Accession Inventory of the Kemp Battle Nye papers

Finding aid prepared by Hoover Institution Library and Archives Staff
Hoover Institution Library and Archives
© 2022
434 Galvez Mall
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003
hoover-library-archives@stanford.edu


Title: Kemp Battle Nye papers
Date (inclusive): approximately 1930-1990
Collection Number: 2020C24
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material: In English
Physical Description: 14 manuscript boxes, 5 oversize boxes (10.3 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Kemp Battle Nye (1916-1994) was a member of the Horse Marine Guards in the 1930s, a personal courier to Nelson Johnson, and an author. The Kemp Battle Nye papers (1930-1990) includes photographs and manuscripts related to Kemp Battle Nye's service in the Marine Corps during WWII, primarily during his tours in China.
Creator: Nye, Kemp Battle, 1916-
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives

Access

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.

Use

For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Acquisition Information

Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 2020.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Kemp Battle Nye papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Processing Information

An accession inventory is a basic description of an archival collection (or a part thereof) for which a detailed finding aid has yet to be created. Additionally, no attempt at intellectual arrangement has been made. The depth of description varies depending on the format of the materials and the amount of pre-existing description when the materials were acquired. An accession inventory might also be labeled as such if it is a fully digital collection, in which the digital files have yet to be processed.

Biographical Note

Kemp Battle Nye (1916-1994) was born in Winterville, North Carolina. During his tenure in the US Marines, he was a member of the Horse Marine Guards in the 1930s, which protected the US Embassy in Beijing, China, when the Japanese invaded China in 1937-38. During his stay in China, he was assigned as a personal courier to Nelson Johnson, then US ambassador to China. He returned to the United States in 1940, and a few years later was called back into the Marine Corps and returned to the Pacific Theatre where he participated in the invasion of the Marshall Islands. He returned to Chapel Hill in 1946 and worked for the Intimate Bookshop. He spent most of his remaining years writing books about his experiences in 1930s China and his youth in the mountains of North Carolina. He also assembled a book made up of some of the 15,000 photographs he took during his years in China.

Scope and Content of Collection

This collection includes photographs and manuscripts related to Kemp Battle Nye's service in the Marine Corps during WWII, primarily during his tours in China.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

World War, 1939-1945 -- China
Photographs
Nye, Kemp Battle, 1916-
United States. Marine Corps

 

Accession Inventory

 

Paper material

box 1, folder 1

Letters and Photographs, Moments in History, The Upheavel in North China 1937 by Kemp Battle Nye (P.52) 1986

