includes correspondence, diary entries, dispatches, photographs, photo albums, newspaper
clippings, articles, literature, and promotional materials. A 1988 reunion of surviving
expedition members at Pomona College is also documented.
Physical Location: Please consult repository.
Languages of Material: Languages
represented in the collection: English.
Administrative Information
Access
Collection open for research.
Publication Rights
All requests for permission to reproduce or to publish must be submitted in writing to
Special Collections.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Oriental Study Expedition Archive (H.Mss.0591). Special
Collections, The Claremont Colleges Library, The Claremont Colleges Services, Claremont,
California.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of R. Stanton Avery, March 1989.
Accruals
No additions to the collection are anticipated.
Biography / Administrative History
The Oriental Study Expedition was initiated and planned by ten Pomona College students from
different majors and disciplines who desired to travel to Asia and explore the continent.
The ten students were Sik Leong Tsui, Carroll Lorbeer, Robert Armacost, Relman Morin, Warren
Scott, R. Stanton Avery, Bruce Smith, George Gambell, Donald Dreher, and Oliver Haskell. In
early 1929, seven of the ten students were roommates and felt stifled in college, wishing to
expand their horizons. Sik Leong Tsui who was Chinese and raised in Hawaii, wished to return
to China and proposed they all put together their tuition money to spend a year traveling
and studying in China. The other six roommates agreed and decided to raise funds to travel
to China for a year-long voyage, enlisting three more expedition members. They pooled their
income from their summer jobs, and garnered financial support from the Mudd and Scripps
families. The students raised $9,000 for the voyage, with a total of $12,000 to travel and
live abroad in China for a year.
In preparation for the expedition, the students created a charter with a budget, itinerary,
and purpose. They stated the purpose of their journey was to "study oriental life,
conditions, and problems in the field, especially in China; to bring into closer social and
intellectual contacts students of the East and West and thus aid in the world-wide movement
to exchange knowledge and understanding." Their project was intended to reciprocate the
study-abroad programs that Chinese and Japanese students would take to study in America,
while also being both academic and experiential. By R. Stanton Avery's account, the
expedition was the first American student study group to spend a full year of travel and
study in China. The group planned to live on Christian college campuses where they would be
able to speak with others in English and circumvent language barriers.
The group departed on October 4, 1929 from San Pedro, Los Angeles, California. They first
traveled to San Francisco where they stayed for a few days, and then set out to Honolulu,
Hawaii, where they arrived on October 16 and stayed for two weeks. Here, they spent time
with Sik Leong Tsui's family. From Honolulu, the group sailed to Tokyo, Japan where they
stayed for another two weeks doing preliminary study before reaching China. They departed
Japan from Yokohama to Canton where they stayed for approximately three months from November
through January, 1930, studying at Lingnan University amongst Chinese students. They then
moved north towards Shanghai as the weather warmed, reaching the city in February. They
stayed at Shanghai Baptist College and would go out often to the city, awed by its social
liveliness and political activity. During this time, they also made side trips to Hangchow,
Soochow, and Nanking, staying in each of their respective universities. In mid-May, the
group traveled to Beijing, studying and working at Yenching University. During this period,
members of the group became involved working in the China Famine Relief Commission in the
Jehol Province, experiencing first-hand starvation and poverty in China. In July, the group
returned to Yenching University and started to organize once more to depart. First they went
to Tientsin and stayed at Nanking University once more on the fifteenth of July, followed by
an exploration of the Manchurian region starting with Mukden on the twentieth, and Harbin on
July 22. From here, the group made their way south to Seoul, Korea, then kept moving south
to Busan, from which they departed back to Japan. While in Japan, the group visited Kyoto,
Tokyo, and Yokohama, leaving Yokohama's port to return back home to the United States in
late August. Their shipped docked in San Francisco, and they finally reached Los Angeles in
September, nearly a year from when they first set out.
