Guide to the Colonel George W. Carrington Collection
Special Collections & Archives
University Library
California State University, Northridge
18111 Nordhoff Street
Northridge, CA 91330-8326
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives
Title: Colonel George W. Carrington Collection
Creator:
Carrington, George Williams, 1921-
Identifier/Call Number: OCH.CGC
Extent:
0.06 linear feet
Date (inclusive): 1945-1985
Abstract: Colonel George Williams Carrington was
a United States Marine who served in China following World War II in 1946, and became the
aide to Oscar Badger, the Commander of Naval Forces in the Far East. With a military career
spanning from 1942 to 1968, he saw active duty during World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. He
also spent time in Taiwan as an assistant naval attaché, and was the aide to General Maxwell
Taylor, who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Kennedy and Johnson
administrations. In addition to his military career, Carrington also attended Yale, American
University, and Oxford University, and has written multiple books on his life and on the
history of foreigners in Taiwan (Formosa). The collection contains items mostly related to
Carrington's military career, including photographs, correspondence, newspaper and magazine
clippings, and a NATO organizational chart. Also included is a program for the Chinese
language course Carrington took at UC Berkeley and publicity materials for two books
Carrington authored or edited.
Language of Material: English,
Chinese
Biographical Information:
George Carrington was born in New York in 1921. He attended Yale and received his Bachelors
degree in 1942, whereupon he joined the United States Marine Corps and was sent to the
Pacific campaigns. While in the Pacific, he learned from a friend about the Chinese language
program offered by U.C. Berkeley. He asked his superiors if he could enroll, and once given
permission he began taking courses in Chinese in the summer of 1945. He was then sent to
China, where he was stationed in Tientsin, Peking, Tsingtao, and Shanghai. While in China,
he served as the aide to Oscar Badger, the Commander of Naval Forces in the Far East, and
negotiated the release of a downed American pilot captured by communist forces.
After the U.S. forces left China in 1949, Carrington went back to the United States, where
he served in the Marine Corps headquarters and took more courses in Chinese before being
sent to Korea. Before and after the Korean War, he was also involved in developing and
training the Chinese Marine Corps on Taiwan. He was eventually appointed the Assistant Naval
Attaché in Taiwan, and stayed there from 1956 to 1959.
Carrington again returned to the United States after his tour of duty in Taiwan was
complete, where he was appointed the aide to General Maxwell D. Taylor, Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff for the Kennedy administration. During this time, he also attended
American University, where he received a masters degree in 1963. When the Vietnam War
started, he was sent to serve as a base defense commander in Donong.
After returning from Vietnam, Carrington decided to retire from the military and pursue
his academic interests. He enrolled in Oxford University, where he received a Doctorate in
Philosophy in 1974, and published his dissertation,
Foreigners in
Formosa, 1841-1874
. He has also written two autobiographical works
, and currently lives in California.
Scope and Contents
The
Colonel George W. Carrington Collection primarily contains
items related to Carrington's military experiences in China and Taiwan during the 1940s and
1950s. The collection is arranged into two series:
Personal
Materials
(1945-1985), and
Newspaper
and Magazine Articles
(1948-1976).
Series I,
Personal Materials, consists of items related to
Carrington's life and career, including photographs of China and Taiwan, Chinese currency, a
letter regarding his work negotiating the release of a downed American pilot in China, a
program for the Chinese language course at UC Berkeley, a business card Carrington used in
Taiwan, and publicity materials for two books authored or edited by Carrington.
Series II,
Newspaper and Magazine Articles, consists of
clippings saved by Carrington that relate mostly to the U.S. military forces in China after
World War II. Also included is a scholarly article on the cession of Taiwan from China to
Japan in 1895.
Arrangement of Materials:
Series I: Personal Materials, 1945-1985
Series II: Newspaper and Magazine Articles, 1948-1976
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.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Colonel George W. Carrington
Preferred Citation:
For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style manual,
or see the
Citing Archival Materials guide.
Processing Information:
Jessica Geiser, 2013
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Documents
Photographs
Series I: Personal Materials, 1945-1985
Box 1, Item 1
Brochure: University Extension Chinese Language Program at University of
California, Berkeley,
1945
Box 1, Item 2
Set of Three Photographs of Carrington and Other Military Members, Including
Admiral Oscar Badger, in China,
ca. 1946-ca. 1949
Box 1, Item 3
Letter Report of Fitness for Carrington - Details Carrington's Work
Negotiating for the Release of an American Pilot from Communist Forces,
1947 September 27
Box 1, Item 4
Chinese 25000 Customs Gold Unit Note,
1948
Box 1, Item 5
Business Card for Major George Williams Carrington, Jr. - Assistant Naval
Attaché in Taipei, Taiwan,
ca. 1956-ca. 1959
Box 1, Item 6
Brochure:
Foreigners in Formosa, 1841-1874, by
George Williams Carrington,
1978
Box 1, Item 7
Brochure:
Through Peking's Sewer Gate: Relief of the
Boxer Siege, 1900-1901,
by Richard A. Steel, Edited and with and Introduction
by George W. Carrington,
1985
Folder 1, Item 1
Scrapbook Pages of Photographs Taken by Carrington in Taiwan and Peking,
China,
1947-1954
Folder 1, Item 2
Organizational Chart of NATO Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers
Europe,
1960 May 1
Series II: Newspaper and Magazine Articles, 1948-1976
Box 1, Item 8
"The Cession of Taiwan - A Second Look" by Leonard H.D. Gordon,
November 1976
Folder 1, Item 3
"Is Our Navy Trapped in China?"
The Saturday Evening
Post,
25 September 1948
Folder 1, Item 4
"Ship-based Marines Will Stand By For Emergency Here - Badger,"
North-China Daily News,
1948 December 11
Folder 1, Item 5
"MacArthur Says Fall of China Imperils U.S."
Life
Magazine,
1948 December 20
Folder 1, Item 6
Three articles: "U.S. Vessels Move Away From Shanghai as Residents Prepared
to Defend City,"
The New York Times; "50 Years' Peiping
Duty Ended by U.S. Marines"; and an untitled article about Carrington in
Korea,
ca. 1949-ca. 1953
