Collection Guide
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Stafford (Francis E.) photographs
2012C34
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Table of contents
Title: Francis E. Stafford photographs
Date (inclusive): 1909-2012
Collection Number: 2012C34
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1 manuscript box, 5 oversize boxes, digital media
(4 Linear Feet)
Creator:
Stafford, Francis E., 1884-1938
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Boxes 1-4 may not be used without permission of the Archivist; there is digitized content from this collection available.
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.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives from Ronald E. Anderson (PhD, Stanford University, 1970) and family
in 2012. Additional material was acquired in 2020.
[Identification of item], Francis E. Stafford photographs, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Stafford was an American missionary in China from 1909 to 1915 and 1932 to 1933. A lithographer and photographer, he arrived
in Shanghai in 1909 and was hired by the Commercial Press�-then Asia's largest publishing company--to manage its printing
division from 1909 to 1915. During the onset of the Wuchang Uprising in October 1911, Stafford was on hand to capture remarkable
photos of the Qing Dynasty's collapse.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection, which consists of nearly 1,100 images, includes the largest number of surviving original photographic prints
of the Chinese Revolution of 1911. Stafford's historic photographs record the turbulent period between 1910 and 1933, as China
transitioned from feudal monarchy to republic. Depicted are battle scenes, military and political figures, as well as everyday
people, life, and culture in China. Also included are rare glimpses of printing operations and employees of the Commercial
Press.
Stafford's photos first appeared in such publications as the
Da Ge Ming Xie Zhen Hua (War Scenes of the Chinese Revolution) and were reproduced as illustrated posters. His work has also been highlighted in several major museum exhibitions in Hong
Kong and Shanghai. In 2010 the University of Washington Press republished 162 of the photographs in
The Birth of a Republic: Francis Stafford's Photographs of China's 1911 Revolution and Beyond. As noted by the book's editor, Hanchao Lu, Stafford's unique photographs "reveal sweeping social and political change, as
well as the tenacity of tradition" and "appeal to historians interested in modern China, revolution, and war."
Subjects and Indexing Terms
China -- Pictorial works