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Title: George H. Kerr papers
Date (inclusive): 1943-1951
Collection Number: XX381
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
7 manuscript boxes, 1 oversize folder
(3.6 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Reports, notes, press summaries, clippings, and writings, relating to political and economic conditions in Formosa under Japanese
rule, transfer of Formosa to China in 1945, Formosan rebellion against Chinese rule in 1947, American foreign policy regarding
Formosa, and political and economic conditions in the Ryukyu Islands after World War II.
Creator:
Kerr, George H., 1911-1992
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.
Acquired.
[Identification of item], George H. Kerr papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
| 1911 Nov. 7 | Born |
| 1935-1937 | Student, Japan |
| 1937-1940 | English teacher, Taipei, Taiwan |
| 1942-1943 | Analyst and consultant on Formosa, U.S. Department of War |
| 1944-1946 | Director, Formosa Research Unit, Naval School of Military Government and Administration, U.S. Navy, Columbia University, New York |
| 1946-1947 | Foreign service staff officer and vice consul, U.S. Department of State, Taipei, Taiwan |
| 1947-1949 | Lecturer, University of Washington |
| 1949-1950 | Lecturer, Stanford University and University of California at Berkeley |
| 1950-1955? | Research Associate, Hoover Institution |
| 1952 | Published The Ryukyu Islands: A Preliminary Checklist of Reference Materials Arranged Alphabetically (with Higa Shuncho and others) |
| 1953 | Published Ryukyu Kingdom and Province Before 1945 |
| 1958 | Published Okinawa: The History of an Island People |
| 1959 | Published Science Information Services in Japan, a Brief Survey |
| 1961 | Published Bibliography of the Ryukyus |
| 1965 | Published Formosa Betrayed |
| 1974 | Published Formosa: Licensed Revolution and the Home Rule Movement, 1895-1945 |
| 1986 | Published The Taiwan Confrontation Crisis |
| 1992 Aug. 27 | Died, Honolulu, Hawaii |
The George H. Kerr Papers provide information about economic and political affairs in Taiwan in the 1930s and 1940s, Taiwan's
transition from Japanese rule before and during World War II to postwar Chinese rule, Taiwanese rebellion against Chinese
rule in 1947, and U.S. foreign policy toward Taiwan. Some information about economic and political conditions in Okinawa and
the Ryukyu Islands after World War II is also included.
The series CHRONOLOGICAL FILE OF EVENTS IN TAIWAN covers the period during which Kerr served as U.S. vice consul at Taipei.
It consists chiefly of translated local press reports, many of which were issued by the United States Information Service,
Taipei, and handwritten chronologies of local events in Taiwan. Some of the chronologies are written in composition notebooks
that span several months in a single notebook; these are filed under the first month listed in the notebook.
Most of the material in the SUBJECT FILE series was collected during Kerr's service as a Taiwan specialist with the U.S. military
during World War II. Included are translations of selected chapters of
Taiwan Jijō (
Conditions in Taiwan), 1939, and
Taiwan Keizai Nempō (
Taiwan Economic Annual Report), 1943, prepared at the Military Government Translation Center of the Naval School of Military Government and Administration
at Columbia University. Also included are outlines of a series of lectures that were directed toward U.S. civil affairs officers
assigned to Taiwan. The dates provided in the container list for this series are limited because many of the documents do
not bear dates, some have only a translation date, and others have only a publication date. The few photographs available
depict Taiwan's geographic features.
The CLIPPINGS FILE series also relates primarily to Taiwan, with the vast bulk dated 1950. The articles were cut from English-language
newspapers in the U.S., such as the
San Francisco Chronicle,
Chinese World (San Francisco), and the
New York Times.
The UNIVERSITY SEMINAR FILE series relates to courses on East Asia at the Hoover Institution and the University of California
in which Kerr served as instructor or co-instructor. The files are incomplete, consisting of miscellaneous course materials
and a few student papers. Other student papers are interfiled in the SUBJECT FILE series.
In addition to material in the WRITINGS series, some notes and drafts that were probably written by Kerr are interfiled with
other documents in the SUBJECT FILE series. In the series CHRONOLOGICAL FILE OF EVENTS IN TAIWAN, a few brief memoranda by
Kerr are interfiled from January 1947, and syllabi in the UNIVERSITY SEMINAR FILE series were probably written by him.
Most of the papers in this collection are in English; a few are in Japanese. Folders consisting entirely of material in Japanese
are indicated in the container list.
A major portion of Kerr's research collection is held by the East Asian Library at the University of California at Berkeley;
additional Kerr papers are held at the 2-28 Memorial Museum Archives in Taiwan and the Okinawa Prefectural Archives.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Diplomats -- United States
Taiwan -- Politics and government
Okinawa Island (Japan)
Ryukyu Islands
Taiwan -- Economic conditions
Taiwan -- Foreign relations -- United States
Taiwan -- History
United States -- Foreign relations -- Taiwan
United States. Department of State
United States. Consulate (Taipei, Taiwan)