Register of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. China Office records
Finding aid prepared by Hoover Institution Archives Staff
Hoover Institution Library and Archives
© 1999, 2004
434 Galvez Mall
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003
hoover-library-archives@stanford.edu
Title: United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. China Office records
Date (inclusive): 1943-1948
Collection Number: XX288
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
39 manuscript boxes
(16.3 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Reports, manuals, bulletins, correspondence, and administrative orders, relating to social and economic conditions in China,
and to United Nations relief activities in China
Creator:
United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. China Office
Access
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.
Use
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquisition Information
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. China Office. Records, [Box no., Folder
no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Historical Note
On November 9, 1943, the agreement establishing the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) was signed
by 44 Allied Nations, including the United States, to provide supplies and services to areas under occupation by the Axis
Powers. The largest project undertaken by UNRRA was the China program which had a total estimated cost of $658.4 million dollars.
Approximately 72% of UNRRA's fund was contributed by the United States, or $474 million dollars for the China Program.
The China Office was opened in Shanghai at the end of 1944, and operated until the official termination of the office on December
31, 1947. Final work and responsibilities were finished by March, 1948. The four directors of the China Office from 1944 to
1948 were:
- Benjamin H. Kizer (Oct. 24, 1944 - May 15, 1946)
- J. Franklin Ray, Jr. (Acting director, May 16, 1946 - August 26, 1947)
- Major General Glen E. Edgerton (August 27, 1946 - May, 1947)
- Harlan Cleveland (May 1, 1947 - February 24, 1948).
In January, 1945 the Chinese National Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (CNRRA) was
created by the Nationalist Government, as a special agency to administer and coordinate
UNRRA operations in China. Prior to the breakdown in the interparty peace negotiations
between the Nationalists and Chinese Communists in 1946, the Chinese Communists established
the Communists Liberated Areas Relief Administration (CLARA) which distributed UNRRA
supplies delivered to Communist territories.
The 2nd Resolution on Policy of the First Session of the Council of the United Nations
Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, adopted in 1943, states the following:
That, in any area where relief and rehabilitation operations are being conducted through
the employment, in whole or in part, of the Administration's resources, relief and
rehabilitation shall be distributed or dispensed fairly on the basis of the relative needs
of the population in the area, and without discrimination because of race, creed, or
political belief.
The provinces of the North, which had been under the longest occupation by the Japanese,
were also the areas of Chinese Communist guerilla activity. After the Japanese surrender,
these territories fell under Chinese Communist control. Difficulties arose in the
distribution of aid due to the reality of civil war. The official history of the
Administration estimates that 2-3% (by weight) or 4-5% (by value) of all UNRRA supplies were
distributed to Communist-held territories.
The UNRRA program was conceived as a short-term program, but long-range goals to remove the
causes of necessity in war-devastated areas were also present. Food, medical supplies and
clothing were distributed as relief, and projects undertaken as part of industrial and
agricultural rehabilitation were of great importance for long-range economic
development.
The Recordsincluded in this collection were sent to the Hoover Institution by a U.S. Army
Intelligence officer named Pardee Lowe. Obtained from the Shanghai Office prior to its
closing, the Recordsdo not constitute the complete office file of the Administration. These
Recordsare located in the UN Archives in New York City and occupy 8,500 linear feet. The
most comprehensive file in the collection at the Hoover Institution relates to the
Agricultural Rehabilitation Division.
Sources: UNRRA:
The History of the United Nations Relief and
Rehabilitation Administration,
George Woodbridge (NY: Columbia U.P., 1950) 3 vol.
and
UNRRA: A Case Study in Financial Assistance for Economic
Development,
Irving Barnett, Ph.D. Thesis, Columbia University, 1955.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
China -- Social conditions
World War, 1939-1945 -- China
China -- Economic conditions -- 1912-1949
International relief
World War, 1939-1945 -- Civilian relief
Economic assistance
Reconstruction (1939-1951) -- China
United Nations
Chinese National Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
Office Files
1944-1948
Scope and Contents note
Resolution, minutes of staff meetings, regional reports, and special reports, arranged by subseries as listed.
box 1
Program and Estimated Requirements for Relief and Rehabilitation in China, presented by the National Government of China
September
1944.
box 1
Resolution on policy, 3rd through 6th sessions of the Council.
box 1
Journal of the 4th and 5th sessions of the Council.
box 1
UN Economic and Social Council: Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East. Agenda and report of the first session.
Office of the Director, UNRRA China Office.
box 1
Acting director's morning staff meeting minutes
August 1-26, 1946.
box 1
Director's morning staff meeting minutes
August 27-September 20, 1946,
January 30, 1947.
box 1
Status Sheet Number Twenty Five, prepared by the Office of the Director
March 15, 1947.
box 1
Letter from Leonard Tomkinson to Major-General Glen E. Edgerton, Director, UNRRA China Office, Enclosed with regional history
of Chekiang.
