Guide to the China Mission of the California Province of the Society of Jesus Records 1305 ChiM
Finding aid prepared by Mary Kenney
Santa Clara University
500 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA, 95053
(408) 554-5432
dpeterson@calprov.org
Title: China Mission of the California Province of the Society of Jesus Records
Identifier/Call Number: 1305 ChiM
Contributing Institution:
California Jesuit Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
30.0 Linear feet
Date (inclusive): 1928-1958
The bulk of the collection contains the Provincial files and personal papers of the Jesuits from the California Province who
labored in the China Mission from 1928 through 1957 when the last of the men, imprisoned by the Communists, were allowed to
leave. Also included are records of later Jesuit personnel who worked in the Far East Mission in the Philippines and in Taiwan,
1958-2009. Materials include correspondence, legal documents, reports, photographs, audiotapes and audiocassettes, motion
pictures, devotional writings, educational materials in English and Chinese, publications, newsletters, and memorabilia. Pre-1957
materials are contained in Boxes 1-65; materials after 1957 in Boxes 66 and 67.
In September 1928 five Jesuits of the California Province set sail from San Francisco to initiate a new mission in mainland
China. Arriving at St. Ignatius College in Zikawei near Shanghai, they began the study of Chinese and evangelical work with
the community of Chinese Catholics. They were commissioned to serve the China Mission by Father General Wlodmir Ledóchowski,
S.J. at the request of Pius XI and a Chinese layman, Joseph Lo Pahong. Their activities were centered in Nanjing, Haizhou,
and Shanghai. From 1928 to 1957 fifty-five California Jesuits labored to serve an expanding community of the faithful and
to assist in the formation of a native clergy.
Achievements include: the founding of Gonzaga High School and St. Aloysius Church and Primary School, and the administration
of Sacred Heart Church, 1934-1938, and later Christ the King Church, all in Shanghai. Prior to and after World War II the
California Jesuits administered Ricci High School in Nanjing, a part of the Yangzhou Mission District.
In 1957 the Jesuit Far East Province was established and California Jesuit personnel were assigned to work in the Philippines,
Formosa/Taiwan, Vietnam, and Thailand. Several California Jesuits spent their entire careers in service in the Far East particularly
Taiwan. Additional materials can be found in 1700 China Province (formerly Far East Province, 1957-1991.)
Other Guides related to China Mission
The California Province Archives holds several other collections directly connected to the China Mission.
1310 China Mission Vertical Files This collection contains materials acquired by the California Province through missionary activities in China Mission, Far
East Province, and finally the China Province. These materials were collected and stored in the offices of the American Jesuits
in China (AJC) and its successor, California Jesuit Missionaries (CJM) in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Topical files are
arranged alphabetically by geographic name, person, institution, or general topic such as, Buddhism, Marian devotions in China,
and Mission news bulletins, 1929-1948. Contents include: printed materials, published articles and books, Chinese educational
material, correspondence, photographs, audiotapes and audiocassettes. Files of particular interest include: Jesuit Missions
in Nanjing, Shanghai, Pengu, and Yangzhou; the Taichung Jesuit Chinese Dictionary series, 1954-1960; newsletters
California Review, Shanghai, 1941-1949, and
China News Analysis, 1968-1998 (scattered); Kuangchi Broadcast Service; Taiwan; and Zikawei. There are oral histories covering Mission history,
1926-1935, the Nanjing Institute, as well as individual missionary's accounts. This is a varied resource with over 120 topics.
The topical files reflect many aspects of missionary activity of Jesuits and other religious orders with whom the Jesuits
were associated. When the CJM offices closed in 2003, the files were transferred to the California Province Archives.
1320 China Mission Photograph Archives Throughout the decades of Jesuit apostolic activity in the Far East, photographs were taken to contextualize the records.
From the first "departure ceremony" from San Francisco in the 1920s to activities in Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, and
Thailand in the 1990s, this collection documents the California Jesuit missionaries' lives, study, and work with the Catholic
community. The first series contains a small set of group photographs, 1927-1994. The next series is arranged by individual
in alphabetical order, extending through Box 25. The bulk of the collection consists of topical files in alphabetical order.
This series begins with the photographic tour of Jesuit Missions taken by Bernard Hubbard, S.J. and Calvert Alexander, S.J.
in 1947. Alden Stevenson, S.J., John Dahlheimer, S.J., and Frederic Foley were photographers who took a large number of photographs
which were used in Jesuit missionary publications. The photographs taken on mainland China reflect places and ways of life
which have long since disappeared. Jesuit and other clergy are identified by name in most cases.
