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Guide to the Edward Thomas Williams Papers, [ca. 1872-1944]
BANC MSS C-B 977
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Collection Title: Edward Thomas Williams Papers,
Date (inclusive): [ca. 1872-1944]
Collection Number: BANC MSS C-B 977
Creator:
Williams, Edward Thomas, 1854-1944
Extent:
Number of containers: 1 box, 9 cartons, 1 volume, 1 oversize folder and 2 rolled items (in 1 package)
Number of microfilm reels: 4
Repository: The
Bancroft Library
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Abstract: Correspondence; MSS of his writings on China and the Far East; and of an unpublished autobiography; diaries; account books;
clippings of articles written by him; personalia; photographs; and scrapbooks, relating primarily to his career in the U.S.
diplomatic service in China; as professor of oriental languages, University of California, Berkeley; as advisor on far eastern
affairs to the American Commission to Negotiate Peace, 1919; and as a special assistant to Department of State for the Conference
on Limitation of Armament, 1921-22. Included also is some material prior to 1896 relating to his ministry in the Disciples
of Christ Church in the U.S. and China
Languages Represented:
English
Collection is open for research.
Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts
must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft
Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which
must also be obtained by the reader.
[Identification of item], Edward Thomas Williams papers, BANC MSS C-B 977, The Bancroft Library, University of California,
Berkeley.
- 1 carton of photographs
Identifier/Call Number: (BANC PIC 1965.011-.020)and 1 photograph of San Francisco residencesIdentifier/Call Number: (BANC PIC 1965.001--PIC)were transferred to the Pictorial Collections of The Bancroft Library.
Edward Thomas Williams was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1854. In 1875 he graduated from Bethany College and was also ordained
in the Disciples of Christ Church. After serving in pastorates at Springfield (Illinois), Denver, Brooklyn, and Cincinnati,
he was sent to China in 1887. Here he became intensely interested in the country and began to study the language, history
and customs.
In 1896 Williams left the ministry to serve the American goverment in China in a succession of posts of increasing importance
and responsibility. For several years he was interpreter to the American Consulate-General at Shanghai, and from 1901 to 1908,
Chinese Secretary of the American Legation at Peking. In 1909 while serving as Consul General at Tientsin, he was transferred
to Washington to the post of Assistant Chief of the Division of Far Eastern Affairs in the Department of State.
Williams returned to China in 1911 as Secretary and Chargé d'Affairs of the American Legation at Peking. As such he was able
to observe first-hand the revolutionary movement and to represent the United States government on the occasion of the recognition
of the Chinese Republic. Again recalled to Washington, he served as Chief of the Division of Far Easten Affairs in the Department
of State from 1914 to 1918. He resigned in 1918 and accepted the position of third Agassiz Professor of Oriental Languages
and Literature at the University of California at Berkeley. His academic career was interruped several months later when he
went to the Paris Peace Conference as technical advisor on far eastern affairs to the American commission. Again in 1921 he
was granted leave to serve as consultant on far eastern questions to the American delegation to the Conference on the Limitation
of Armaments.
In the course of his academic career he wrote two books,
China Yesterday and Today (1923), and
A Short History of China (1928), many articles on China and the far east, and reviews and translations. He was a memeber of numerous societies and
received three decorations from the Chinese government. Professor Williams retired in 1927 and died in Berkeley in 1944.
This collection of papers was a gift to The Bancroft Library from his daughter, Gladys Williams, and son, E. T. Williams,
in 1965, with additions in 1966 and 1967. It relates mainly to his career in government service and to his writings. Portraits
have been cataloged separately (14911-14924).
A key to arrangements follow.