Collins Family Collection, 1916-1987

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Summary

Creators:
Collins, James Alexander
Abstract:
The Collins Family Collection documents the lives of James Arthur William and Katherine Collins, along with their children Katherine (Kat) Collins, James Alexander Collins, Jr., and Helen Collins Haynes Ross while they lived in China from 1917 to 1940. James went to China to work as a railroad civil engineer in 1915 for the Sims-Cary Engineering Company, based out of Peking. The family later lived in Tsingtao, and the children attended schools in Shanghai. The Collins Family Collection includes photographs, correspondence, newspaper clippings, documents, and ephemera.
Extent:
3.1 linear feet
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style manual, or see the Citing Archival Materials guide.

Background

Scope and content:

The Collins Family Collection includes photographs, correpondence, newspaper clippings, documents, and ephemera related to the family's lives in China from 1917 to 1940. Newspaper clippings and ephemera document the children's athletic events and Katherine's service in the American Women's Club. Photograph albums and loose photographs include images of daily life, as well as horses and horse racing at the Shanghai and Tsingtao Race Clubs, costume parties, Kai Tak Aerodrome, and the Tsingtao Volunteers. There are also photographs of vacation trips to sites across Asia, including Angkor Wat, Yangtsze Gorges, and the Summer Palace. Correspondence primarily relates to James Senior's work, and makes reference to political instability and conflicts in the interwar period leading up to World War II. The collection also includes the family's Chinese passports and visa paperwork. The collection is arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Biographical / historical:

James Arthur William Collins was born November 21, 1875 in Hornellsville, New York. James and Katherine had three children: Katherine (Kat) Collins born in Lake City, Minnesota on August 31, 1904, James Alexander Collins, Jr. born in Yakima, Washington on March 9, 1907, and Helen Collins Haynes Ross born in Tacoma, Washington in 1910. James Senior answered an advertisement looking for civil engineers in China, and went out in 1915 to work for the Sims-Cary Engineering Company, surveying for railroad construction. He later worked for the British China Import-Export Lumber Company.

James Senior initially went to China on his own, with mother Katherine and their children joining two years later. Katherine and James initially lived in Peking, while the children went to boarding schools in Shanghai. Later the family moved to Tsingtao. They had horses which they raced at the Shanghai and Tsingtao Race Clubs. Mother Katherine was a member of the American Women's Club. During their time in China, the family had residences in Shanghai, Peking, Kuling, Tsingtao, Tientsin, and Mukden.

Helen attended six different schools in China, including missionary schools and convents. Helen attended college in the United States but returned to Shanghai in 1931 and worked as a Confidential Cable Clerk with the American Consulate. While on leave from the Consulate in 1934 she married John Douglas Haynes, and then the two moved to Tientsin, where their son Michael was born in 1938. Daugther Katherine attended the Shanghai American School.

The family left China and returned to Tacoma in 1940 due to the Japanese invasion of China. James Alexander Senior died November 9, 1947 in Tacoma, Washington. Katherine Alexander died July 11, 1958 in Berkeley, California. Helen later moved to Northern California for work and married Dudley Tyng Ross in 1959. James Alexander Collins, Jr. passed away on April 5, 1964.

Acquisition information:
Kathi Collins Montgomery, 2023
Processing information:

Mallory Furnier, 2024

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Indexed terms

Subjects:
Photographs
Documents

Access and use

Restrictions:

This collection is open for research use.

Terms of access:

Copyright for unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of this collection has not been transferred to California State University, Northridge. Copyright status for other materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Preferred citation:

For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style manual, or see the Citing Archival Materials guide.

Location of this collection:
18111 Nordhoff Street
Northridge, CA 91330, US
Contact:
(818) 677-4594
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