Henry Hersch Hart papers
1886-1974
Title: Henry Hersch Hart papers
Dates: 1886-1974
Collection Number: Col-26
Creator/Collector:
Hart, Henry Hersch, 1886-
Extent: 17.1 cubic feet
Repository:
California State University, East Bay University Archives
Abstract: The collection consists of 3 Series: Photographic Materials, which contains prints and negatives, postcards, stereographs,
and colored glass slides, arranged by subject and alphabetically; Papers, which contains lectures, publications, publicity,
and personal papers, arranged by subject and chronologically; Objects, which are arranged by subject and chronologically where
applicable.
Language of Material: English
Collection open for research.
Copyright restrictions may apply.
Henry Hersch Hart papers. California State University, East Bay University Archives
Initially purchased from Barnet “Barney” Ruder in 1970.
Biography/Administrative History
Henry Hart was born September 27, 1886 in San Francisco. He graduated from the University of California in 1907 and received
his Juris Doctor in 1909. Hart practiced law in San Francisco from 1909-1919. He married first wife, Alice Stern, in 1912
(died in 1936 due to cancer). His interest in East Asia began in 1919, and he made several visits to East Asia between 1921
and 1965. He married Helen Arch in 1941. He published various books between 1931 and 1968. Hart died in 1968.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection includes drafts of Hart's books, lecture notes, newspaper clippings, personal and legal documents, photographs,
postcards, stereographs, colored glass slides, Chinese artifacts, and various ephemera from Hart's life. Major periods covered
by the papers include 1886-1918, 1920-1931, and 1932-1949. As Hart was a major collector of art, many of the photographs in
the collection provide insight into life of various world locations between 1920 and 1960. Hart's lecture notes, drafts of
published books, and letters show the state of cultural anthropology between 1930 and 1968.
China