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Chang (Iris) papers
2004C22  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Access
  • Use
  • Acquisition Information
  • Preferred Citation
  • Processing Information
  • Biographical Note
  • Scope and Content of Collection

  • Title: Iris Chang papers
    Date (inclusive): 1877-2007
    Collection Number: 2004C22
    Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
    Language of Material: English
    Physical Description: 403 manuscript boxes, 2 cubic foot boxes, 5 card file boxes, 5 oversize boxes, 2 oversize folders, 10 sound cassettes, 4 videocassettes, digital media (177.7 Linear Feet)
    Abstract: Correspondence, writings, recordings and transcripts of interviews, photocopies of government records and other documents, printed matter, audiovisual material, and memorabilia relating to the history of Chinese in the United States, and to aspects of World War II. Includes research material for the books by Iris Chang, Thread of the Silkworm (New York, 1995), The Rape of Nanking (New York, 1997), and The Chinese in America (New York, 2003), and for an uncompleted work on conditions of American soldiers captured by Japanese forces and Japanese atrocities against American prisoners of war.
    Creator: Chang, Iris
    Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives

    Access

    Boxes 377-379, 382-383, 386-394, and 397-412 closed until 2072 January 1. The remainder of 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

    The material was acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 2004, with a substantial increment received in 2005. An additional increment was added in 2011.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], Iris Chang papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

    Processing Information

    Similiar series were consolidated in 2023 in order to provide easier researcher access to like materials

    Biographical Note

    1968 Born, Princeton, New Jersey
    1989 Bachelor's degree, journalism major, University of Illinois
    1991 Master's degree in writing, Johns Hopkins University
    1992 Peace and International Cooperation award, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
    1995 Author, Thread of the Silkworm
    1997 Author, The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II
    2003 Author, The Chinese in America: A Narrative History
    2004 Died, California

    Scope and Content of Collection

    The Iris Chang papers span the career of a prominent American writer whose work centered on topics of Chinese and Chinese American history. In addition to speeches and writings, including drafts of her three books, the papers contain a large amount of research materials related to Chang's work as a historian. These include notes, interview transcripts, documents, sound recordings, and videorecordings. The collection also contains articles from Chang's career as a journalist, as well as significant biographical materials. There is a considerable amount of correspondence in the papers, including many letters of appreciation from readers of her books.
    Chang's 1997 book The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II was an enormous popular success, focusing renewed attention on the actions of the Imperial Japanese army in China in the late 1930s and transforming Chang herself into a public figure who gave numerous speeches on the subject of her book. In the process, she became identified as an advocate who sought both to preserve the memory of the Nanking Massacre and to force a greater recognition on the part of Japan of its role in this tragedy.
    Chang's other books include The Thread of the Silkworm, a biography of the Chinese rocket scientist Qian Xuesen (or Tsien Hsue-Shen), and The Chinese in America: A Narrative History, a major work on the Chinese American experience based on extensive research and interviews.
    The collection contains numerous sound and video recordings of speeches made by Iris Chang, as well as of radio and television interviews conducted with her. Additionally, there are extensive materials in the papers relating to various public appearances made by Chang to promote her books. These include press releases, photographs, and correspondence.
    The papers also contain materials pertaining to Iris Chang's death in 2004, including obituaries, memorial tributes, and letters of condolence received by her family.

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    World War, 1939-1945 -- Prisoners and prisons
    World War, 1939-1945 -- Japan
    Audiotapes
    Video tapes
    Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1945
    Prisoners of war
    Chinese Americans
    World War, 1939-1945 -- Atrocities
    War crime trials -- Guam
    Nanking Massacre, Nanjing, Jiangsu Sheng, China, 1937
    United States. Army
    Qian, Xuesen, 1911-2009