Preliminary Guide to the Far East Photograph Albums

Processed by Special Collections staff; latest revision, D. Tambo and E. Fields
Department of Special Collections
Davidson Library
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106
Phone: (805) 893-3062
Fax: (805) 893-5749
Email: special@library.ucsb.edu
URL: http://www.library.ucsb.edu/speccoll/speccoll.html
© 2002
Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

Preliminary Guide to the Far East Photograph Albums, ca. 1900-1901

Collection number: Wyles Mss 57

Department of Special Collections, Davidson Library, University of California, Santa Barbara

Contact Information:

  • Department of Special Collections
  • Davidson Library
  • University of California, Santa Barbara
  • Santa Barbara, CA 93106
  • Phone: (805) 893-3062
  • Fax: (805) 893-5749
  • Email: special@library.ucsb.edu
  • URL: http://www.library.ucsb.edu/speccoll/speccoll.html
    Processed by:
    Special Collections staff; latest revision, D. Tambo and E. Fields
    Date Completed:
    18 November 2002
    Encoded by:
    David C. Gartrell
© 2002 Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

Descriptive Summary

Title: Far East Photograph Albums,
Date (inclusive): ca. 1900-1901
Collection Number: Wyles Mss 57
Extent: .4 linear feet (1 document box)
Repository: University of California, Santa Barbara. Library. Department of Special Collections
Santa Barbara, California 93106-9010
Physical Location: Del Sur
Language: English.

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

None.

Publication Rights

Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Department of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.

Preferred Citation

Far East Photograph Albums. Wyles Mss 57. Department of Special Collections, Davidson Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Acquisition Information

Purchase.

Biography

In Japan, the onetime fishing village of Yokohama was a traditional site of foreign settlements. By the turn of the century, Yokohama had become an important port city. It served as a center for official Japanese-foreign contacts and also handled much of Japan's export trade.
A popular movement that developed in North China, the Boxer Rebellion was directed against both Manchu and foreigners, especially missionaries. The Boxers (from the Chinese Yihequan ( I-ho-ch'üan), or "Fists of Righteous Indignation") began to organize as a secret society to oppose extortion by local officials of the Manchu dynasty. Members grew more militant and more antiforeign until, by spring 1900, Boxer groups drifted toward Beijing (Peking), attacking Chinese Christians and European citizens. The Boxers then began what was to be a fifty-five day siege of foreign legations in Peking. The end of this uprising was both swift and tragic. On August 4, 1900, a combined column of foreign expeditionary forces started to fight their way to Beijing. The foreign relief force arrived in Beijing on August 14, 1900. The forces razed the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, and the empress Cixi's (Tz'u-hsi) villas in the Fragrant Hills west of the city.
The Boxer Protocol that officially marked the end of the uprising was signed by officials of the Chinese government and the representatives of some eleven foreign powers on September 7, 1901.

Scope and Content of Collection

Two photo albums, the first mainly of handcolored scenes in Japan and the second mainly of the Peking area of China around the time of the Boxer Rebellion and the China Relief Expedition, with numerous pictures of European and American soldiers, ca. 1900-1901.

Box 1: 1

Photo Album -- handcolored black and white mounted photos, some with captions, mainly of Japan (temples and other scenes from various parts of the country such as the port area in Yokohama), ca. 1900

Box 1: 2

Photo Album -- black and white mounted photos, many with penciled captions, Peking, area, many of European and American soldiers; some of Forbidden City, Summer Palace, funerals, other scenes; a couple of scenes from Japan also included, ca. 1900 - 1901