Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Title: Pardee Lowe papers
Date (inclusive): 1911-2007
Collection Number: 98055
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
525 manuscript boxes, 13 card file boxes, 3 oversize boxes, 3 oversize folders
(220.4 Linear Feet)
Abstract: The papers consist primarily of writings, correspondence, notes, reports, memoranda, minutes, bulletins, clippings, pamphlets,
serial issues, and other printed matter, relating to the U.S. Department of State, international education, educational activities
of UNESCO, political and economic conditions in East Asia, the Free China cause, and Sino-Soviet relations. Of particular
importance are ephemera, clippings, and other research materials related to Chinatowns, especially San Francisco Chinatown,
and to Chinese Americans.
Creator:
Lowe, Pardee, 1936-
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Materials were acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1998, 1999, and 2008.
[Identification of item], Pardee Lowe papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
- N/A
- The following abbreviations are used in the papers and in this finding aid.
- Chicom
- Chinese communism, or communism in China
- CIC
- Counter Intelligence Corps, Military Intelligence Service, US War Department
- CU
- Educational and Cultural Affairs (US Department of State)
- GGIE
- Golden Gate International Exposition, Treasure Island, San Francisco, 1939
- IAF
- Office of Information for the Armed Forces (e.g. Box 59)
- IPR
- Institute of Pacific Relations
- MAAG-Taiwan
- US Military Assistance and Advisory Group, Taiwan
- MAGD
- Abbreviation for projected second auto-biographical novel, "Mother and Glorious Descendant"
- MPP
- Multilateral Policy and Programs (US Department of State)
- SEADAG
- Southeast Asia Development Advisory Group
- SEAMES
- Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Secretariat
- SEATO
- Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
- UNESCO
- United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
- USAID
- United States Agency for International Development
- USAFR
- United States Air Force Reserves
- USEFC (also USEF China)
- United States Educational Foundation in China (Fulbright Program)
- USIA
- United States Information Agency (e.g. Box 340)
- USIS
- United States Information Service (US Department of State)
- YMCA
- Yound Men's Christian Association. Also used as an abbreviation for Chinese YMCA, the separate YMCA facilities for people of Chinese descent
Named after George Pardee, the governor of California, Pardee Lowe (1904-1996) was born in San Francisco, California, to Lowe
Fat Yuen (also known as Low Fat Yuen; pinyin: Liu Fa Yuan) and Miss Ho (Yip) Lowe (boxes 328, 448, 450). Following the 1906
earthquake and fire, Lowe's family relocated to Oakland, California. While Mrs. Lowe operated a store in West Oakland, Lowe
Fat Yuen remained active in business and civic affairs in San Francisco, as a merchant with Sun Loy Co. and vice president
of the San Francisco Chinese Chamber of Commerce. Pardee Lowe became active in the Oakland High School ROTC unit, the YMCA,
and church activities of the Union Street Presbyterian Church (box 322). Throughout his life Lowe continued to be extremely
active in social, professional, alumni, and fraternal organizations and associations.
Lowe received a BA from Stanford University in 1930, and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1932. While on a 1931 study
trip in Germany, Lowe married his first wife, Louisa Hope Bailey (box 328), and in 1936 their child, Pardee Lowe, Jr. (Pardee
Joe Yee Lowe) was born in Oakland, California (box 353).
Pardee Lowe worked at various projects throughout the 1930s. Of longest duration was Lowe's serving as a research assistant
for Stanford economics professor Richard T. LaPiere, from 1932 to 1935 (box 328). Lowe conducted work in San Francisco Chinatown
for LaPiere and served as a technical advisor for LaPiere's two sociological-historical novels,
Son of Han (1937) and
When the Living Strive (1941). At LaPiere's recommendation, Lowe became involved in two projects for the Institute of Pacific Relations (IPR). Lowe
received funding to conduct a "secret" study of the people of San Francisco Chinatown (box 328, 329, 445). Due to disagreement
over scope, methodology, and timetable of completion, the IPR concluded funding for the project in late 1936 (box 449).
