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Norman Gan-chao and Anne Lee Yao Papers
H.Mss.1106
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Table of contents
Title: Norman Gan-chao and Anne Lee Yao
Papers
Dates: 1943-1989
and undated
Collection number: H.Mss.1106
Creator:
Yao, Norman Gan-chao (1913-1980)
Extent:
11.4 linear
feet
(8 records boxes, 1 document box, 1 flat box)
Repository:
Claremont Colleges. Library. Special Collections, Honnold/Mudd Library,
Claremont, CA 91711.
Abstract: Norman Gan-chao 姚淦潮 (1913-1980) and Anne Lee Yao 姚李勤芳, both from China, immigrated from
Hong Kong to Claremont, Califorinia in 1956 under the Refugee Relief Program with their two
children, Peter Yao and Margaret. Norman Yao, a lifelong enthusiast of photography, later
worked as a contract photographer with The Claremont Colleges. The collection consists
primarily of Norman Yao's photographic work in Hong Kong, Claremont, and other locations and
spans from the 1930s to the 1980s, including photographs, photo albums, negatives, contact
sheets, and 35 mm slides. Other collection materials include postcards, official immigration
and work documents, correspondence, and ephemera. The collection consists mainly of
photographic work of Norman Yao in Hong Kong, Claremont, and across the world from the 1930s
to 1980s.
Physical Location: Please consult
repository.
Language of Material: Languages
represented in the collection: Chinese and English.
Administrative Information
Collection open for research.
All requests for permission to reproduce or to publish must be submitted in writing to
Special Collections.
[Identification of item], Norman Gan-chao and Anne Lee Yao Papers (H.Mss.1106). Special
Collections, The Claremont Colleges Library, The Claremont Colleges Services, Claremont,
California.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of Peter Yao and Margaret Crusey, May 2017.
No additions to the collection are anticipated.
Processed by Marcus Liu in Spring 2018 in the Claremont Center for Engagement with
Primary Sources (CCEPS), with assistance from Lisa Crane and by Sean Buchanan, Special
Collections student assistant in 2019. Special Collections would like to thank Peter Yao
and Margaret Crusey for their generous donation to CCEPS to fund the processing of this
collection.
All photographic materials were sleeved in protective acid-free enclosures. Scrapbooks
and photo albums with tight and/or damaging bindings were disbound; pages were numbered
and placed into file folders by page range. Rolled and/or curved items were flattened.
Biography / Administrative History
Norman Gan-chao Yao 姚淦潮 (1913-1980) was born and grew up in Zengcheng County 增城縣, Canton,
China. Anne Lee Yao 姚李勤芳 (1915-1971) was born in Shanghai, China. Both of them attended
the University of Shanghai 滬江大學 and graduated in 1938, Norman majoring in business
administration, and Anne in education. After graduation, Anne worked as a primary school
teacher in Shanghai while Norman returned to Canton working as an accountant and cashier
at the Eurasia Aviation Corporation, first in Kunming, then in Hong Kong. In 1943, Norman
and Anne met again in Shanghai. In the same year they got married at the Shanghai YMCA
where Anne was employed. The next year their son, Peter Yao, was born in Shanghai. The
couple stayed in Shanghai until 1946 when they returned to Canton where Anne gave birth to
their daughter, Margaret. In 1947, Anne began to work as a librarian for United States
Information Service, Canton Office, while Norman was employed as the chief clerk,
accountant and later manager of the Canton Office of the Hsin Dah Trading Corporation. In
1949, they moved to Hong Kong. Anne continued working as librarian for the United States
Information Service, Hong Kong Office, in charge of the Library in Kowloon, while Norman
worked as the Photographer and Dark Room Technician in the Investigative Section of the
American Consulate General in Hong Kong.
In 1956, sponsored by the Claremont Church, and the World Service Committee of the
National Council of Churches, the Yaos immigrated to Claremont, California, under the
Refugee Relief Program. Edward Lockwood 駱愛華, former YMCA World Service Executive who met
the Yaos in Canton in 1947, played a major role in the Yao family's move to the United
States, and subsequent settling into their new home. Soon after they arrived, Anne Lee Yao
began working at the Honnold Library at The Claremont Colleges, a post she retained until
her passing in 1971. Norman Yao was first employed at Grisworld's Candied Fruit Co., and
later with The Claremont Colleges as a contracted photographer. Norman Yao was a lifelong
enthusiast of photography, and the photographs he took in Hong Kong and in Claremont
constitute the majority of the collections in the Yao Papers.
Scope and Contents of the Collection
The collection consists mainly of photographic work of Norman Yao while in Hong Kong,
Claremont, and other locations from the 1930s to 1980s and contains photographs, photo
albums, negatives, 35 mm slides, postcards, official documents, correspondence, and
ephemera.
The collection is organized into the following three series:
- Series 1: Biographical materials, 1943-1985 and undated
- Series 2: Photographs, 1949-1979 and undated
- Series 3: Other photographic materials, 1967-1989 and undated
Folders are arranged alphabetically by file name within each series.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
library’s online public access catalog.
Claremont (Calif.)
China
Hong Kong (China)
Commercial photography
Emigration and immigration
Photography
Yao, Norman Gan-chao
Ephemera
Legal documents
Photograph albums
Photographs
Photography--Negatives
Slides (Photography)