1350 Mission Procurator / American Jesuits in China / California Jesuit Missionaries The finances of the China Mission of the California Province of the Society of Jesus were managed through the Provincial
Office until 1937 when Pius Moore, S.J. was appointed as the first Mission Procurator and the China Mission received tax-exempt
status. Each Jesuit Province was assigned a mission somewhere in the developing world and the Mission Procurators met nationally
from time to time. Father Moore served in an office in San Jose, 1938-1950, succeeded by John Lipman, S.J., 1950-1955, and
William Klement, S.J., 1955-1964. John Houle, S.J. opened an office in Los Angeles which ran from 1957-1992, and the San Francisco
office was managed by Edward J. Murphy, S.J., from 1964 to 1981. Theodore Taheny, S.J. was the last Mission Procurator, 1981-2003,
and closed the San Francisco office, whose function was blended into the Province Advancement Office. In 1953 the mission
office adopted the name, American Jesuits in China (AJC), and in 1971 the mission scope was enlarged and the name changed
to California Jesuit Missionaries (CJM).
This collection contains correspondence (individual, diplomatic, and commercial), reports, financial records, mission appeals,
and fundraising materials with donor and benefactor lists. Publications include the
China Letter, 1929-1968, which contains specific accounts of work in the field and well-captioned photographs. The
Bamboo Wireless was published from 1952-1959 during the expansion of Communist rule on Mainland China. Other materials include: immigration
information and several Procurator scrapbooks. Of particular interest may be correspondence from individual Jesuit missionaries
from which newsletters to their donors were composed and mailed stateside. Also José A. Peña, S.J. served at Xavier House,
Hong Kong as financial manager for Jesuits expelled from China between 1952 and 1953 and his records contain information about
the difficulties on the mainland at that time. The collection is comprised of 37 document boxes and some oversize materials.
Box 1-4
Correspondence and Documents from Provincial Files
Correspondence and documents relating to the establishment and administration of the China Mission from the California Province
office, 1925-1957, are contained in this series. Included are Apostolic letters which establish the Vicariates of Yangzhou
for the California Province and Haizhou for the French Province in 1949. Letters and reports to Father Provincial from individual
missionaries are foldered and filed by year.
Names of individuals related to the activity of the China Mission not included in Series II. Personnel, pre-1957:
Berdach, Dr. Otto
Brellinger, Leopold, S.J., 1893-1967
Charvet, Henry P., S.J., 1907-1982
Corcoran, Albert C., S.J., 1909-2000
Fernandez Crespo, Ioseph (Yeronides F.), S.J.,
Curran, Francis J., S. J., b.1916
Curran, Morgan J., S.J., 1914-1994
Dailey, Robert H., S. J., 1913-1995
Desautels, Jean, S. J.
Dunne, George H. (George Harold), 1905-1998
Fox, Francis J., S.J., 1921-1989
Haouisée, Auguste, S.J., 1877-1948
Henry, Yves, S.J.
Lacretelle, Fernand, S.J., 1902-1989
Ledochowski, Wlodmir, 1866-1942
Lefebvre, Pierre, S.J., 1885-1955
Lynch, Cornelius, S.J., 1904-1990 Maher, Zacheus, S.J., 1882-1963 Marin, George, S.J., 1895-1956
Meagher, Richard B., S.J., 1909-1989
Menager, Gabriel M., S.J., 1887-1966
Moholy, John Ralph, S.J., 1913-1997
Murphy, Edward J., S.J.,1912-2005
Oliger, Philip J., S.J., 1904-1986
Ricard, Albert J., S.J., 1883-1944
Seeliger, Francis J., S.J., 1893-1962
Yu, Pin, 1901-1978
Box 4-65
Personnel, pre-1957
The lives of the fifty-five Jesuits who served in the California Mission are reflected in the personal papers, records, publications,
and some realia held by the California Province Archives.
