Guide to the Victor Hugo Sword papers M2106

Malgorzata Schaeffer
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
June 2016
Green Library
557 Escondido Mall
Stanford 94305-6064
specialcollections@stanford.edu

Note

Listing rather than finding aid.


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-

Box 1, Folder 1

Manuscript about missions by Smith, typescript, pp 520-670

Box 1, Folder 2

Oregon civilization: a study aid, Joseph W. Ellison, Ph.D., Head, History Department

Box 1, Folder 3

Anthropology bibliography

Box 1, Folder 4

Magazines and newspapers, 1943-1970

Box 1, Folder 5

American Consulate, Calcutta, India, 1938-1939

Box 1, Folder 6

Clippings from newspapers concerning India 1944-1951

Box 1, Folder 7

Correspondence - Victor Hugo Sword, 1942

Box 1, Folder 8

Dr. Edwin Dahlberg, 1971-1972

Box 2, Folder 1

Bible lessons - outlines, some in Assamese

Box 2, Folder 2

Jorhat, Assam, 1921-1923: includes correspondence with Miss Cheesman and Mr. Tilden from Jorhat Christian Schools; American Baptist Foreign Mission Society

Box 2, Folder 3

The Assam Tribune; Correspondence - Dr. Victor Hugo Sword, 1947-1971

Box 2, Folder 4

Correspondence, 1930-1960, including Christian Union College, Gauhati, Assam; ephemera

Box 2, Folder 5

Correspondence, 1942-1964; ephemera

Box 2, Folder 6

Correspondence and miscellaneous from India, 1945-1970; letters to Mom and Linna from daddy

Box 2, Folder 7

Contents from folder labeled historical letters, Brown Prindit, etc.; ephemera including report cards of the Davenports, sketches, portrait of female, issues of The Reedsburg Church Herald

Box 2, Folder 8

Correspondence, Signe Utteridge, 1967-1969

map-folder 3

Maps: Site plan of The Assam Christian College Khwan; hand drawn map of Bhutan; chart of Xtian growth in Assam; India a friendship map, 1946; map of Assam diocese with notations