Finding aid for the James and Sarah Daily papers 3316

Diann Benti
USC Libraries East Asian Library
2021 October
Doheny Memorial Library
3550 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles, California 90089-1825


Contributing Institution: USC Libraries East Asian Library
Title: James and Sarah Daily papers
Creator: Daily, James Wallace, 1913-1991
Creator: Daily, Sarah Atwood, 1915-2009
Creator: Liang, Carr Chia Chang, ca.1915-
source: Rosenberg, Sally Anne
Identifier/Call Number: 3316
Physical Description: .6 Linear Feet 1 box
Date (inclusive): 1940-1994
Abstract: This collection chiefly contains travel diaries and correspondence reflecting the trips of American hydraulic engineering professor James W. Daily (1913-1991) and his wife, Sarah A. Daily (1915-2009), to the People's Republic of China in 1974 and 1979, as well as a visit by Sarah in 1994. Also included are letters from Carr Chia-Chang Liang, a Caltech student in the late 1930s, that chronicle his trip back to and conditions in wartime China in the early 1940s.
Language of Material: English.

Biographical note on James Daily

James W. Daily (1913-1991) was a hydraulic engineer and professor. He received a BA from Stanford University (1935) and an MS (1937) and a PhD (1945) in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology. He was a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1946-1964) and a professor of fluid mechanics and hydraulic engineering at the University of Michigan (1964-1981).
In 1974, Daily was invited to join a delegation of American hydraulic engineers to visit the People's Republic of China, and he and his wife, Sarah Daily, traveled there between August and September 1974. He was invited to return to China in 1979 to teach at the East China College of Hydraulic Engineering (华东水利学院), in Nanjing. While there, Sarah Daily taught English at the same institution.

Biographical note on Sarah Daily

Sarah Atwood Daily (1915-2009) (also known as Sally Daily) was born in New Jersey and graduated from Smith College. She married Professor James W. Daily (1913-1991) in 1938. She traveled to China in 1974, 1979, and 1994, and taught English at the East China College of Hydraulic Engineering in Nanjing in 1979. The Dailys lived in Michigan from 1964 until 1983, when they retired to Pasadena, California.

Scope and Contents

This collection chiefly contains travel diaries and correspondence reflecting the trips of American hydraulic engineering professor James W. Daily and Sarah Daily, his wife, to the People's Republic of China in 1974 and 1979, as well as a visit by Sarah in 1994.
The Dailys visited in 1974 as part of a delegation of American hydraulic engineers and related materials consist of typescript copies of an unpublished travelogue of the experience by James Daily, titled One Month in the People's Republic of China and some related published articles (Folders 2-22).
In the summer of 1979, the Dailys returned to China, where James lectured at the East China College of Hydraulic Engineering in Nanjing, and Sarah taught English. Materials from that trip consist of versions of Sarah's travel diary, her letters to family from China, and later letters to her from her Chinese students (Folders 23-26). In 1994, following James' death in 1991, Sarah again traveled to China, and these papers consist of a manuscript and typescript version of her travel diary as well as a binder with some printed material (Folders 27-29).
Also included in the collection are letters from Carr Chia-Chan Liang, a Caltech student in the late 1930s, who returned to China in 1940, as well as from Wen-hsin Wang, Liang's aunt in Honolulu, Hawaii. The letters chronicle his trip back to and conditions in wartime China (Folder 1).
Many of the items have been digitized in the USC Digital Library (see links below).

Conditions Governing Access

Advance notice required for access.

Rights Statement for Archival Description

Finding aid description and metadata are licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.

Conditions Governing Use

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the East Asian Library at eal@usc.edu. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the East Asian Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.

Preferred Citation

[Box/folder no. or item name], James and Sarah Daily papers, Collection no. 3316, East Asian Library, USC Libraries, University of Southern California.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Sally Anne Rosenberg.

Related Materials

A digitized set of 463 slide photographs taken by another participant in the 1974 visit, Maury Albertson, a professor in the department of Civil Engineering at Colorado State University, is available in the USC Digital Library.

Processing Information

Some processing by USC students in 2019 as part of the "Piloting a Shared Practice for Accessible Archival Descriptions" Dean's Challenge Grant. Additional description by Diann Benti in 2021.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

华东水利学院 (Nanjing)
East China College of Hydraulic Engineering (Nanjing)
China -- Description and travel -- 20th century
Hydraulic engineers -- United States -- Archival resources
Travel -- China -- Archival resources
Daily, James Wallace, 1913-1991 -- Archives
Daily, Sarah Atwood, 1915-2009 -- Archives
Liang, Carr Chia Chang, ca.1915- -- Archives
Rosenberg, Sally Anne

Box 1, Folder 1

Carr Liang correspondence 1940-1942

Carr Liang letters to his aunt and to James and Sarah Daily - USC Digital Library

Scope and Contents

Letters from Carr Chia Chang Liang, a recent CalTech graduate student, to James and Sarah (Sally) Daily, as well as some letters from Liang's aunt Wen-hsin Wang. The letters chronicle Liang's trip back to and conditions in wartime China.
 

1974 trip materials

Box 1, Folder 2

Published articles 1974-1975

Scope and Contents

Two typescript drafts and one reprint of articles by James Daily in Mechanical Engineering, as well as a press release, related to Daily's visit to China.
 

