Grace Sydenstricker Yaukey papers , 1934-1968

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Spencer, Cornelia, 1899-1994
Title
Grace Sydenstricker Yaukey papers
Dates
1934-1968 (inclusive)
Quantity
2.5 linear feet, (4 containers)
Collection Number
Ax 498
Summary
Grace Sydenstricker Yaukey (1899-1994) was an author of books primarily for children. The collection includes manuscripts of books, articles, and short stories; correspondence; and reviews relating to Yaukey's interest in the history and culture of China.
Repository
University of Oregon Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives
UO Libraries--SCUA
1299 University of Oregon
Eugene OR
97403-1299
Telephone: 5413463068
spcarref@uoregon.edu
Access Restrictions

Collection is open to the public. Collection must be used in Special Collections and University Archives Reading Room. Collection or parts of collection may be stored offsite. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives in advance of your visit to allow for transportation time.

Additional Reference Guides

See the Current Collection Guide for detailed description and requesting options.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Historical NoteReturn to Top

Grace Sydenstricker Yaukey was born on May 12, 1899 in Chinkiang, China, the daughter of missionaries Absalom and Caroline (Stulting) Sydenstricker. She spent much of her life in China; it was not until her return to the United States in 1935 that she began writing. Her first works, short stories about China, were published in Asia magazine. Using the pen name Cornelia Spencer, Yaukey wrote more than thirty books, mostly for children, focused on the history and culture of China and other Asian countries. She also wrote on a variety of revolutions, both political and industrial, in the East and the West. She produced as well two biographies on her sister, the Nobel Prize-winning novelist Pearl. S. Buck.

Grace S. Yaukey received her B.A. from Maryville College in 1922 and her M.A. from Columbia University in 1930. She married a missionary, Jesse Baer Yaukey, and together they raised three children: Raymond, David, and Jean.

Her published works include Three Sisters (1938), China Trader (an adult novel, 1940), Elizabeth, England's Modern Queen (1941), Made in China (1943), The Exile's Daughter: A Biography of Pearl S. Buck (1944), The Land of the Chinese People (1945), Made in India (1946), The Missionary (an adult novel, 1947), Let's Read About China (1948), Japan (1948), Nehru of India (1948), Straight Furrow: The Biography of Harry S. Truman for Young People (1949), Understanding the Japanese (1949), Seven Thousand Islands: The Story of the Philippines (1951), Romulo: Voice of Freedom (1953), More Hands for Man: The Story of the Industrial Revolution (1960), The Song in the Streets: A Brief History of the French Revolution (1960), Claim to Freedom (1962), How Art and Music Speak to Us (1963), The Yangtze: China's River Highway (1963), Made in Japan (1963), Ancient China (1964), Pearl S. Buck: Revealing the Human Heart (1964), Keeping Ahead of Machines: The Human Side of the Automation Revolution (1965), China's Leaders in Ideas and Actions (1966), Sun Yat-Sen: Founder of the Chinese Republic (1967), Chiang Kai-Shek: Generalissimo of Nationalist China (1968), and Modern China, (1969).

Grace Yaukey was a member of Authors Guild, Authors League of America, Society of Women Geographers, Children's Book Guild (Washington, D.C.), and the East and West Association (Washington branch).

Grace Sydenstricker Yaukey died on May 3, 1994, of a heart attack in Sandy Spring, Maryland.

(Source: Gale Literary Databases. "Grace S(ydenstricker) Yaukey." Contemporary Authors. 2 October 2003. 22 June, 2005.)

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The Grace Sydenstricker Yaukey Papers consist of manuscripts of books and articles, and correspondence with publishers. Manuscripts of books include China Trader, China's Leaders in Ideas and Actions, Claim to Freedom, Elizabeth: England's Modern Queen, Keeping Ahead of Machines, Land of the Chinese People, Made in China, Made in India, Made in Japan, The Missionary, More Hands for Man, My Several Worlds, The Song in the Streets, Straight Arrow, Three Sisters, and Understanding the Japanese. The manuscripts for articles and short stories are Akbar Padshah, Black Hour, Catholic Father Released, China, Japan, George Catlett Marshall, James Yen of China, Lands Far and Near, Message to the Japanese Women, The Messenger, On Returning to America, The Scroll Maker, and The Reds Are Coming.

A large series of correspondence includes letters exchanged between Yaukey and publishers such as the John Day Company, Alfred A. Knopf, J.B. Lippincott, Macrae-Smith Company, and Row, Peterson and Company.

The published manuscripts are comprised of Chiang Kai-Shek and Sun Yat-sen, while Exploring the Origins of Social Welfare, How Caring Began, and The Story of Prisons are unpublished. There are two miscellaneous folders, of which the first houses research correspondence, photographs, pamphlets, and news clippings for Keeping Ahead of Machines, and the second contains reviews, biographical data, and the published story Mr. Kada Discovers Democracy..

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Children's literature, American--Authorship
  • Publishers and publishing--Correspondence
  • Women authors, American--20th century

Personal Names

  • Buck, Pearl S. (Pearl Sydenstricker), 1892-1973
  • Spencer, Cornelia, 1899-1994
  • Spencer, Cornelia, 1899-1994

Corporate Names

  • Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
  • J.B. Lippincott & Co.
  • John Day Company
  • Macrae-Smith Company
  • Row, Peterson, and Company

Geographical Names

  • China--Juvenile literature

Form or Genre Terms

  • Correspondence
  • Manuscripts for publication