A tally of their travels showed that during the first six months of their program, the
group attended 37 conferences, 13 lectures, 5 athletic competitions, went on 30 educational
tours and trips, took part in 23 programs in schools, had 75 social engagements and met over
1500 people in social situations. The group also witnessed poverty, starvation, banditry,
political upheaval, and warzones during their travels. While intially shocked by these
experiences, the group was profoundly influenced by the Expedition for the rest of their
lives, having come back with an expanded worldview. R. Stanton Avery went on to found the
Durfee Foundation later in life, which, from 1985-2000, funded the American/Chinese
Adventure Capital Program, sending over 200 people from the LA region to China to pursue
projects of personal interest and cross-cultural exchange, nurturing creative interactions
between the two countries. The Archive for the Expedition was donated to the Claremont
Colleges' Special Collections Department by Mr. Avery in 1989.
Sources:
Avery, R. Stanton.
R. Stanton Avery: Oral History Interview. Interview by
Enid Hart Douglass and Arthur L. Rosenbaum. 18, 25 April and 10 July 1989. Oriental Study
Expedition Oral History Project, Claremont Graduate School. Transcript. Call no: XC14.Or7
A83.
Tindol, Robert. "Obituaries: R. Stanton Avery."
Engineering and Science, 60,
no. 4 (1997). https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechES:60.4.Obituaries.
Staff. "He Might Have Been Written by Horatio Alger."
Engineering and
Science,
39, no. 2 (January-February 1976).
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechES:39.2.StantonAvery.
Scope and Contents of the Collection
The Oriental Study Expedition Archive contains records and memorabilia from a year-long
expedition undertaken by ten students in 1929 to explore the lifestyle and culture of
countries in Asia. The collection is composed of the papers and documents of three of the
ten students: Robert Armacost, R. Stanton Avery, and Warren Scott. Included are the
expedition's charter documents detailing its purpose, budget, itinerary and members of the
trip. The collection also consists of assorted keepsakes and memorabilia collected by the
corresponding members of the trip, as well as their correspondence, diary entries,
dispatches, photographs, and photo albums. Newspaper clippings and promotional materials in
the collection document current events unfolding in China at the time, particularly the
growth of the Communist Party. Furthermore, Box 6 contains a scrapbook of photos, reports,
and mementos from the American/Chinese Adventure Capital Program, a study abroad program to
China offered by the Durfee Foundation which was founded by R. Stanton Avery.
Organization and Arrangement
This collection has been organized into the following series:
- Series 1: Robert Armacost, 1928-1989 and undated
- Series 2: R. Stanton Avery, 1919-1988 and undated
- Series 3: Warren Scott, 1929-1930 and undated
Related Materials
The following items can be found in Library Search:
- Armacost, Robert L.
Diary of Oriental Study Expedition, 1929-1930.
Unpublished manuscript, [1929-1930]. Call no: XC14.Or2 A75.
- Avery, R. Stanton.
R. Stanton Avery: Oral History Interview. Interview
by Enid Hart Douglass and Arthur L. Rosenbaum. 18, 25 April and 10 July 1989. Oriental
Study Expedition Oral History Project, Claremont Graduate School. Transcript. Call no:
XC14.Or7 A83.
- Gambell, George F.
George F. Gambell: Oral History Interview. Interview
by Enid Hart Douglass. 12 October 1989. Oriental Study Expedition Oral History Project,
Claremont Graduate School. Transcript. Call no: XC14.Or7 G35.
- Haskell, Oliver H.
Oliver H. Haskell: Oral History Interview. Interview
by Enid Hart Douglass and Arthur L. Rosenbaum. 17, 21 March and 5 July 1989, 19 April
1990. Oriental Study Expedition Oral History Project, Claremont Graduate School.
Transcript. Call no: XC14.Or7 H37.
- Lorbeer, Carroll W.C.
Carroll W.C. Lorbeer: Oral History Interview.
Interview by Enid Hart Douglass. 21 July 1989. Oriental Study Expedition Oral History
Project, Claremont Graduate School. Transcript. Call no: XC14.Or7 L67.
Seperated Materials
The following books have been separated from the collection:
- Baldridge, Cyrus Leroy.
Translations from the Chinese. Translated by
Arthur Waley. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1941.
- Ching, Frank.
Ancestors, 900 Years in the Life of a Chinese Family = 秦氏千載史: Qin
Shi Qian Zai Shi.
New York: Morrow, 1988.
- Fraser, John.
The Chinese, Portrait of a People. New York: Summit
Books, 1980.
