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Finding Aid for the Verne Dyson Papers, 1914-1962
804
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Title: Verne Dyson Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1914-1962
Collection number: 804
Creator:
Dyson, Verne, 1879-
Extent:
18 boxes (9.0 linear ft.)
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Abstract: Verne Dyson (1879- ) was a feature writer for the
Kansas City Star (1907), and joined the staff of the
Los Angeles Times as manager of the Pasadena news bureau and Sunday editor. At the end of World War I, he went to Shanghai, China to become
dean of Williams College. In 1921, he became professor of English and Chinese history at the University of the Philippines
in Manila and helped to found the Philippine Academy of Social Sciences. The collection consists of correspondence, research
notes, unpublished manuscripts, books, pamphlets, clippings, maps, articles, scrapbooks, student compositions, photographs,
postcards, and original prints of Verne Dyson, American journalist, teacher and author.
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, Department
of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Language:
English.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library,
Department of Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of
the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the
copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC
Regents do not hold the copyright.
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Advance notice required for access.
Additional Physical Form Available
A copy of the original version of this online finding aid is available at the UCLA Department of Special Collections for in-house
consultation and may be obtained for a fee. Please contact:
- Public Services Division
- UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections
- Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
- Box 951575
- Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
- Telephone: 310/825-4988 (10:00 a.m. - 4:45 p.m., Pacific Time)
- Email: spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
[Identification of item], Verne Dyson Papers (Collection 804). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research
Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Dyson was born in 1879 in Calloway County, Missouri; graduated from Central College in 1905; became the feature writer for
the
Kansas City Star in 1907; in the same year he joined the staff of the
Los Angeles Times as manager of the Pasadena news bureau and Sunday editor; wrote a history of Los Angeles; after the end of World War I, he
went to Shanghai, China to become dean of Williams College; in 1921 he became professor of English and Chinese history at
the University of the Philippines in Manila and helped to found the Philippine Academy of Social Sciences; appointed director
of the Chinese Studies Institute in 1933; from 1940-61 he served as curator of the Walt Whitman Museum at Huntington, New
York; founded the
Brentwood,
New York Bulletin, and the
Walt Whitman Quarterly; retired to Los Angeles in 1961; published works include the novel
Black Cloth (1925),
Forgotten Tales of Ancient China (1934), and
Whitmanland: West Hills Memories of the Poet and His Ancestors (1960).
Verne Dyson was born in Calloway County, Missouri, in 1879. He spent his youth and early manhood in Missouri, Clayton, New
Mexico, and graduated from West Denver High School in 1900. He attended Central College, Missouri, and graduated from that
institution in 1905. He entered the career of journalism and in 1907 became the feature writer for the
Kansas City Star.
In 1907 Mr. Dyson joined the staff of the
Los Angeles Times as manager of the Pasadena News Bureau and Sunday Editor. At this time he became interested in California history and associated
himself with George W. Hazard in the Hazard Historical Association to produce a history of the Los Angeles region. When George
Hazard died in 1914, Dyson purchased his extensive collection of historical materials from the Hazard family and determined
to complete the history of Los Angeles. Sustained by his collecting proclivities, the Collection grew to over ten thousand
items. He continued his research for the history of Los Angeles and completed a manuscript which is part of this collection.
At the close of the first World War, Dyson went to Shanghai, China, to become Dean of Williams College. In 1921 he became
professor of English and Chinese history at the University of the Philippines in Manila and helped to found the Philippine
Academy of Social Sciences there. He received the appointment of Director of the Chinese Studies Institute in 1933, and from
1940 to 1961 he served as Curator of the Walt Whitman Museum at Huntington, Long Island, New York. While engaged in this work,
he also founded the
Brentwood,
New York Bulletin and the
Walt Whitman Quarterly. Since 1961 Mr. Dyson has been retired and living in Los Angeles.
Verne Dyson is the author of a number of books and many articles. His literary papers described in this register include his
correspondence, research notes and unpublished manuscripts as well as photographs and other related printed matter which he
collected in connection with his research interests.
Collection consists of correspondence, research notes, unpublished manuscripts, books, pamphlets, clippings, maps, articles,
scrapbooks, student compositions, photographs, postcards, and original prints of Verne Dyson, American journalist, teacher
and author. Most of the papers relate to the history of China and the Philippines. Manuscripts include
Ancient China;
Festive China;
China, Russia, and Japan in Manchuria,
The Cultural Development of the Philippines,
Canton, and
The Life of Los Angeles, the City of the Century.
Arranged in the following series:
- Books by Dyson (Box 1).
- Manuscripts by Dyson (Boxes 1-5, 18).
- Research material on China (Boxes 6-9).
- Material concerning Chinese famine relief (Box 10).
- Compositions by Chinese students, 1922 (Box 10).
- Miscellaneous material concerning China, the Institute of Pacific Relations, and the Philippine Islands (Boxes 11-14).
- Chinese pictures collected by Dyson (Boxes 15-17).
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Dyson, Verne, b. 1879--Archives.
Journalists--United States--Archival resources.
Sinologists--United States--Archival resources.
Verne Dyson oral history transcript:
Recollections / Verne Dyson, interviewee. UCLA Oral History Department interview, c1967. Available at Department of Special Collections,
UCLA.