W. Langhorne Bond papers, 1930-1998

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Summary

Creators:
Bond, W. Langhorne, 1893-1985
Abstract:
The papers describe China during the period surrounding World War II and the Chinese Revolution. The documents, including correspondence, reports, writings, printed matter, personal documents, and photographs, contain descriptions, observations, and insights about political events in East Asia especially during the Sino-Japanese War and World War II. A majority of the material is documentation about the China National Aviation Corporation.
Extent:
5 manuscript boxes (2.0 Linear Feet)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], W. Langhorne Bond Papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives

Background

Scope and content:

Acquired by the Hoover Institution in 2005, the W. Langhorne Bond papers describe China during the period surrounding World War II and the Chinese Revolution. The documents contain descriptions, observations, and insights about political events in East Asia during the time. A majority of the material is documentation of the China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC).

CNAC was first established as a cooperative company by the Curtiss-Wright Corporation and the Chinese Government. The American interest in the company, known as China Federal Airways, was purchased by Pan American Airways in 1933. Bond, known to most as "Bondy," began as operations manager for the company in 1931 and continued to work for the company until his retirement from the post of Pan American's vice president, Orient in 1950.

CNAC provided passenger, freight, and mail services to the Chinese Nationalist government. The small but effective airline was active during World War II, even as the Japanese took over large segments of China. The materials in the collection document events such as the evacuation of Hong Kong and a CNAC plane shot down by the Japanese. Bond also pioneered the "Hump" route over the Himalayas from China to India in 1941, which brought necessary supplies to the Chinese during the war. Prints in the Photographs document the first flight over the "Hump."

Materials documenting the operations of CNAC may be found in the Correspondence series. Of note is correspondence between Bond and other Pan American employees including H. M. Bixby, a Pan American vice president in China and the Philippines, and S. E. Morgan, a corporation general purchasing agent in New York. However, most CNAC correspondence before 1937 was lost when moved from Shanghai to Hankow after the outbreak of war with the Japanese. Additional information on the overall history of CNAC may be found in materials the Writings series, as well as the CNAC Files.

Images of the CNAC Staff, airplanes, airports, the Bond family, and travel in China during the 1930s and 1940s are found in the Photographs.

Wings for an Embattled China, By W. Langhorne Bond, ed. James E. Ellis, published by Lehigh University Press in 2001 is an autobiography of Bond and overall history of CNAC.

Throughout the collection description, the Romanization of Chinese place names have been kept as they were spelled by Bond in the 1930s and 1940s.

Biographical / historical:
Date Event
1893 November 12
Born William Langhorne in Petersburg, Virginia, son of Thomas Baker Bond, a tobacco buyer, and Mary Potter Langhorne
1917
Enlisted in World War I, serving in the army in France for the duration of the war
1929
Started working for Curtiss-Wright Corporation
1931
Accepted the position of Operations Manager for the China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC), in Shanghai
1933
When Pan American Airways purchased Curtiss-Wright interests in CNAC, Bond became a Pan American employee
1935 May 15
Married Katherine (Kitsi) Dunlop in Shanghai
1937
When fighting broke out between Japan and China, Pan American withdrew from active operations in China during the United States policy of political neutrality. Bond became a CNAC employee to ensure the continued operations of CNAC as a Chinese civilian air transport company. After the war, he returned to work for Pan American
1937-1942
CNAC continued to be active through the war despite evacuations from the main operating bases of Shanghai, Hankow and Hong Kong
1941
Pioneered the "Hump" route between China and India, an essential air link to China during World War II
1947
Promoted to vice president, Orient by Pan American Airlines
1949
After the fall of the Nationalist Chinese government, CNAC assets were sold to China for the Civil Air Transport
1950
Retired to his farm in Warrenton, Virginia
1985 July 16
Died, Ponte Vedra, Florida
2001
Author, Wings for an Embattled China, ed. James E. Ellis, Lehigh University Press, 2001. Posthumously published autobiography and history of the CNAC
Acquisition information:
Materials were acquired by the Hoover Institution Library Archives in 2005.
Arrangement:

Arranged in five series: Biographical File, Correspondence, Writings, China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC) Files, Photographs, and Printed Materials

Physical location:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

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.

Terms of access:

For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], W. Langhorne Bond Papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives

Location of this collection:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003, US
Contact:
(650) 723-3563
hooverarchives@stanford.edu
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