Brennan, John J., S.J., 1914-2008
Brown, Ralph H., S.J., 1914-1969
Carroll, Thomas D., S.J., 1909-1964
Clifford, Daniel P., S.J., 1911-1986
Clifford, John W., S.J., 1917-1984
Dahlheimer, John J., S.J.,1924-1992
Deward, Ralph J., S.J., 1908-1993
Donohoe, George V., S.J., 1921-1971
Donohoe, Joseph B., S.J., 1915-1991
Dowd, Louis J., S.J., 1911-1990
Fahy, Eugene E., S.J., 1911-1996
Falvey, Mark A., S.J., 1897-1975
Farmer, Francis X., S.J., 1877-1970
Finnegan, James E., S.J., 1902-1992
Fitzgerald, Edmund L., S.J., 1908-1970
Fitzgerald, Stanislaus, S.J., 1898-1985
Foley, Frederick J., b.1917
Gatz, Joseph I., S.J., 1896-1967
Gordon, John J., S.J., 1912-1995
Houle, John A., S.J., 1914-1997
Kearney, James F., S.J., 1896-1967
King, Joseph F., S.J., 1900-1986
Klaeser, Albert V., S.J., 1918-1990
Klement, William, S.J., 1906-1994
Korn, Thomas H., S.J., 1914-1953
Le Sage, Wilfred J., S.J., 1907-1980
Lennon, John A., S.J., 1887-1948
Lipman, John K., S.J., 1904-1978
Magner, John F., S.J., 1902-1975
McCarthy, Charles J., S.J., 1911-1991
McGreal, Leo P., S.J., 1890-1957
Meagher, Richard B., S.J., 1909-1989
Moore, Pius L., S.J., 1881-1950
Murphy, Edward J., S.J., 1912-2005
O'Brien, Paul W., S.J., 1908-2001
O'Farrell, John J., S.J., 1905-1983
O'Hara, Albert R., S.J., 1907-1983
O'Leary, William S., S.J., 1914-1948
Palm, John Baptist, S.J., 1914-2009
P'an, Jerome, S.J., b. 1925
Phillips, Thomas S., S.J., 1904-1968
Pope, Gerald J., S.J., 1908-1980
Rouleau, Francis A., S.J., 1900-1984
Ryan, William D., S.J., 1913-1994
Shaules, Patrick R., S.J., 1914-2003
Simons, Charles D., S.J., 1901-1940
Thornton, James E., S.J., 1910-1993
Wong, George B. (Huang Hua Quan), S.J., 1918-2001
This series contains the personal papers and Provincial files of many California Jesuits who served in the China Mission,
1928-1957, and form the bulk of the collection. Several others have stand alone collections of their personal papers, including:
George Dunne, S.J. and Edward Malatesta, S.J. Materials include correspondence, newsletters written for supporters of the
China Mission, published and unpublished manuscripts, photographs, transcripts of audiotapes, educational and devotional writings,
among others. The materials reflect details of the historical and religious context in China where the Jesuits studied and
toiled for the Catholic community in Shanghai, Beijing, Nanjing, and other cities.
Box 66
Later Personnel 1958-2009
This series contains information on California Jesuits who served as missionaries in the Far East Province which later became
the China Province. Materials include individual newsletters that each Jesuit sent home to his supporters, as well as correspondence,
articles and clippings, and some personnel documents.
In 1957 the last two California Jesuit missionaries, Charles McCarthy and John Houle, were released from prison and expelled
from mainland China. Mission personnel and activities were moved elsewhere in the Far East. The Far East Province of the Society
of Jesus was formed in 1958 under Father Provincial Joseph Oñate. Many California Jesuits remained in the missions and were
joined by new men primarily in the Philippines and Formosa/Taiwan, as well as Thailand, Vietnam, and Korea.
Aherne, Gregory, S.J., 1926-2009
Chevedden, James N., S.J., 1948-2004
Conn, Francis W., S.J., 1936-1995
Cunningham, Robert W., S.J., 1922-
Donnelly, Terrence M.
Douglass, Christopher
Hanson, Eric
Martinson, George G.(Jerry), S.J., 1942-
Martinson, Keith B.(Barry), S.J., 1945-
Reed, J. David, S.J., 1933-2002
Ronald, Robert J., S.J., 1932-2009
Ross, Daniel G., S.J., 1933-
Sullivan, William J.
Thylstrup, Edward J., S.J. 1934-
Van Etten, David T.
Welsh, Charles A., S.J., 1934-
Box 66-67
Memorabilia
The bulk of this series consists of documents from the China Mission History Project assembled by John Dahlheimer, S.J. in
the 1960s. Portrait sketches of California missionaries serving in Taiwan and the Philippines and brief documentation of mission
activity in the Far East in the 1960s and 1970s are also contained here. Additionally there is a small collection of artifacts,
mainly from the 1940s mainland China.