Finding Aid for the Verne Dyson Papers LSC.0804
Finding aid prepared by Manuscripts Division staff, December 1963; machine-readable finding aid created by Alight Tsai.
UCLA Library Special Collections
Online finding aid last updated 2002.
Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
Business Number: 310-825-4988
Fax Number: 310-206-1864
spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: Verne Dyson papers
Creator:
Dyson, Verne
Identifier/Call Number: LSC.0804
Physical Description:
9.0 Linear Feet
(18 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1914-1962
Abstract: Verne Dyson (1879- ) was a feature writer for the
Kansas City Star (1907), and joined the staff of the
Los Angeles Times as manager of the Pasadena news bureau and Sunday editor. At the end of World War I, he went to Shanghai, China to become
dean of Williams College. In 1921, he became professor of English and Chinese history at the University of the Philippines
in Manila and helped to found the Philippine Academy of Social Sciences. The collection consists of correspondence, research
notes, unpublished manuscripts, books, pamphlets, clippings, maps, articles, scrapbooks, student compositions, photographs,
postcards, and original prints of Verne Dyson, American journalist, teacher and author.
Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.
Restrictions on Access
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright
and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Verne Dyson papers (Collection 804). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research
Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Processing Information
Processed by Manuscripts Division staff, December 1963.
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UCLA Catalog Record ID
Biography
Dyson was born in 1879 in Calloway County, Missouri; graduated from Central College in 1905; became the feature writer for
the
Kansas City Star in 1907; in the same year he joined the staff of the
Los Angeles Times as manager of the Pasadena news bureau and Sunday editor; wrote a history of Los Angeles; after the end of World War I, he
went to Shanghai, China to become dean of Williams College; in 1921 he became professor of English and Chinese history at
the University of the Philippines in Manila and helped to found the Philippine Academy of Social Sciences; appointed director
of the Chinese Studies Institute in 1933; from 1940-61 he served as curator of the Walt Whitman Museum at Huntington, New
York; founded the
Brentwood,
New York Bulletin, and the
Walt Whitman Quarterly; retired to Los Angeles in 1961; published works include the novel
Black Cloth (1925),
Forgotten Tales of Ancient China (1934), and
Whitmanland: West Hills Memories of the Poet and His Ancestors (1960).
Biographical Narrative
Verne Dyson was born in Calloway County, Missouri, in 1879. He spent his youth and early manhood in Missouri, Clayton, New
Mexico, and graduated from West Denver High School in 1900. He attended Central College, Missouri, and graduated from that
institution in 1905. He entered the career of journalism and in 1907 became the feature writer for the
Kansas City Star.
In 1907 Mr. Dyson joined the staff of the
Los Angeles Times as manager of the Pasadena News Bureau and Sunday Editor. At this time he became interested in California history and associated
himself with George W. Hazard in the Hazard Historical Association to produce a history of the Los Angeles region. When George
Hazard died in 1914, Dyson purchased his extensive collection of historical materials from the Hazard family and determined
to complete the history of Los Angeles. Sustained by his collecting proclivities, the Collection grew to over ten thousand
items. He continued his research for the history of Los Angeles and completed a manuscript which is part of this collection.
At the close of the first World War, Dyson went to Shanghai, China, to become Dean of Williams College. In 1921 he became
professor of English and Chinese history at the University of the Philippines in Manila and helped to found the Philippine
Academy of Social Sciences there. He received the appointment of Director of the Chinese Studies Institute in 1933, and from
1940 to 1961 he served as Curator of the Walt Whitman Museum at Huntington, Long Island, New York. While engaged in this work,
he also founded the
Brentwood,
New York Bulletin and the
Walt Whitman Quarterly. Since 1961 Mr. Dyson has been retired and living in Los Angeles.
Verne Dyson is the author of a number of books and many articles. His literary papers described in this register include his
correspondence, research notes and unpublished manuscripts as well as photographs and other related printed matter which he
collected in connection with his research interests.
Scope and Content
Collection consists of correspondence, research notes, unpublished manuscripts, books, pamphlets, clippings, maps, articles,
scrapbooks, student compositions, photographs, postcards, and original prints of Verne Dyson, American journalist, teacher
and author. Most of the papers relate to the history of China and the Philippines. Manuscripts include
Ancient China;
Festive China;
China, Russia, and Japan in Manchuria,
The Cultural Development of the Philippines,
Canton, and
The Life of Los Angeles, the City of the Century.
Organization and Arrangement
Arranged in the following series:
- Books by Dyson (Box 1).
- Manuscripts by Dyson (Boxes 1-5, 18).
- Research material on China (Boxes 6-9).
- Material concerning Chinese famine relief (Box 10).
- Compositions by Chinese students, 1922 (Box 10).
- Miscellaneous material concerning China, the Institute of Pacific Relations, and the Philippine Islands (Boxes 11-14).
- Chinese pictures collected by Dyson (Boxes 15-17).
Related Material
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Sinologists -- United States -- Archives.
Journalists -- United States -- Archives.
Dyson, Verne, 1879-1971--Archives.