One Month in the Peoples Republic of China 1974-1975

 

Typescript draft

One Month in the People's Republic of China, August-September 1974 : "Kowloon to Kwangchow" (August 19, 1974) - USC Digital Library
One Month in the People's Republic of China, August-September 1974 : "Hua-Tung People's Commune" (August 21, 1974) - USC Digital Library
One Month in the People's Republic of China, August-September 1974 : "Kwangtung Hot Spring Guest House" (August 23, 1974) - USC Digital Library
One Month in the People's Republic of China, August-"Flight to Hangchow" (August 24-26, 1974) - USC Digital Library
One Month in the People's Republic of China, August-September 1974: "Hangchow to Shanghai" (August 27-30 1974) - USC Digital Library
One Month in the People's Republic of China, August-September 1974 : "East China College of Hydraulic Engineering" (Sept. 2, 1974) - USC Digital Library
One Month in the People's Republic of China, August-September 1974 : "Flight to Chengchow" (Sept. 4) - USC Digital Library

Box 1, Folder 3

August 19-27, 1974

Box 1, Folder 4

August 28-September 3, 1974

Box 1, Folder 5

September 4-5, 1974

 

Typescript second copy with chapters

Box 1, Folder 6

Front matter and Chapter One: Kowloon to Kwangchow and the Kwangchow Area (August 19-23, 1974)

Box 1, Folder 7

Chapter Two: Hangchow and the Hsin-an-kiang Project (August 24-26, 1974)

Box 1, Folder 8

Chapter Three: Shanghai (August 26-28, 1974)

Box 1, Folder 9

Chapter Four: Nanking, Yangchow, The Grand Canal, and The Kiangtu Water Conservancy Project (August 31-September 2, 1974)

Box 1, Folder 10

Chapter Five: Chengchow and The Yellow River, Anyang and The Yin Dynasty Remains (September 4-5, 1974)

Box 1, Folder 11

Chapter Six: Linhsien and The Red Flag Canal (September 5-7, 1974)

Box 1, Folder 12

Chapter Seven: Journey to Peking and Day of Sightseeing (September 8, 1974)

Box 1, Folder 13

Chapter Eight: Great Wall, Ming Tombs and Ming Tombs Reservoir (September 9, 1974)

Box 1, Folder 14

Chapter Nine: Tsing Hua University (September 10, 1974)

Box 1, Folder 15

Chapter Ten: The Great Miyun Project (September 11, 1974)

Box 1, Folder 16

Chapter Eleven: Technical Information Exchange (September 12, 1974)

Box 1, Folder 17

Chapter Twelve: A Nontechnical Day (September 13, 1974)

Box 1, Folder 18

Chapter Thirteen: A Quiet Weekend and Report on Visit to Tsunhua County (September 14-15, 1974)

Box 1, Folder 19

Chapter Fourteen: The Haiao Project and Tientsin New Harbor (September 16, 1974)

Box 1, Folder 20

Chapter Fifteen: Last Day in Peking (September 17, 1974)

Box 1, Folder 21

Chapter Sixteen: Kwangchow Again (September 18, 1974)

Box 1, Folder 22

Chapter Seventeen: Exit at Shum-Shun and Home to the Western World (September 19-22, 1974)

 

1979 trip materials

Box 1, Folder 23

Sarah Daily travel diary (manuscript) May-July, 1979

Visit to China, May-June 1979, for Lectures at the East China College of Hydraulic Engineering - USC Digital Library

Scope and Contents

Handwritten diary entries for May 1-July 3, 1974, by Sarah Daily reflecting the Daily's time in China. Titled: "Visit to China May-June 1979 for Lectures at the East China College of Hydraulic Engineering, Sally & Jim Daily. There is also a revised, typescript version of the entries for May 1-12 (Box 1, Folder 24).
Box 1, Folder 24

Sarah Daily travel diary (typescript) May 1979

China Trip, May 1, 1979 to July 4, 1979

Scope and Contents

A typescript version of Sarah Daily's travel diary from May 1-12, 1979, when the Dailys were returning to China. The diary reflects their travel passing through Hong Kong, Guangzhou, and Shanghai before arriving at Nanjing. Titled: "China Trip, May 1, 1979 to July 4, 1979," this is a revised version of the initial pages of Sarah Daily's handwritten travel diary (Box 1, Folder 23).
 

Sarah Daily correspondence

Box 1, Folder 25

Letters from Sarah Daily to her family from China 1979-05-1979-06

Sarah Daily letters to her family from China, May-June 1979 - USC Digital Library

Box 1, Folder 26

Letters from Chinese students to Sarah Daily 1979-1992

Letters to Sarah Daily from her English language students in Nanjing - USC Digital Library

Scope and Contents

Letters Sarah Daily received from students she had taught English to in 1979 at the East China College of Hydraulic Engineering in Nanjing, while her husband, James W. Daily was lecturing there.
 

1994 trip materials

Box 1, Folder 27

Sarah Daily travel diary (manuscript) 1994

China Diary 1994 by Sarah Daily (manuscript) - USC Digital Library

Box 1, Folder 28

Sarah Daily travel diary (typescript) 1994

China Diary 1994 by Sarah Daily (typescript) - USC Digital Library

Box 1, Folder 29

Binder

Scope and Contents

Binder, with some printed materials about China, that previously held Sarah Daily's handwritten travel diary pages for her 1994 trip to China (rehoused in Box 1, Folder 27).