Content Description
Biographical Note
Conditions Governing Access
Conditions Governing Use
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Preferred Citation
General
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: Victor Hugo Sword papers
Source:
Van Saun, Matthew
Creator:
Sword, Victor Hugo, 1893-
Identifier/Call Number: M2106
Physical Description:
1.0 Linear Feet
(2 boxes and 1 map folder)
Date (inclusive): 1920s-1970s
Language of Material: Primarily in English with some content in Hindi.
Content Description
Included are letters related directly to events in India's history, documents and letters from Sword's life in the United
States, as well as typed correspondence, handwritten letters, hand drawn maps, sketches, reports, telegrams and more. Some
of the letters and documents reference Gandhi, Partition of India, missionary work, WWII, and the American and British forces
stationed in India. Also included is official correspondence with US Government representatives such as George Merrell, Secretary
of the President of the United States, and Richard W. Byrd, American Vice Consul in India. There are five letters from Vijaya
Lakshmi Nehru Pandit, an Indian diplomat and politician, the sister of Jawaharlal Nehru the aunt of India Gandhi and the grandaunt
of Rajiv Gandhi, each of who served as Prime Minister of India. She was the first woman President of the United Nations General
Assembly.
Biographical Note
Victor Hugo Sword was a Baptist missionary to Assam, India. He was a representative of the American Baptist Foreign Missionary
Society. Born in Sweden in 1893, he immigrated to the United States and eventually became a naturalized US citizen in 1920.
He graduated from Bethel Academy in St. Anthony Park, Missesota in 1915, received his Bachelor of Divinity degree from Northern
Theological Seminary in 1934, and a Master of Arts degree from Northwestern University in 1935. He wed a fellow graduate of
Bethel Academy, Cora Estelle Walter (class of 1916) and the two had a daughter, Linnea, in 1928. Sword went on to become the
Chairman and one of the founders of Union Christian College in Assam, India, and was a well-known missionary figure in the
country. He had direct contact with Gandhi and Nehru as well as many contacts with the American government in India. Sword
wrote several books about India, including
Baptists in Assam: A Century of Missionary Service 1836-1936, and
Gandhi’s Children.
Conditions Governing Access
Open for research. Note that material must be requested at least 36 hours in advance of intended use.
Conditions Governing Use
While Special Collections is the owner of the physical and digital items, permission to examine collection materials is not
an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Any transmission
or reproduction beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or assigns. See: http://library.stanford.edu/spc/using-collections/permission-publish
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased by Stanford University Libraries in 2015.
Preferred Citation
[identification of item], Victor Hugo Sword papers (M2106). Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford
University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
General
Musty odor. Some individual items cleaned by conservation.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Sword, Victor Hugo, 1893-