American Bureau for Medical Aid to China Records, 1937-2005

Summary Information

At a Glance

Arrangement

Arrangement

Selected materials cataloged; remainder arranged.

• Series I: Cataloged Correspondence
• Series II: Permanent File
• Series III: Program Files
• Series IV: Alfred Kohlberg File
• Series V: Development Files
• Series VI: Fellowship Name File
• Series VII: Fellowships and Program Files
• Series VIII: Aid Refugee Chinese Intellectuals
• Series IX: American Emergency Committee for Tibetan Refugees
• Series X: Free China Fund
• Series XI: United China Relief and Subject File
• Series XII: United Service to China: Subject File
• Series XIII: Photographs
• Series XIV: Printed Materials
• Series XV: 1986 Addition, 1986
• Series XVI: Printed Materials
• Series XVII: Audio Visual, etc.
• Subseries XVII.1: Photograph Albums
• Subseries XVII.2: Record Albums
• Subseries XVII.3: Phonograph Records
• Subseries XVII.4: Tapes
• Subseries XVII.5: Motion Picture Films
• Subseries XVII.6: Photographs, Posters, Drawings, and Scrapbook
• Series XVIII: Additions (Various)
• Series XIX: Archived Web Site, 2013-present

Description

Summary

Papers of the American Bureau for Medical Aid to China consist of correspondence, memoranda, reports, minutes, committee files, membership records, financial records, fund raising records, motion pictures, audio tapes, phonograph records, photographs, posters, publications of ABMAC and other printed materials. Also included are the files of related Chinese relief organizations: Aid Refugee Chinese Intellectuals, 1954-1969; American Emergency Relief, 1941-1946; United Services to China, 1941-1977. Of particular interest are approximately 6,000 photographs of Chinese medical colleges, hospitals, laboratories and personnel and 45 phonograph records including speeches by such ABMAC supporters as Mme. Chiang Kai-Shek, Pearl S. Buck, Wendell Willkie, Fiorello LaGuardia and a number of movie stars

• Series I: Cataloged Correspondence

• Series II: Permanent File

• Series III: Program Files

• Series IV: Alfred Kohlberg File

• Series V: Development Files

• Series VI: Fellowship Name File

  Arranged chronologically and subarranged according to first letter of last name.

• Series VII: Fellowships and Program Files

• Series VIII: Aid Refugee Chinese Intellectuals

• Series IX: American Emergency Committee for Tibetan Refugees

• Series X: Free China Fund

• Series XI: United China Relief and Subject File

• Series XII: United Service to China: Subject File

• Series XIII: Photographs

• Series XIV: Printed Materials

• Series XV: 1986 Addition, 1986

• Series XVI: Printed Materials

• Series XVII: Audio Visual, etc.

• Series XVIII: Additions (Various)

  A significant addition to the collection, made up of various accessions. Of particular interest, is the planning for the dissolution of ABMAC in 2003

• Series XIX: Archived Web Site, 2013-present

Using the Collection

Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Restrictions on Access

You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.

Boxes 1-270 are located off-site. You will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. Tube boxes are on-site.

Some unique time-based media items have been reformatted and are available onsite via links in the container list. Commercial materials are not routinely digitized. Email rbml@columbia.edu for more information.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

Readers must use microfilm of materials specified above. Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.

Preferred Citation

Cite as: ABMAC Records. Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Columbia University.

Accruals

Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.

Alternate Form Available

Pearl S. Buck letters are on: microfilm.

Boxes 1-3 are on: microfilm.

Ownership and Custodial History

Gift of ABMAC, 1980; gift of John Watt, 1985-1986.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Source of acquisition--ABMAC and John Watt. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--1980. Accession number--M-1980.

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Processing Information

Processed by ARC/AR 12/80; LR 12/85; RJ. Processed HR 06/11/90.

Revision Description

2009-06-26 File created.

2011-11-30 EAD created by PTL

2015-09-10 Addition (Series XVIII) processed by PTL

2017-03-30 Website Archive (Series XIX) added by JG

2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.

Subject Headings

The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches at Columbia University through the Archival Collections Portal and through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, as well as ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.

All links open new windows.

Genre/Form

Subject

History / Biographical Note

Biographical / Historical

The American Bureau for Medical Aid to China (ABMAC) was founded in 1937 to give aid to Chinese medical and public health services by working through existing Chinese medical agencies. Between 1937 and 1945 more than ten million dollars in aid was given to China. After World War II, ABMAC concentrated on aiding six national medical colleges by administering a fellowship program for faculty members of these colleges to spend a year of study in the United States, by sending American medical faculty members to the six colleges as visiting professors, and by providing technical assistance in the form of books for medical libraries, text books for the classroom, equipment for laboratories and other educational materials. In 1949 when the Peoples Republic of China was established, ABMAC shifted its aid to Taiwan.