Lowe worked in support of IPR conferences in Yosemite (1936) and Virginia Beach (1939), and continued collecting materials
for his projected Middletown Study of San Francisco Chinatown. He had associations with the Social Service Department of the
State Emergency Relief Administration (SERA) for San Francisco's Chinese Division for a few months of 1934 (boxes 458, 328);
and the Social Science Research Conference of the Pacific Coast, 1933-1934. During the Sino-Japanese war, Lowe was active
in work to raise funds and increase support for aid to war-torn China, through organizations such as China Relief and Rice
Bowl parties. He joined planning and implementation work for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition's Pacific House,
before moving to New York to serve as a secretary for Wah Chang Trading Corporation president K. C. Li (box 436).
In 1942 Lowe volunteered for military service, and served stateside, as well as overseas in the New Delhi headquarters of
the China-Burma-India theater, and in Chongqing from 1943 to 1946, with some assignments to the Counterintelligence Corps
(box 353). Following discharge from the military, Lowe returned to China, and under the U.S. Alien Property Administration
served as manager of the China division of pharmaceutical manufacturer Schering Corporation, New Jersey and Shanghai, 1946-1947
(box 93). Correspondence also identifies Lowe as sales manager for China United Products Co., Shanghai in 1946-1947 (box 457).
From 1947 to 1949, Lowe worked in the U.S. Embassy in Nanking, administering the beginnings of the United States Educational
Foundation in China (USEF China).
In January 1948 Lowe and Louisa Hope Bailey divorced, and Lowe married Anita Ting, born in Peiping, China, 1919 (boxes 353,
450). In 1960 their child, Patricia Pardee Lowe, was born (box 322).
Lowe maintained a strong interest in creative writing throughout the 1930s and 1940s, publishing articles in periodicals such
as Asia, Missionary Review of the World, and various association newsletters. In 1943, Brown, Little and Co., publisher of
LaPiere's socio-historical novels, added to their series a collection of Lowe's autobiographical articles, with names of individuals
and places altered for publication. A best-seller that year, Lowe's Father and Glorious Descendant also was issued in an edition
by the U.S. Armed Services (box 359). Lowe continued writing throughout his time in the military and in subsequent posts in
China.
Lowe remained in Shanghai until the U.S. ordered withdrawal in 1949. Returning to the San Francisco Bay Area, Lowe entered
the University of California, Berkeley, for PhD studies with the Institute for Slavic Studies from 1949 to 1956 (box 195).
Lowe also joined the U.S. Air Force Reserves, becoming a major by 1952 (box 450). In 1964 he was assigned to the Retired Reserve
(box 451).
In 1955 Lowe joined the U.S. Information Agency (USIA), serving as intelligence research officer, and later as China, Taiwan,
and Hong Kong desk officer until 1959 (box 195, 340). From 1959 to 1965 Lowe served as cultural attaché in the U.S. Embassy,
Taipei, Taiwan (box 195). His Chinese name was Liu Yu Chang (box 43).
From 1965 until his retirement in 1972/1973, Lowe served in the U.S. Department of State as education officer of the Multilateral
Policy and Program Office assigned to monitor the UNESCO Education Program (box 187, 195, 448).
After retiring, Lowe occasionally taught at Tatung Tech in Taiwan, and remained a committed advocate to the Free China cause.
He continued to gather and organize materials related to Chinese Americans and to Chinatowns for a projected sequel to his
1943 book, telling the story of growing up Chinese American in relation to his late mother and stepmother, and continued his
involvement with Christian charities.
Selected publications:
"A New Deal for Orientals,"
Missionary Review of the World 1934 June, pp. 279-281
"Mixed Marriage,"
Asia Magazine, 1937 January
"The Good Life in Chinatown,"
Asia Magazine, 1937 February. Published version of "Tree-Sitting in Chinatown" (box 485) and "Chinatown Changes" (box 359)
Father and Glorious Descendant, New York: Boston, Little, Brown and Company, 1943
"Personal Report from China," address to the Commonwealth Club of California, 1946 September 6
"Soviet foreign policy regarding Manchuria and China, 1945-1950," PhD thesis partial draft, prepared for the Institute of
Slavic Studies, University of California, Berkeley, 1954 September 9, 3 volumes, typescript
Scope and Content of Collection
The papers consist primarily of writings, correspondence, notes, reports, memoranda, minutes, bulletins, clippings, pamphlets,
serial issues, and other printed matter, relating to the U.S. Department of State, international education, educational activities
of UNESCO, political and economic conditions in East Asia, the Free China cause, and Sino-Soviet relations. Of particular
importance are ephemera, clippings, and other research material related to Chinatowns, especially San Francisco Chinatown,
and to Chinese Americans.