- Lo, Ruth Earnshaw and Katherine S. Kinderman.
In the Eye of the
Typhoon.
New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovitch, 1980. Special Collections copy
DS 778 L6 1980 inscribed by R. Stanton Avery (former owner).
- Nankai University Committee on Social and Economic Research. Nankai Weekly Statistical
Service. Vol. II Nos. 1-38 (April 15-Dec. 30, 1929). Tiestsin, China: Chihli Press,
1929.
- National Geographic Society (U.S.).
Journey Into China. Washington,
D.C.: National Geographic Society, 1982.
- Perckhammer, Heinz von.
Peking. Das Gesicht Der Städte. Berlin:
Albertus, 1928.
-
The Romance of Chinese Art. Garden City, N.Y.: Garden City Pub. Co.,
1936.
- Todd, O.J.
The China That I Knew. Alto, Calif.: Oliver J.Todd,
1973.
-
The Voice. Vol. XVII, (Summer, 1928). Shanghai College, China.
-
The Voice. Vol. XIX, No. 3. (April, 1930). Shanghai College,
China.
- Williams, E. T.
China Yesterday and To-Day. Rev. ed. New York: Crowell,
1927.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
library’s online public access catalog.
Subject Terms
Asia
Asia -- Description and travel
Avery, R. Stanton, 1907-
China
College students
Oriental Study Expedition
Pomona College (Claremont, Calif.)
Voyages and travels
Genre and Form of Materials
Correspondence
Diaries
Photograph albums
Photographs
Scrapbooks
Series 1:
Robert Armacost
1928-1989 and undated
Box 1, Folder 1
Charter - published and draft copies
Box 1, Folder 2
List of contributors to OSEX
Note
Folder empty, no contents.
Box 1, Folder 3
Newspaper clipping and programs from China
Box 1, Folder 4
Keepsakes, notes, and misc. from China
Box 1, Folder 5
Jehol Province, Pingch'nan: photograph and "Jehol Diary"
1929-1930
Box 1, Folder 6
Dispatches by Reiman Morin and Bruce Smith; note by Armacost
Box 1, Folder 7
Partial duplicates of dispatches by Reiman Morin and Bruce Smith
Box 1, Folder 10
Diary of Robert L. Armacost
Box 1, Folder 11
Diary of Robert L. Armacost: Supplements
Box 1, Folder 12
Diary of Robert L. Armacost: Appendix
Box 1, Folder 13
Carbons of letters from Robt. Armacost to his family
1929-1930
Box 1, Folder 14
Letters from Sik Leong Tsui, Letter and photo from C.F. Lung
1928-1946
Note
13 items. Letters from Sik Leong Tsui dated 1928-1933. Letter and photo from C.F.
Lung dated 1946.
Box 1, Folder 15
Correspondence with Egbert M. Hayes
1929-1933
Box 1, Folder 16
Photocopy of a letter from R. Amacost to Dr. Phillip, Pomona Coll.
Biology
1984
Box 1, Folder 17
Correspondence between OSEX members, 1975-76 and from Armacost to Honnold
Library, 1989
1975-1989
Note
4 items. Correspondence between OSEX members from 1975-1976; Armacost to Honnold
Library from 1989.
Box 7, Folder 1
Chinese Christian Colleges - Pastor Ding, Shanton Christian University
[pamphlet]
Box 7, Folder 2
Chinese Christian Colleges - Shanghai College [pamphlet]
Box 7, Folder 3
Chinese Christian Colleges - The Mateer Memorial Institute Restoratin
Committee [booklet]
1958
July
Box 7, Folder 4
Chinese Christian Colleges - The Chinese Christian Student, two issues, Feb
1931 and n. 7, 1934 [serial]
1931-1934
Box 7, Folder 5
Chinese Christian Colleges - The China Colleges [serial]
1934
October
Box 7, Folder 6
Chinese Christian Colleges - A Guide to Yenching University
[booklet]
1930
Box 7, Folder 7
Chinese Christian Colleges - News From West China Union University [typed
document]
1945
Box 7, Folder 8
Chinese Christian Colleges - List of students and classes, St. John's
University [typed document]
1930
Box 7, Folder 9
Publications - "Colonizing in America" by Major Morgan Palmer, from The China
Weekly Review
Box 7, Folder 10
Publications - "Manchuria: No-man's Land of Asia" by Paul H. Clyde, Survey
Graphic, vol 13 no 4
1928
July
Box 7, Folder 11
Publications - Songs of My Life, by C. F. Lung
1933
Box 7, Folder 12, Item 1
Publications - "The Near West Looks at America" by C. F. Lung, Southern
California Trojan
1933
Box 7, Folder 12, Item 2
Publications - A Chinese Student and Western Culture by Chieng Fu
Lung
1930
Box 7, Folder 12, Item 3
Publications - Social Order and the Concept of Harmony, by Chi eng Fu
Lung
1933
Box 7, Folder 13
Reports - China's National Highway Budget, by A. Viola Smith
1930
Box 7, Folder 14
Reports - Smith, A. Viola. Motor Highways in China. Washington:
GPO
1929
Note
Also includes ALS from the author.
