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Pearl S. Buck letters to Anne K. Sun
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Held at: Pearl S. Buck International [Contact Us]520 Dublin Road, Perkasie, PA, 18944
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Pearl S. Buck International. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Anne Koopman Sun (1889-1975) was born in Illinois to Alfred and Jennie Koopman in 1889. Anne worked as a public school teacher in Chicago until sometime in the 1920s when she went to China, where she taught in Shanghai and Chongqing (formerly Chungking). Anne married a Chinese banker, Hao Hsuan Sun. They had one son, Raydong Sun (1930-1958). She and Pearl Buck were longtime friends and corresponded regularly. Anne Sun and her son moved back to the United States in 1946. She lived in various suburbs outside of Chicago including Downers Grove and Evanston, Illinois. Anne passed away at a nursing home in Berrien Springs, Michigan in 1975.
This collection consists of thirteen letters from Pearl Buck to Anne Sun between 1947 and 1956. The letters cover topics including family news, events happening in China, opinions on China and communism, interracial families, and interracial child adoption. Also available in the collection is a booklet written by Pearl S. Buck, 1942, a photograph signed from Buck to Anne, and a label inscribed to Anne from Buck, 1958. Carbon copies of Pearl's letters to Anne for 1944 and 1946 are available in Record Group 1. Pearl S. Buck papers, Series 2. Correspondence of the Pearl S. Buck and Richard J. Walsh papers. An item-level listing and brief description is available below.
Fragment [April, 1947]: Pearl Buck to Anne Sun - PSB encourages Anne to write about interracial marriage; family news Fragment [undated]: Pearl Buck to Anne Sun - Pearl encourages Anne to write a "simple, serious book" about her marriage January 17, 1949: Pearl Buck to Anne Sun - PSB discusses a Chinese baby boy they are caring for; family news July 17, 1952: Pearl Buck to Anne Sun - Re: bad news from Hao Hsuan in China September 19, 1952: Pearl Buck to Anne Sun - Re: new home for Eric with Chu family [Welcome House child] November 22, 1952: Pearl Buck to Anne Sun - Pearl seeks advice from Anne about problem with placement of Eric with the Chu family Undated, Sunday: Pearl Buck to Anne Sun - Pearl describes visit from Raydong August 16, 1954: Pearl Buck to Anne Sun - News of Richard Walsh's illness; adoption of Henriette; regrets lack of news from China; discusses views on Communism in China; family news November 23, 1954: Pearl Buck to Anne Sun - Family news, comments on Welcome House children January 19, 1955: Pearl Buck to Anne Sun - About Chinese engineering students being allowed to return to China; comments on Communism January 26, 1956: Pearl Buck to Anne Sun - Family visits; Pearl writes about her children February 22, 1956: Pearl Buck to Anne Sun - Invitation to Jean's wedding; comments on her new book July 19, 1956: Pearl Buck to Anne Sun - Brief note on Raydong, family news Booklet, "Gift of Laughter" by Pearl S. Buck (published by the Pennsylvania Railroad, 1942) Photo of Pearl Buck, signed "To my dear friend, Anne, from Pearl S. Buck" Label inscribed: "To Anne, in affectionate friendship, Pearl S. Buck, Christmas 1958"
The collection was found in an envelope addressed to Donald A. Wallingford, c/o Chicago Junior School, Elgin, Illinois, postmarked March 22, 1977. It is not known how these letters came to the Pearl S. Buck Foundation.
Summary descriptive information on this collection was compiled in 2014-2016 as part of a project conducted by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania to make better known and more accessible the largely hidden collections of small, primarily volunteer run repositories in the Philadelphia area. The Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories (HCI-PSAR) was funded by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
This is a preliminary finding aid. No physical processing, rehousing, reorganizing, or folder listing was accomplished during the HCI-PSAR project.
In some cases, more detailed inventories or finding aids may be available on-site at the repository where this collection is held; please contact Pearl S. Buck International directly for more information.
People
Organization
Subject
- Adoption
- Adoption agencies
- Communism
- Communism--China
- Intercountry adoption
- Interracial adoption
- United States--Relations--China
Place
- Publisher
- Pearl S. Buck International
- Finding Aid Author
- Finding aid prepared by staff of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories using data provided by Pearl S. Buck International
- Sponsor
- This preliminary finding aid was created as part of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories. The HCI-PSAR project was made possible by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
- Access Restrictions
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Contact Pearl S. Buck International for information about accessing this collection.