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.
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 4
August 28-September 3, 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)
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.
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).