Lowe's papers reflect his service with the U.S. military; the Department of State; civic, religious, alumni, and fraternal
organizations in the U.S., Shanghai, Nanking, and Taiwan; and personal research interests. In his personal files, sociology
and cultural issues related to Chinese Americans, and issues related to the Free China cause are core areas.
Lowe's scope and organization for his papers reflects particular methodologies and procedures, which are articulated in documents
in his files. These include Lowe's description of his adoption of the Middletown Study sociological methodology (boxes 389,
391, 449). His methodology related to clippings is further described in a lesson plan he developed for the U.S. Air Force
Reserve, "How to Clip the
New York Times for Intelligence Items on the Soviet Union," 1954 (box 60). A manual of standard operating procedures, 1969 (box 376), sets
the framework for the organization and scope of Lowe's Department of State education office work files, as well as his own
subject files. Lowe's notes include a list of his permanent projects (box 381).
Box numbers referred to in this note are not inclusive. A box-level inventory follows this note. In many cases the folder
titles do not match contents.
Biographical files, 1920s-1990s, undated, include personnel records, applications, and correspondence. Especially detailed
are those related to Lowe's Armed Forces service (box 448; also 353, 436, 451, 466-468), his correspondence with professor
Richard T. LaPiere (box 318), writings, employment files covering 1924-1973 (boxes 449, 436, 448), family history documents
(box 117), and correspondence with publishers (box 381). Lowe describes his wartime experience through 1950 in a preface to
his in-progress dissertation draft, 1954 September 9 (box 150), which is complemented by diaries, military personnel records,
private correspondence, and files related to the various non-military positions Lowe held in China prior to the 1949 withdrawal.
The papers also include course notes and papers related to Lowe's degrees from Oakland High School, Stanford University, and
Harvard Business School, and to his PhD studies at University of California, Berkeley.
Of the vast number of projects undertaken during his long career, perhaps Lowe's most extensive research and writing related
to Chinese American history and culture is found in his creative writings, correspondence with Stanford Economics and Sociology
Professor Richard T. LaPiere, and related sociological work that began as an "undercover" study of San Francisco Chinatown
for the Institute of Pacific Relations (box 329). While disagreement over scope, methodology, and timetable of completion
led the IPR to conclude funding in late 1936, Lowe continued developing his Chinese American history and sociology research
and writing files, 1920s-1990s throughout his life (boxes 125a-131, 190-193, 196-203, 381-385, and others).
The Chinese American history and sociology research files, 1930s, undated, consist of draft writings and research files, including
survey data, correspondence, ephemera, and clippings, in English and in Chinese (boxes 125a-131). In this set of 1930s files,
all folder titles (except the first) are by the creator. The Sociological profiles and case studies typescript drafts, 1930s,
consist of typescript drafts by Lowe. These drafts are mainly duplicates of typescript materials which appear in the files
of notes, drafts, and ephemera, but with some unique drafts, and a revised ordering of the material.
Encyclopedic in scope, the research strengths of the Chinese American History and sociology files include: ephemera and research
related to restaurants and nightclubs, 1930s-1950s; conditions fostering continued occupational segregation for Chinese Americans
(box 324); and San Francisco business and civic leader interest that San Francisco Chinatown undergo redesign and marketing
as an exotic locale, or the "Chinafication" of San Francisco Chinatown during the 1930s (box 381). There is ephemera related
to the original Bank of Canton, San Francisco, including material from the 1920s (boxes 313, 171); and Chinese Hospital, San
Francisco, 1920s (box 97, 117). Collected material also includes Chinese opera materials related to the San Francisco Chinatown
movie theaters, 1950s-1960s. Lowe also collected reports and other documents related to the WPA and the State Emergency Relief
Administration, San Francisco Chinese Division, and was briefly associated with SERA for a few months of 1934 (box 328, 458).
Also present is material related to Chinese Christian organizations, including Chinese American organizations, and some material
related to evangelical missionary work in China. Lowe's papers include extensive clippings of news items related to Chinese
Americans, late 1920s-early 1990s, with additional subject files on interracial marriage, discrimination, and African Americans.
