Bradfield Family Scrapbooks, 1932 - 1938 (MSS 161)

Extent: 2.15 Linear feet (2 archives boxes, and 1 oversize folder)

A small collection of photograph albums and scrapbooks, probably kept by Mr. and Mrs. Vergil F. Bradfield. Vergil Bradfield lived in Peking, China from 1919 to 1938. Two of the volumes contain photographs of China, including many images of Peking, its people, and environs. The scrapbooks contain memorabilia, ephemera and photostatic copies of illustrated Chinese medical texts.

The family of Vergil F. Bradfield lived in China (probably in Peking) during the 1920s and 1930s. Bradfield went to China in 1919 and was associated with the Peking Union Medical College. He left the country in 1938. Vergil's son Robert was born in China around 1926.

A small collection of photograph albums and scrapbooks, probably kept by Mr. and Mrs. Vergil F. Bradfield, parents of Robert Bradfield. Vergil Bradfield lived in China from 1919 to 1938. He was associated with the Peking Union Medical College. His son Robert Bradfield was born in China. The scrapbooks date from approximately 1932 to 1938. Two of the volumes contain photographs of China, including many images of Peking (modern-day Beijing), its people, and environs. One of the scrapbooks contains memorabilia, probably collected by Mrs. Vergil Bradfield, including newspaper accounts of Japanese military activities, invitations, and Chinese ephemera. The remaining scrapbook contains photostatic copies of illustrated Chinese medical texts.

The most significant resource in the collection are the photographic images of Chinese city and rural life, probably taken by the Bradfield family. Snapshots include street scenes, people, processions, the Foreign Compound, the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, and the Summer Palace. Also included are images of the Bradfield residences in China, family friends, family servants, and Japanese military activities.

Container List

SCRAPBOOKS

Box 1 Folder 1
Photograph album, ca. 1932-1938

Large album of photographs, probably most taken in the late 1930s. Most of the images are snapshots, probably taken by Bradfield. Included are images of Peking and its environs, including street scenes, people at markets and processions, the Foreign Compound, the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, and the Summer Palace. Also included are images of the Bradfield residences in China, family friends, family servants, and Japanese military activities.

Box 1 Folder 2
Photograph album, ca. 1932-1938

Large album of photographs, probably most taken in the late 1930s. Most of the images are snapshots, though some are prints probably mass-produced for the tourist trade. This album includes more rural and temple scenes, taken on Bradfield family travel excursions, than the previous album.

Box 1 Folder 3
Loose photographic prints, ca. 1932-1938

Small selection of loose scenic prints, primarily from the tourist trade.

Box 2 Folder 1
Scrapbook of memorabilia, ca. 1932-1938

Memorabilia and ephemera, probably collected by Mrs. Vergil Bradfield. Includes invitations, calling cards, advertisements, and newspaper clippings relating to the Japanese advance into China.

Oversize FB-126 Folder 2
Scrapbook of Chinese medical texts

Scrapbook contains photostatic copies of illustrated Chinese medical texts. Most of the texts deal with abnormal or unusual medical conditions. Some of the texts are accompanied with typewritten English translations.