This collection is open for research.
Onsite storage.
This collection contains personal correspondence between Headland and other missionaries and teachers and correspondence regarding Peking University's endowment, as well as photographs and clippings collected by Headland as a missionary, professor, and college president in China. Included are formal portraits and street scenes of everyday life, people, and important personages in China, as well as images of Beijing, military forces involved in the Boxer Rebellion, and the Qing Imperial family. Also included are portraits of Chinese people and Western missionaries that were clipped from publications. Most of the photographs are undated and many lack identifying information; photographic portraits which have been identified include those of:
Shanqi, the 10th prince Su 肅親王 1866 - 1922 Led the attempted 1917 restoration Zhang Xun 張勳 1854 - 1923 Qing loyalist general Wang Wenshao 王文韶 1830 - 1908 Prominent late-Qing official Zhou Fu 周馥, 1837 - 1921 Viceroy of Liangguang The Xuantong Emperor 宣統皇帝 1906 - 1967 Puyi, the last Emperor of China The First Prince Chun 醇賢親王 1840 - 1891 Father of Puyi Prince Pujie 溥傑 1907 - 1994 Younger brother of Puyi Prince Pulun 溥伦 1869 - 1925 Nephew of the Guangxu Emperor Moses and Nelly Parmelee 18?? - 18?? Missionaries to Armenia George Heber Jones 1867 - 1919 Missionary to Korea
Isaac Taylor Headland papers, circa 1890 -- 1939
This series contains personal correspondence between Headland and other missionaries and teachers and correspondence regarding Peking University's endowment, as well as photographs and clippings collected by Headland as a missionary, professor, and college president in China. Included are formal portraits and street scenes of everyday life, people, and important personages in China, as well as images of Beijing, military forces involved in the Boxer Rebellion, and the Qing Imperial family. Also included are portraits of Chinese people and Western missionaries that were clipped from publications. Most of the photographs are undated and many lack identifying information; photographic portraits which have been identified include those of:
Shanqi, the 10th prince Su 肅親王 1866 - 1922 Led the attempted 1917 restoration Zhang Xun 張勳 1854 - 1923 Qing loyalist general Wang Wenshao 王文韶 1830 - 1908 Prominent late-Qing official Zhou Fu 周馥, 1837 - 1921 Viceroy of Liangguang The Xuantong Emperor 宣統皇帝 1906 - 1967 Puyi, the last Emperor of China The First Prince Chun 醇賢親王 1840 - 1891 Father of Puyi Prince Pujie 溥傑 1907 - 1994 Younger brother of Puyi Prince Pulun 溥伦 1869 - 1925 Nephew of the Guangxu Emperor Moses and Nelly Parmelee 18?? - 18?? Missionaries to Armenia George Heber Jones 1867 - 1919 Missionary to Korea
Missionary Research Library Archives: MRL6, China
This collection is organized in one series arranged by format.
This collection is open for research.
Onsite storage.
Some material in this collection may be protected by copyright and other rights. Information concerning copyright, fair use, and reproduction requests can be consulted at Columbia's Copyright Advisory Office.
Item description, MRL6: Isaac Taylor Headland papers, circa 1890-1939, box #, folder #, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York.
Formerly part of the independent Missionary Research Library (MRL), these records were accessioned by the Burke Library at the time of the MRL's closure in 1976.
Columbia University Libraries, Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary
Metal clips and staples were removed from materials and folded items were flattened. Materials were placed in new acid-free folders and boxes. Photographs were placed in Mylar envelopes while clippings were placed in acid-free paper folders. The first two original copies of photographs were kept in place, and any additional copies were moved to folder 18. The finding aid was created by Gregory Adam Scott in 2010, updated by Brigette Kamsler in 2014 with the support of the Henry Luce Foundation, and edited by Leah Edelman in 2021.
2021-07-08 PDF converted to EAD and description updated by Leah Edelman.
Isaac Taylor Headland was born on August 16, 1859 in Freedom, PA. In 1888 he graduated with an A.B. from Mount Union College, and in 1911 he was awarded an honorary Ph.D. In October 1890, he arrived in China as a missionary under the auspices of the American Methodist Episcopal Mission. He was posted to Beijing, the capital of Imperial China, and worked as professor of science at Peking University. On June 11, 1894 he married Marian Sinclair, a doctor who served as physician to many aristocratic families in Beijing. Marian also treated the Empress Dowager Cixi 慈禧太后, then the political ruler of China. Headland was associated with the Education Association of China, the Peking Missionary Association, and the YMCA. From 1901 to 1904 he served as president of the Anglo-Chinese College 鶴齡英華書院 in Fuzhou 福州. He also published numerous articles and books, many of which made use of the photographs in this collection. His publications include Chinese Mother Goose, 1900; Chinese Heroes, 1902; Court Life in China, 1909; By-Products of Missions, 1912; and China's New Day, 1912. After he returned to America, he taught comparative religion at Mount Union College from 1914 to 1937. He died on August 2, 1942 in Alliance, Ohio. A number of pieces of Chinese art in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston were donated by Headland.
The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.
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| Name | ||
|---|---|---|
| Headland, Isaac Taylor, 1859-1942 -- : Archives | CLIO Catalog | ArchiveGRID |
| Subject | ||
| Missions -- China | CLIO Catalog | ArchiveGRID |