March 22, 1947.
box 1
Preliminary report from Lee C. Poole to Harlan Cleveland, Director, UNRRA China Office
September 22, 1947.
Agricultural Rehabilitation Division.
box 2
Weekly staff conference meeting minutes
May
1946-December
1947.
box 2
Monthly reports, November, December
1946
May
June
July
July-August
1947.
box 2
Regional conferences information.
box 2
Agricultural Analyst's Digest.
Office of the Economic and Financial Adviser.
box 3
Weekly summaries
February-June
1946.
box 3
Monthly reports
March 1947
May 1947.
box 3
Morning staff meeting minutes
August
1946-March
1947.
box 3
Joint CNRRA-UNRRA Supply Coordination Committee minutes
July 1947 - January 1948.
box 3
Welfare Division, Bulletin #1.
box 3
CNRRA-UNRRA Social Welfare Conference
March 1947.
Regional reports from UNRRA regional offices.
box 4
Anwhei
April 1946-February 1947.
box 4
Chekiang-Fukien
May-August 1946.
box 4
Chekiang-Hangchow
November 1946-February 1947.
box 5
Honan
September-November 1946.
box 5
Hopei-Jehol
April-November 1946.
box 5
Hupeh
September 1946-January 1947.
box 6
Kansu-Nanking
April 1946-February 1947.
box 6
Kiangsi
May 1946-March 1947.
box 7
Kwangsi
February 1946-March 1947.
box 7
Kwangtung
October 1946-July 1947.
box 7
North China Office
March 1947.
box 7
Shantung-Tsingtao
February 1946-March 1947.
box 8
Shantung-Tsingtao
February 1946-March 1947.
box 8
Taiwan
June 1946-February 1947.
box 8
Tientsin
March-December
1946
box 9
Weekly regional operations reports
December 1946-February 1947.
box 9
Personnel regional reports.
box 9
Conference report on
run-down and closure of regional offices
(February 1947).
box 9
Agricultural Rehabilitation in China During the UNRRA Period,
July 31, 1947.
General Physical Description note: Mimeograph copy.
box 9
Agriculture in Manchuria,
n.d.
General Physical Description note: Carbon copy.
box 9
CNRRA/UNRRA Supply Program for Communist Areas,
July
1947.
General Physical Description note: Mimeograph copy.
box 9
Delivery and Distribution of Supplies to Communist Areas in North China,
December
1946.
General Physical Description note: Mimeograph copy.
box 9
Final Report on Shanghai Surplus Property Procurement,
March 2, 1948.
General Physical Description note: Mimeograph copy.
box 9
List of Watercraft Delivered to China as of 10 March 1947.
General Physical Description note: Mimeograph copy.
box 9
The Nutritive Value of Chinese Fruits and Vegetables, by Woot Tsuen Wu
1943.
General Physical Description note: Mimeograph copy.
box 9
Report of Activities Relating to Communist Areas,Mimeograph copy. Note: Duplicate copies of this report are filed under Miscellany.
January 15, 1948.
box 9
A Report of General Information and Recommended Plan for Agricultural Rehabilitation in the Yellow River Flooded Areas of
Honan, Anwhei, and Kiangsi Provinces,
December
1946.
General Physical Description note: Mimeograph copy.
box 9
Report of Sale of UNRRA Mules-Tientsin,
July 10, 1946.
General Physical Description note: Carbon copy plus handwritten sheet.
box 9
Report on Trip to Manchuria, by R.C. Reisinger, DVM
October 8-24, 1946.
General Physical Description note: Typewritten plus carbon copies.
box 9
Report on Vessel Spare Parts Procurement for China Water Transport Program,
1947.
General Physical Description note: Mimeograph copy.
box 9
Report on Winter Wheat Crop in China, 1947,
September
1947.
General Physical Description note: Mimeograph copy.
General Administrative File
1945-1947
Scope and Contents note
Directives, bulletins, organization charts, field manuals and transmittal memoranda, supply catalogs, and forwarding crders
for supplies, arranged by subseries as listed.
box 10
Field administrative orders.
box 10
Headquarters administrative orders
box 10
Functional organization charts.
box 11
Basic field manuals and transmittal memoranda.
box 12
Basic field manuals and transmittal memoranda.
box 12
Office practices manuals.
box 12
Field missions supply catalogs.
Miscellany File
1945-1948
Scope and Contents note
Pamphlets, technical papers, and printed material, arranged by subseries as listed.
box 16
CNRRA: Its Purpose, Functions, and Organization,
1946.
box 16
War Department information pamphlets.
box 16
Daily Report on Financial & Price Statistics.
box 17
Duplicate copies of
Report on Activities Relating to Communist Areas.