Related research and writings by Lowe are found in his Institute of Pacific Relations San Francisco Chinatown survey project
files, 1930s. These include holographic data from a street-by-street survey of San Francisco Chinatown buildings and residents,
and typescript reports and correspondence with project sponsors (boxes 12, 328-329, 359-360, 381, 389-391, 408, 445).
Also related are the Richard T. LaPiere socio-historical novel research correspondence and administrative files, 1930s-1940s
(boxes 318-319). These consist of correspondence with LaPiere and with LaPiere's publishers related to Lowe's serving as a
research and administrative assistant for LaPiere's two novels related to a middle-class family in China and to an immigrant
from China to San Francisco Chinatown. In correspondence with Lapiere Lowe provided feedback on LaPiere's depictions of Chinese
and Chinese American culture and history, and discussed his own family history. For Son of Han Lowe also provided some source
materials, including for publicity; literary feedback; and assisted in publicity for the novel and conducted other administrative
work.
Lowe's Institute of Pacific Relations (IPR) conference administration files, 1930s, mainly consist of notes, correspondence,
and printed material related to when Lowe was an administrative assistant to the IPR's 1936 Yosemite conference and 1939 Virginia
Beach conference. Lowe's writing files also include research files and draft writings for a history of the formation and early
days of the IPR (box 231-232, 334, 366). Lowe's papers also include meeting notes and conference programs, and reports that
reflect his brief association in this period with a number of other study groups related to China, Asia, or Chinese Americans
in California and San Francisco.
Related to the IPR study files are the Golden Gate International Exposition (GGIE) files, 1938-1939, which consist of administrative
files, research files, commemorative printed material, and include correspondence with Miguel Covarrubias, and other planning
files related to the Department of the Pacific Area, Pacific House, and to China Day at the GGIE (includes Box 328-329, 472-473).
Lowe's papers also include correspondence and printed materials related to later reprinting of the Covarrubias maps of the
peoples of the Pacific and managing their sales in China, 1946-1947 (box 472).
China Relief files, 1930s, include correspondence and clippings related to Lowe's participation in relief work benefiting
Chinese civilians during the Sino-Japanese war. Publicity materials include clippings related to San Francisco's Rice Bowl
Party 1938, in which Lowe's father played a prominent public role (box 200-201).
San Francisco Chinese Counsel General files, 1933-1939, include correspondence, typescript briefings, drafts of speeches,
and clippings related to Lowe assisting Chinese Consul General Chihtsing Feng with a variety of diplomatic and public relations
activities (box 325-328).
Lowe's Writing files, 1929-1990s (bulk 1930s-1940s), include writings related to events in the 1930s and 1940s, including
the Sino-Japanese war, autobiography, and culture change. The files include essays and creative writing, notes for speeches,
and writings by others. Also included are drafts of Lowe's 1943 autobiographical novel (with names of people and places fictionalized),
correspondence with publishers, correspondence and clippings related to publicity, writings related to Lowe's participation
in local casting for The Good Earth (1937), and correspondence concerning movie adaptations of his writings. Also included
are proposals for a projected second autobiographical novel (box 328), in support of which Lowe continued to create and organize
subject files.
Wah Chang Trading Corporation files, 1940-1942, include correspondence from Lowe's work as a secretary to President K. C.
Li in New York.
World War II Military Service files, 1942-1946, include diaries, training notes and materials, correspondence, and printed
maps, related to Lowe volunteering for the military in 1942, receiving various training, including in counterintelligence,
and serving in a number of posts in the U.S., at China-Burma-India Theater Headquarters in New Delhi, and Chungking (Chongqing).
The papers also include materials related to Lowe's participation in a San Francisco-area China-Burma-India theater veterans
group.
Schering Company files, 1946-1947, consist mainly of training materials and correspondence related to Lowe serving as manager
of the pharmaceutical manufacturer's China division under the U.S. Department of Justice's Alien Property Administration (box
93).