Box 7, Folder 15
Reports - Smith, A. Viola. Supplement to Motor Highways in China
1930
Box 7, Folder 16
Miscellaneous - Brochures about overseas missionaries
Box 7, Folder 17
Miscellaneous - Newspaper clippings
Box 7, Folder 18
Miscellaneous - Research notes
Series 2:
R. Stanton Avery
1919-1988 and undated
Box 2, Folder 1
Correspondence: July-Dec.
1929
Box 2, Folder 2
Correspondence: Jan.-Sept.
1930
Box 2, Folder 3
Correspondence file: Jan.
1929-1979
Box 2, Folder 4
Correspondence file: Feb.
1930-1987
Box 2, Folder 5
Correspondence file: Mar.
1929-1986
Box 2, Folder 6
Correspondence file: Apr.
1929-1986
Box 2, Folder 7
Correspondence file: May
1930-1938
Box 2, Folder 8
Correspondence file: June
1928-1986
Box 2, Folder 9
Correspondence file: July
1929-1930
Box 2, Folder 10
Correspondence file: Aug.
1928-1978
Box 2, Folder 11
Correspondence file: Sept.
1929-1981
Box 2, Folder 12
Correspondence file: Oct.
1929-1984
Box 2, Folder 13
Correspondence file: Nov.
1929-1985
Box 2, Folder 14
Correspondence file: Dec.
1929-1980
Box 2, Folder 15
Postcards and emptied envelopes
Box 2, Folder 16
Photographs and negatives
Box 2, Folder 17
Newspaper clippings and church program
Box 2, Folder 18
Dispatches and articles written by and about OSEX members
Box 2, Folder 19
Photocopies of the Cosmopolitan Club's page in the 1928, 1930, and 1931
Metate (Pomona College yearbook)
1928-1931
Box 3, Folder 1
"National Geographics" Sept. 1919 and June 1945
1919-1945
Box 3, Folder 2
Photographs: of OSEX members in 1988, and of China in 1936
1936-1988
Box 3, Folder 3
OSEX Reunion
1976-1988
Note
15 items. OSEX Reunions, 1976 and 1988.
Box 3, Folder 4
"Ten Yung Men in the Middle Kingdom," Avery's address to the Sunset
Club
1987
February 25
Box 3, Folder 5
Test of information attitudes (Japan) (blank)
Box 3, Folder 6
Miscellaneous. 1 book in Chinese
Box 3, Folder 7
Typescript: Beginning Cantonese
Box 3, Folder 8
Photo Albums, I, II, and III
Box 3, Folder 9
Photo Albums, IV, V, and VI
Box 6, Folder 1
The American/Chinese Adventure Capital Program; Reports and
Mementos
1985-1987
Series 3:
Warren Scott
1929-1930 and undated
Box 4, Folder 1
Letter File: list of key contacts
Box 4, Folder 6
Letter File: E and F
1930
Box 4, Folder 8
Letter File: H, I, and J
1929-1930
Box 4, Folder 9
Letter File: K and L
1929-1930
Box 4, Folder 11
Letter File: N, O and P
1929-1930
Box 4, Folder 14
Letter File: T, U and V
1929-1930
Box 4, Folder 16
Letter File: Miscellaneous and newspapers clippings
Box 5, Folder 3
Papers (includes dispatches)
