Scope and Contents
Regular and detailed letters from Austin O. Long to his family members in the United States provide valuable documentation of YMCA work in Tianjin (Tientsin) and Shenyang (Mukden). Letters are weekly for the first several years but decline in frequency to biweekly or monthly towards the end of his term. Long describes his daily activities in detail; he comments on the political situation, on relations with Chinese YMCA staff, on Masonic activities in his community, etc. An interesting letter of January 23, 1927 discusses the disruption of denominational cooperation in North China caused by Canadian missionary Goforth. The diaries or appointment books provide extremely detailed documentation of Long's daily schedule. They are factual rather than introspective in nature.
Many of the letters are carbon copies typed on both sides of thin paper. They are legible but cannot be easily photocopied or scanned.
Dates
- 1918-1929
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
The materials are open for research.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Minette Long Munson
Arrangement
- I. Correspondence, 1918-1928
- II. Diaries, 1919-1929
Extent
1 Linear Feet (2 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Abstract
Letters and diaries document Long's YMCA work in Tianjin (Tientsin) and Shenyang (Mukden) and shed light on the political situation in China during the 1920s. Austin O. Long was a YMCA worker in Tianjin (Tientsin), China from 1919 to 1923 and in Shenyang (Mukden), Manchuria from 1924 to 1928.
Biographical / Historical
- 1888
- Born in Buffalo, New York
- 1908
- Graduated from Hiram College, OH
- 19xx
- Ordained minister, Church of Christ, Buffalo, NY
- 1918
- Went to China, attended North China Union Language School, Beijing (Peking)
- 1919-1923
- Served YMCA in Tianjin (Tientsin); family vacationed in Beidaihe (Peitaho) during summers
- 1924 January-November
- Furlough
- 1924 November-1928
- Served YMCA in Shenyang (Mukden), Manchuria
- 1928
- Returned to U.S. for education of children; served YMCAs in Brooklyn and Flushing NY, Scranton, PA. Worked for United China Relief during early part of World War II; opened and operated U.S.O. in Pensacola, FL during 1940s.
- 1967
- Died
Processing Information
Place names were modernized in the description, with the name originally used in the collection material or in an older version of the finding aid in parenthesis: e.g. “Beijing (Peking)” or “Benin (Dahomey)”.
- Title
- Guide to the Austin O. Long Papers
- Author
- Compiled by Martha Lund Smalley
- Date
- 1998
- Description rules
- Finding Aid Prepared According To Local Divinity Library Descriptive Practices
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Part of the Yale Divinity Library Repository