Also originating from Lowe's Shanghai activities are the China United Products Co., Shanghai, correspondence, 1946-1947 (box
457). Lowe's participation with alumni groups in China is reflected in Stanford Alumni files, related to alumni in Nanking
and other areas in China (boxes 93, 335); Harvard Alumni Club files from Shanghai in 1948, and Taipei, Taiwan in the 1960s
(boxes 107-109, 333); International House Alumni group of Shanghai files, 1947-1948 (box 360); and the University of California
Alumni Club of Shanghai files, 1947 (box 361)
Department of State Educational and Cultural Exchange Program (USECFL) files, 1940s-1970s, include material related to Lowe's
administrative work for the U.S. Educational Foundation in China (USEFC) and the beginning of the Fulbright program (boxes
317, 344, 364, 367, 447, 479-481). The files include typescript and holographic material, including expense reports and correspondence
related to Lowe's USEFC work in Shanghai, 1949, and a typescript memo by Lowe, "Recollection of the First United States Fulbright
Educational Exchange Program in Mainland China," 1971 April 22, in which Lowe recounts the history of the program from 1947
through the last year of Lowe's involvement, 1965.
Lowe's PhD Studies files, 1949-1950s, include research files, correspondence, course papers by Lowe and by others, and draft
writings related to Lowe's studies at the University of California, Berkeley, Institute of Slavic Studies.
China House Association of Berkeley files, 1954-1955, relate to Lowe's work among University of California students, alumni,
and others, to develop the China House Association of Berkeley (box 101).
U.S. Air Force Reserve files, 1950s-1960s, include personnel files and training materials.
U.S. Information Agency (USIA) files, 1955-1959, include correspondence, reports, and printed material related to Lowe serving
as intelligence research officer and then China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong desk officer. An orientation document from the USIA,
"The Agency in Brief," provides institutional history of these early years of USIA operation (box 340). Notable in the files
are documents related to Lowe's early reports on the development of pinyin Romanization for Mandarin Chinese, and the development
of the sinotype, and other advances in Chinese-language keyboarding, typewriters, and typesetting.
Cultural Attaché files, 1959-1965, relate to Lowe continuing with the Department of State, serving in the U.S. Embassy in
Taiwan. Unique materials among these files include correspondence, photos, clippings, and other documentation of the Foo Hsing
Opera Company (Fu Hsing), which made tours in the U.S. to support the Free China cause (boxes 43, 343-344, 447, 455).
Department of State Education Officer files, 1969-1974, include memos, reports, subject files, and printed materials related
to Lowe's role as Education Officer, Office of Multilateral Policy and Programs, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs,
for the U.S. State Department, assigned to monitor policies on education, including in developing countries, with special
emphasis on UNESCO. The materials relate to all geographic areas assigned to Lowe: Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa,
and "Overseas Chinese" worldwide (box 272). A large amount of UNESCO printed reports and other printed materials related to
education, especially adult education, employability, and vocational training, in the U.S. and worldwide is included. The
files also reflect Lowe's involvement with the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Secretariat (SEAMES) and the 1968 Nairobi
conference.
Lowe also developed University Revolt subject files, 1968-1971, related to the student protests of 1968 and following years,
mainly related to those on U.S. campuses. Throughout and beyond his tenure at the Department of State, Lowe continued to develop
subject files related to the observation and further development of Asian Studies, and the birth of Asian American Studies.
Tatung Company teaching and consulting files, 1976-1990s, mainly relate to Lowe's teaching English-language business communication
at the Taiwan Technical Institute, while splitting his time between Taipei and Menlo Park, California (boxes 32, 171, 312,
445-446).
Lowe's subject files, 1918-1990s, were developed throughout his career and into his retirement, including subject files on
communism, USSR, communist China, Taiwan, and the Free China cause.
The papers are in the order in which they were received from the donor. Some folder titles may not match contents. Where information
was only recorded in relation to a range of multiple boxes, those boxes have been grouped under their overarching description
and have been recorded as "Material not yet described."
Richard T. LaPiere papers, Department of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries
Institute of Pacific Relations. San Francisco Bay Region Division Records, 1944-1947, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Asia Foundation records, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Zhang Shuqi papers, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Iris Chang papers, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Subjects and Indexing Terms
International education
Chinese Americans
China -- Foreign relations -- Soviet Union
Soviet Union -- Foreign relations -- China
San Francisco (Calif.)
East Asia
Chinatown (San Francisco, Calif.)
Taiwan
United States. Department of State
Unesco