Books and Manuscripts by Verne Dyson
box 1
Forgotten Tales of Ancient China. Shanghai: The Commercial Press Limited,
1934.
box 1
Foreword, Obedience, and Who's Who in the Short Story Club, in:
Short Stories Written in Shanghai By Members of the Short Story Club. Shanghai: the Oriental Press,
1924.
box 1
Secrets of the Roll, by Secretary Verne Dyson... Shanghai: the
Shanghai Times,
1927.
box 2
Land of the Yellow Spring. New York: Chinese Studies Press,
1937.
box 2
Remington Typewriter School... bulletin and announcements. Shanghai,
1925.
box 1
Ancient China; the Myths, Proto-History and History of the Chinese People to the End of the Chou Dynasty (225 B.C.).
General Physical Description note: 689 leaves. Typescript with holograph corrections. illustrated. Unpublished manuscript.
box 2
Festive China; the Celestial Book of Days.
General Physical Description note: 618 leaves. Typescript with holograph corrections [unpublished manuscript].
Manuscripts by Verne Dyson
box 3
Illustrations for
Festive China...
General Physical Description note: 187 leaves. Mounted illustrations with typescript & holograph captions.
box 3
The illustrations are cuttings from various publications
ca. and a few photographs;
China, Russia, and Japan in Manchuria.
1850-1928
General Physical Description note: 466 leaves. Bound typescript with holograph corrections. illustrated [unpublished manuscript].
box 4
Appendices to
China, Russia, and Japan in Manchuria.
General Physical Description note: 506 leaves. Typescript with holograph corrections [unpublished manuscript].
General note
(see Box 3)
box 4
The Cultural Development of the Philippines.
General Physical Description note: 231 leaves. Typescript with holograph corrections. illustrated [unpublished manuscript]. Both manuscripts are bound.
box 5
Canton; the City of Five Rams, 886 B.C. - A.D. 1930.
General Physical Description note: 184 leaves. Typescript with holograph corrections [unpublished manuscript].
box 5
History of Macao.
General Physical Description note: Variously paged. typescript, holograph, and mounted printed material. map [unpublished manuscript].
Research Material on China Compiled by Verne Dyson
box 6
Chiefly typescript copies of articles by various persons on historical, political, social, and cultural aspects of China,
but including some printed articles and clippings.
Scrapbooks
Scope and Contents note
(6 vol.) compiled from Chinese historical materials gathered in the United States, China, and the Philippines. Including clippings,
typescripts, letters to Dyson, and related printed ephemera,
ca. 1830-1946, arranged alphabetically by subject. See Verne Dyson's typescript note at beginning of vol.1.
Material Concerning Chinese Famine Relief
ca.
1928-1932
box 10
Typescript reports, maps and related printed ephemera concerning Chinese famine relief work and floods in China during the
early 1930s.
Compositions by Chinese Students,
1922
box 10
ca. 150 handwritten compositions by Chinese students in Verne Dyson's English Class at Williams College, Shanghai,
1922.
Miscellaneous Material Concerning China
box 11
Newspaper clippings and related printed material.
Scope and Contents note
re the Opium War, the Nanking Incident, Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, Shanghai, Chinese literature and social life and customs.
box 12
Chiefly offprints, pamphlets, brochures and related printed material concerning Chinese history, social life, customs, literature,
music, the British and American consular services at Shanghai and Canton, Institution for the Chinese Blind at Shanghai, and
the International Institute of the Methodist Church at Shanghai.
Scope and Contents note
Also included are a series of negative photographic views from some of which prints were made to illustrate Dyson's unpublished
manuscripts on Chinese history.
Miscellaneous Material Concerning China and the Institute of Pacific Relations
box 13
Printed and manuscript material (
ca.
1940).
General Physical Description note: (In black spring binder)
Scope and Contents note
Including a typescript and manuscript list of American Sinologists with biographical information and excerpts from their works
compiled by Dyson
box 13
Material relating to the 5th Biennial Conference of the Institute of Pacific Relations, held at Banff, Canada,
August 14-26, 1933.
Scope and Contents note
Including agendas of meetings, releases of proceedings and memorabilia of the trip to the Conference, photographs, etc.
General note
[Dyson was a member of the Philippine delegation to this conference]
Miscellaneous Material Concerning China and the Philippine Islands
box 14
Maps, manuscripts and printed material.
Scope and Contents note
Including mounted and large folded maps of China, typescript material with chronology relating to Chinese drama, two typescripts
by Dyson containing holograph corrections and in binders: Pre-Spanish Relations Between China and the Philippine Islands
box 14
Sino-Russian Relations, A.D.
1206-1930.
Chinese Pictures Collected by Verne Dyson
box 15, box 16, box 17
Ca. 1000 pictures.
General Physical Description note: [Photographs, post cards, clippings from newspapers and periodicals, and some original prints. Mounted on 8.5 × 11 paper and
in envelopes].
Scope and Contents note
The pictures cover the whole range of Chinese history from earliest times to
ca. 1940 and include views of persons, places, emperors, buildings, landscapes, temples, etc.
Manuscripts by Verne Dyson: History of Los Angeles
box 18
v.p.,
The Life of Los Angeles, the City of the Century. 1914-1962.
General Physical Description note: 527 leaves. Typescript with holograph corrections. [unpublished manuscript].
Scope and Contents note
Written between 1914 and 1962 in various parts of the world. The manuscript is based largely on the collection of early Los
Angeles resident, George W. Hazard which he had assembled for the purpose of writing a history, and which Dyson purchased
from the Hazard Family after the death of George Hazard [See rare book catalog, Special Collections: George W. Hazard.
History of Los Angeles and Vicinity... [prospectus]
