D. Willard Lyon papers

Collection

Identifier: Y.USA.80

Staff Only

SCOPE AND CONTENTS OF THE COLLECTION

Reports, letters, and related papers of YMCA foreign secretary D. Willard Lyon, concerning his work in China and the development of the YMCA movement in China from the late 1890s to the early 1930s.

Dates

Creation: 1895-1935

Creator

Lyon, David Willard, 1870-1949 (Person)

Language of Materials

English, Chinese

Conditions Governing Access

Open for use in the Elmer L. Andersen Library reading room.

Conditions Governing Use

This collection may be protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S. Code). It is the user's responsibility to verify copyright ownership and to obtain all necessary permissions prior to the reproduction, publication, or other use of any portion of these materials. Researchers may quote from the collection under the fair use provision of the copyright law.

BIOGRAPHY OF D. WILLARD LYON

David Willard Lyon was born May 13, 1870 on a river houseboat in China. After spending his first decade in Hangzhou, he moved with his Presbyterian missionary parents to the U.S., and was educated at the College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio and the McCormick Tehological Seminary in Chicago. