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Tharp (Robert and Eva) Collection
OCH.RNT  
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Description
Robert and Eva Tharp were both born in China to missionary parents, and both took on missionary work in China individually and after they married in 1938. After the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941, Robert was imprisoned by the Japanese, and after his release 8 months later the Tharps moved to India where they worked as liaisons between Chinese and Indian citizens and for the British government. They returned to China to continue their mission work, but were forced to flee to America in the wake of the Communist takeover in 1949. In the United States, Robert worked as a Chinese instructor for the Defense Language Institute and the Yale Institute for Far Eastern Languages. The Tharps also opened Chinese restaurants in the Monterey area in the 1970s, and were active in the Chinese community in the area. In 1994, Eva published Robert's autobiographical work, They Called Us White Chinese. The collection consists of items related to both Robert and Eva's family and experiences in China, their careers in the United States, and the publication of They Called Us White Chinese .
Background
Robert Tharp was born in 1913 to British missionary parents in the Jehol Province of Manchuria. Evangeline (Eva) Kok was born in 1914 in Yunnan, China, to Dutch missionary parents. In 1918, the family moved to Peking (Beijing), where her father served as the First Chancellor of the Netherlands Legation in China. Eva attended the Peking American School, graduating in 1931. She then attended the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, and returned to China to perform mission work after graduating in 1936.
Extent
1.79 linear feet
Restrictions
Copyright for unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of this collection has not been transferred to California State University, Northridge.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.
Availability
This collection is open for research use.