Inventory of the Harriet Mills McKay papers
Finding aid prepared by Rita Morin
Hoover Institution Library and Archives
© 2011
434 Galvez Mall
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003
hoover-library-archives@stanford.edu
Title: Harriet Mills McKay papers
Date (inclusive): 1937-1994 (bulk 1937-1949)
Collection Number: 94007
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
4 manuscript boxes
(1.6 Linear Feet)
Abstract: The collection is comprised of Harriet Mills McKay's diaries, manuscripts, correspondence, and photographs, relating primarily
to conditions in the Philippines under Japanese occupation in World War II. It also includes manuscripts written by her daughter,
Mary Maynard and another American, Evelyn Burchfield, relating to the same subject.
Creator:
McKay, Harriet Mills, 1896-1949
Creator:
McKay, Bob
Creator:
Maynard, Mary, 1934-
Creator:
Burchfield, Evelyn
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Access
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
Use
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquisition Information
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1994.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Harriet Mills McKay papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Biographical Note
Harriet Mills McKay was born on November 6, 1896. She was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert C. Mills. She graduated from
Park River High School, North Dakota, and later from the University of North Dakota in 1920 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree.
Harriet married Douglas McKay soon after her graduation and had two children, Robert and Mary.
In 1937 Harriet moved with her husband and children to the Philippines when Douglas became the manager-director of the Mindanao
Mother Lode mines. During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, Harriet, Douglas, Mary, and other civilians fled their
homes and went into hiding with guerrillas in the jungle for nearly two years. At this time her son Robert was a boarding
student at Brent International School in Baguio, and was subsequently interned at the Bilibid internment camp.
In November of 1943 Harriet, Douglas, and Mary were part of a group evacuated from the Philippines to Darwin, Australia, aboard
the submarine
USS Narwhal. In 1944 they returned to the United States, where Robert joined them after his liberation from Bilibid internment camp in
1945. In 1947, Harriet, Douglas and Mary returned to the Philippines, but due to the poor health of Douglas and Harriet the
family returned to the United States. Harriet died on August 13, 1949, and is buried in San Francisco.
Harriet attempted unsuccessfully to publish her memoirs "Black Island" and "No Conqueror Comes." In 2002 her daughter, Mary
McKay Maynard, published her own memoir,
My Faraway Home: An American Family's WWII Tale of Adventure and Survival in the Jungles of the Philippines.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Harriet Mills McKay papers relate to life in the Philippines under the Japanese occupation during World War II. They are
comprised of diaries, letters, poetry fragments, government documents, photographs, notes and drafts of manuscripts written
by Harriet McKay. The bulk of the material consists of drafts and notes for the manuscripts written by Harriet depicting life
in the Philippines before and during the Japanese occupation. The collection also includes correspondence and materials related
to the time spent in the jungle and mountains during the Japanese occupation. The collection is arranged into series.
The
Manuscripts series contains drafts of McKay's memoirs, which document her family's life preceding World War II and during the Japanese
occupation of the Philippines. Also, included are manuscript drafts written by Evelyn Burchfield and Mary McKay Maynard.
The
Diaries and Correspondence series illustrates life during the occupation through letters and diaries that document the daily life of the McKay family
in the jungle, Harriet's poetry, communication with other civilian refugees, and subsequent evacuation by the United States
Navy.
The Incremental Materials contains one DVD of a video recording documenting McKay's son Robert's experience, titled "The Bob
McKay Story: An American Experience in a Japanese Internment Camp, World War II Philippines."
Arrangement
The collection is organized into 3 series: Manuscripts, Diaries and Correspondence, and Incremental Materials.
Related Materials
Francis Willard Brush papers, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Ann Miller Depew papers, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
James J. Halsema papers, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Harriet Mills McKay and Douglas McKay papers, Orin G. Libby Manuscript Collection, Repository
George C. Mora papers, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Katherine Ream Sobeck papers, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Subjects and Indexing Terms
World War, 1939-1945 -- Philippines
Philippines -- History -- Japanese occupation, 1942-1945
Manuscripts, circa
1942-1944, 1994, undated.
Scope and Contents note
Contains notes and drafts of McKay's memoirs "Black Island" and "No Conqueror Comes." Her notes and fragments of the drafts
are handwritten, while the majority of manuscript drafts are typewritten or copies. Included are copies of the manuscript
drafts written by Evelyn Burchfield, "Twenty-Five Years with the Filipinos," and Mary McKay Maynard, "War Story."
Arrangement note
Arranged in four groups: Black Island Materials, No Conqueror Comes Materials, Additional Manuscripts, and Fragments.
"Black Island" Materials, circa
1944 undated
box 1, folder 1-2
Draft of "Black Island," circa
1944
box 1, folder 3-4
Draft of Black Island (photocopy), undated
box 1, folder 5-6
Draft and notes of "Black Island," circa
1944
"No Conqueror Comes" materials, circa
1944
box 1, folder 7-9
Draft of "No Conqueror Comes," circa
1944
box 1, folder 10
Draft of "No Conqueror Comes," circa
1944
box 2, folder 1-2
Third Draft of "No Conqueror Comes," circa
1944
box 2, folder 3-5
Draft of "No Conqueror Comes," circa
1944
box 2, folder 6-8
Final Draft of "No Conqueror Comes," circa
1944
box 3, folder 1-3
Final Draft (carbon copy) of "No Conqueror Comes," circa
1944
Additional Manuscripts
1994 undated
box 3, folder 4-5
Evelyn Burchfield Manuscript (photocopy), undated
box 3, folder 6-8
"War Story" by Mary Maynard
1994
Scope and Contents note
Includes handwritten account by her brother, Robert McKay, on his liberation from Bilibid internment camp.
Fragment Materials, circa
1942
undated
box 3, folder 9
Draft and poetry, undated
box 4, folder 2
Background documents, circa
1942
Scope and Contents note
Includes photographs and newspaper clippings.
Diaries and Correspondence
1937-1949
Scope and Contents note
Contains Harriet Mills McKay's diaries kept during the Japanese occupation from March 1942 through April 1943. The diaries
illustrate the daily life of the McKay family in the jungle and Harriet's poetry. The correspondence is comprised of personal
letters between Harriet and family in the United States, letters to publishing houses, communications between Douglas and
Fred Fiegel, government letters and forms regarding the McKay family.
Arrangement note
Arranged by individual or organization.
box 4, folder 3
Harriet Mills McKay diaries, Mar. - Dec.
1942
box 4, folder 4
Harriet Mills McKay diaries, Jan. - Apr.
1943
box 4, folder 5
Harriet Mills McKay correspondence with publishers
1946-1949
box 4, folder 6
Harriet Mills McKay correspondence
1937-1945
box 4, folder 7-8
Douglas McKay correspondence
1942-1944
box 4, folder 9
U.S. and Philippine government correspondence and forms
1942-1947
box 4, folder 10
Incremental Material
2009
Scope and Contents note
Contains one video recording on DVD titled "The Bob McKay Story: An American Experience in a Japanese Internment Camp, World
War II Philippines." The recording of 50 minutes contains an interview interspersed with photographs, maps, and other materials.
The electronic files are dated 25 February 2009. Use copy availalbe in reading room