box 1, folder 2

Siberian Photos and Map 1967

box 1, folder 3

Photos and Misc Peking Material--China Daily Legation Article 1939 March 15

box 1, folder 4

Photos and Misc Peking Material--Photos and Misc Peking Material 1990s

box 1, folder 5

Ginsing Articles 1990s

box 1, folder 6

The Book of Exquisite Dead Heads 1990s

box 1, folder 7-10

Nicholas Graham, Horse Marine, Kemp Nye [Folders 1-4 of 4] 1990s

box 1, folder 11

Lux Libertas 1983

box 1, folder 12

Silent Sentinels of the Past, Great Wall of China 1990s

box 1, folder 13

[Untitled file] 1990s

box 2, folder 1-3

Tales of a Peking Courier, Kemp Battle Nye [Folders 1-3 of 3] 1990s

box 2, folder 4

Death in China under Chiang-Kai-Shek, The Christian 1990s

box 2, folder 5

Tshiah-Yu, excerpt from "Tales of a Peking Courier" 1990s

box 2, folder 6-8

The Great Swarth, Kemp Nye [Folders 1-3 of 3] 1990s

box 2, folder 9-10

Sonya--Horse Marines [Folders 1-2 of 2] 1978

box 3, folder 1-2

Peking Woman Original Reference and Photos [Folders 1-2 of 2] 1990s

box 3, folder 3

Bloodstone--Xerox Copies Misc Horse Marine Photos and other material 1990s

box 3, folder 4-9

Bloodstone--First Draft: Bloodstone [Folders 1-6 of 9] 1990s

box 4, folder 1-3

Bloodstone--First Draft: Bloodstone [Folders 7-9 of 9] 1990s

box 4, folder 4-9

Horse Marine, Kemp Nye, Original Re-Structured Copy [Folders 1-6 of 6] 1990s

box 4, folder 10

Lux Libertas Lost [Folder 1 of 2] 1990s

box 5, folder 1

Lux Libertas Lost [Folder 2 of 2] 1990s

box 5, folder 2

Quantico Brig Spoof! And Other Related Materials 1990s

box 5, folder 3

[Untitled file] 1990s

box 5, folder 4

[Loose material] 1990s

box 5, folder 5

Brig, Rough, by 250248 1990s

box 5, folder 6-9

Horse Marines Photos Memo [Folders 1-4 of 4] 1990s

box 5, folder 10

Sonya by Kemp Nye, Carolina Quarterly 1990s

box 5, folder 11

p.p. 757 to 768 pulled for "Sonya Book" 1990s

box 6, folder 1-2

Sonya, Complete Edition, By Kemp Nye [Folders 1-2 of 2] 1990s

box 6, folder 3-4

Tales of Peking Courier--Originals [Folders 1-2 of 2] 1990s

box 6, folder 5-6

Tales of Peking Courier [Loose Documents] [Folders 1-2 of 2] 1990s

box 6, folder 7

Tales of Peking Courier--Ladakli, Immoral Venture 1990s

box 6, folder 8

Tales of Peking Courier--Renegade Marine 1990s

box 6, folder 9

Tales of Peking Courier--Tangled Roots 1990s

box 6, folder 10

Tales of Peking Courier--Peking Courier 1990s

box 6, folder 11

Tales of Peking Courier-Chapter 6, Maps 1990s

box 7, folder 1

#1 Battle Hwai-Hai 1990s

box 7, folder 2

#2 The Battle of Hwai-Hai, Deng Xiaoping Commander 1990s

box 7, folder 3-9

Ghost Riders [Folders 1-7 of 7] 1990s

box 7, folder 10

Ghost Riders--Ghost Riders, Horse Marine, Last Copy 1990s

box 7, folder 11

[Untitled file] 1990s

box 7, folder 12

[Untitled file] 1990s

box 8, folder 1

[Untitled file] 1990s

box 8, folder 2

[Untitled file] 1990s

box 8, folder 3

[Untitled file] 1990s

box 8, folder 4

Beyond the Jade Green Moon Gate 1990s

box 8, folder 5

[Untitled file] 1930s, 1980s

box 8, folder 6-7

Red Dawn at River Hwai [Folders 1-2 of 2] 1990s

box 8, folder 8

Copy, A Novel "Bloodstone by Kemp Nye, Vol. 1 with Preface, p.p. 1-100 1980s

box 8, folder 9

Excerpt from "Bloodstone" 1980s

box 8, folder 10

[Untitled file] 1970s-1980s

box 8, folder 11

Magnamusic Distributers Inc. 1970s-1980s

box 9, folder 1

[Loose material] 1980s

box 9, folder 2

Final Edition Completed, Lux Libertas Lost, 250248 1985 July 2

box 9, folder 3

Material Edited by Kemp Battle 1980s

box 9, folder 4

[Untitled file] 1980s

box 9, folder 5

[Untitled file] 1980s

box 9, folder 6

Toughie and the Butterball Original Photo 1930s, 1980s

box 9, folder 7-8

Harbin, - City of Sorrow [Folders 1-2 of 2] 1930s, 1980s

box 9, folder 9

Picture to Get Lined Up for Horse Marine and Put with Original 1980s

box 9, folder 10

[Untitled file] 1980s

box 9, folder 11

Misc for Proper Filing 1980s

box 9, folder 12

Ripshin 1993

box 14, folder 1

Tales of a Peking Courier, Vol. I, Silk Road to Tangled Roots 1980s

box 14, folder 2

Tales of a Peking Courier, Vol. II 1980s

box 14, folder 3

China Misc. 1990s

box 14, folder 4

Copies of Photos, China 1990s

box 14, folder 5

[Loose material] 1980s

box 14, folder 6

Albert Kessler Co. 1960s-1970s

box 14, folder 7

[Untitled folder] 1970s

 

Photographs

box 10, folder 1

[Untitled file] 1930s

box 10, folder 2

[Untitled file] 1930s

box 10, folder 3

[Untitled file] 1930s

box 10, folder 4-7

Negatives [Folders 1-4 of 4] 1930s-1960s

box 10, folder 8

Photos 1930s

box 11, folder 1

The Upheavel in North China in 1937, Photos and Script by Kemp Battle Nye 1930s, 1980s

box 11, folder 2-4

Travel Adventure in the U.S. Marines, Travel to Guam [Folders 1-3 of 3] 1930s

box 11, folder 5

[Untitled file] 1980s

box 11, folder 6

Personal Photos for Horse Marines 1930s

box 11, folder 7

General Photos Peking, Philipines, Shanghai, Contact Prints [Folder 1 of 3] 1930s

box 12, folder 1-2

General Photos Peking, Philipines, Shanghai, Contact Prints [Folders 2-3 of 3] 1930s

box 12, folder 3-4

Horse Marine in Peking, Leisore Hours in Peking, Temple of Heaven, Forbidden City [Folders 1-2 of 2] 1930s

box 12, folder 5-6

Travel, Peking Courier, General Scenes, USS Chaumont to Norfolk, Panama, Panama Canal, Hawaii, Philippines and eventually China, 87 Days [Folders 1-2 of 3] 1930s

box 13, folder 1

Travel, Peking Courier, General Scenes, USS Chaumont to Norfolk, Panama, Panama Canal, Hawaii, Philippines and eventually China, 87 Days [Folder 3 of 3] 1930s

box 13, folder 2

Horse Marines of Peking, Volume 1 1930s

box 13, folder 3-5

Horse Marines of Peking, Volume 2 [Folders 1-3 of 3] 1930s

box 13, folder 6

Horse Marines of Peking, Volume 3 1930s

 

Audiovisual materials

 

Oversize material

box 15, folder 1

Copies of newspaper articles and printed material 1980s

box 15, folder 2

Copies of photographs, printed material, and transparencies 1980s

box 16, folder 1

Photos, Horse Marines 1930s

box 16, folder 2

Photos, Horse Marines 1930s

box 17, folder 1

I, Peking, Horse Marines of Peking, Asian games, Kemp's Long Jump 1930s

box 17, folder 2

Photos, Vol. III, Horse Marines of Peking 1930s

box 18, folder 1

Photos, Vol. IV, Horse Marines of Peking, first draft 1930s-1980s

box 18, folder 2

Photos, Vol. V, Horse Marines of Peking 1930s-1980s

box 19, folder 1

WWII, Siapan, Tinian, Guam 1930s-1980s

Scope and Contents

Additional title information: A Bamboo Chinese, War in Shanghai, Slides Kemp Nan-Lee with "Rusty," Fall of Truk Surrender Proceedings, Capt Warner Training at Quantico, Dalai Lama
box 19, folder 2

Photos, China, War in Peking, Japs Troops, Marines in Peking 1930s-1980s

Scope and Contents

This creator-supplied folder title contains harmful and outdated language. Description staff transcribed the title as it is found on the object because it accurately reflects the language used by the collection's creator and represents the context in which the records were created.