Access
Use
Acquisition Information
Preferred Citation
Biographical/Historical Note
Scope and Content of Collection
Arrangement
Related Materials
Title: Price family papers
Date (inclusive): 1793-2004 (bulk 1856-2004)
Collection Number: 82061
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material: In English, German and Malagasy
Physical Description:
17 manuscript boxes, 1 oversize box
(8.0 Linear Feet)
Abstract: The Price family papers are comprised of correspondence, writings, diaries, orders, memoranda, genealogical material, printed
matter, notes, photographs, and memorabilia, documenting several generations of the Price family. Due to the diverse careers
of the family and their residence in different countries, the collection provides an international account of events spanning
from Victorian England to the late 20th century United States. Material relates to missionary work in Madagascar, 1875-1882;
German prisoners of war in Siberia during World War I; the Russian Revolution; social conditions in China; Allied secret service
and radio propaganda activities in World War II; and London during the Blitz.
Creator:
Price family
Creator:
Price, Charles T. (Charles Thomas)
Creator:
Price, Hereward Thimbleby, 1880-1964
Creator:
Price, Arnold Hereward, 1912-
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 1982.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Price family papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Biographical/Historical Note
Charles Thomas Price (1847-1933) was educated at Cheshunt College, Cambridge. He was ordained as a Congregational minister
on January 25, 1875, and married Mary Anne (Polly) Thimbleby on February 28. The couple sailed for Madagascar on March 25,
1875, where Charles Price served as a missionary for six years, and where his sons Egbert and Hereward were born. He was widowed
and remarried in 1901 to Annie Beatrice Hill. After returning to England in 1882, he ministered to several congregations including:
Lenham in Kent (1883-1890), Buckingham (1890-1901), Ross-on-Wye (1901-1910), and East Grinstead (1910-1914). His last congregation
was at Reigate in Surrey (1916-1925), where he died in 1933.
Hereward Thimbleby Price was born in Madagascar in 1880. He studied at Oxford, where he received his B.A. and M.A. and worked
on the Oxford English Dictionary. He moved to Germany in 1904, where he taught English at the Universities of Kiel and Bonn,
and studied under Bülbring for his Ph.D. While in Bonn he met Elisabeth (Liese) Prym (1884-1971), who became his wife in 1911.
Their son Arnold was born in 1912. Drafted into the German army in 1915, Hereward Price was captured on the eastern front
by Russia and sent to a prisoner of war camp in Siberia. After his escape, he traveled across Russia to China, where he worked
briefly at the Anglo-Chinese College of Tientsin before returning to his family in England via Japan and Canada. Hereward
moved to the United States and became a professor of English at the University of Michigan in 1929. He became a distinguished
scholar of Shakespeare, and died in 1964.
Egbert Thimbleby Price (Bret) was the son of Charles, brother of Hereward. He was born in June of 1876. He was educated at
the Eltham School and Silcontes School in Wakefield. He began working at the Hearts of Oak Benefit Society in 1892, transferred
to Barclay's Bank in 1895, and worked for a succession of banks and businesses until 1923. During this period he traveled
widely, spending time in Berlin and South America. From 1923-1925 he lived in London, then returned to the business world
until 1936 by buying a partnership in Sedgwick and Co. of Colombo. After his return to England, he worked in publications
for the Institute of Sociology (1936-1938), as Editor of the Digest of Charities (1938-1940), at the Censor in the Foreign
Office (1940-1946), and at the Post Office Savings Department (1946-1949). He died July 5, 1949.
Arnold Hereward Price was born in Bonn, Germany, on July 1, 1912. He came to the United States after finishing high school
in Germany in 1933. Joining his parents in Ann Arbor, he became a specialist in Modern European History at the University
of Michigan, receiving his A.B. in 1935, his M.A. in 1936. He married Alice Price in 1938, and from 1939 to 1941 acted as
assistant supervisor of the University's archaeological laboratory in Detroit. After the lab shut down, he worked for the
department of English as a research assistant on the Early Modern English Proverb Dictionary (1941-1942), and received his
Ph.D. in 1942. Arnold Price then moved to Washington D.C., where he worked for the Library of Congress, specializing in Central
Europe. In 1943, he left the Library of Congress and began his service with the Army, in the Office of Strategic Services,
which lasted until 1946. At the conclusion of World War II, Arnold Price transferred to the Department of State until 1960.
He returned to the Library of Congress from 1960 to 1979 as an area specialist for Central Europe, then performed bibliographic
work for the American Historical Association until 1991. In addition to his professional duties, Arnold Price also lectured
at the University of New Mexico (1947-1948) and American University (1948, 1959), and was section editor of the American Historical
Review from 1961 through the 1980s. He was divorced from Alice in 1970, remarried Elizabeth Beitz, was widowed in 1986, and
remarried again in 1991 to Dana Dinkins.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Price family papers are comprised of correspondence, writings, diaries, orders, memoranda, genealogical material, printed
matter, notes, photographs, and memorabilia, documenting several generations of the Price family. Due to the diverse careers
of the family and their residence in different countries, the collection provides an international account of events spanning
from Victorian England to the late 20th century United States. Material relates to missionary work in Madagascar, 1875-1882;
German prisoners of war in Siberia during World War I; the Russian Revolution; social conditions in China; Allied secret service
and radio propaganda activities in World War II; and London during the Blitz.
The collection is arranged into series by family member. The first series documents the life of Charles T. Price: his studies,
missionary work, return to England, and retirement. It also contains a small amount of correspondence dated during World War
I concerning his son Hereward. The second series depicts Hereward Price's service in the German army during World War I, his
sojourn in a Russian POW camp, and his subsequent travels through Siberia and China on his way home. The Egbert Price series
contains correspondence with his brother Hereward and his sister Dorothea (children of Charles T. Price), describing conditions
in London during World War II. The fourth series encompasses Arnold Price's work during World War II with the Office of Strategic
Services, the State Department, his research interests, and his efforts to compile genealogical information about the Price
and Prym families. The photographs series contains material relating to all of the family members, including photographs of
the Price family, their friends, travels, and the mission in Madagascar.
Arrangement
The collection is organized into five series: Charles T. Price papers, 1856-1989; Hereward T. Price papers, 1900-1999; Egbert
T. Price papers, 1917-1950; Arnold H. Price papers, 1793-2004; and Photographs, 1860-2001.
Related Materials
Malagasy subject collection, 1902-1998. Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Carl Bartram photograph collection, 1944-1995. Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Marvin R. Edwards papers, 1942-2004. Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Imprisonment in Siberia, ca. 1920. Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Kreisverband Jena records, 1917-1976. Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Shtab photographs, 1916. Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Joyce N. Laxalt album, 1914-1917. Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Hereward Thimbleby Price papers, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Siberia (Russia) -- History -- Revolution, 1917-1921
China -- Social conditions
United States -- Foreign relations
Prisoners of war
World War, 1914-1918 -- Russia
World War, 1939-1945 -- Propaganda
Propaganda, American
Secret service -- United States
World War, 1914-1918 -- Prisoners and prisons
Missionaries
World War, 1939-1945 -- Secret service
Missions -- Madagascar
United States. Department of State
Germany. Heer
United States. Office of Strategic Services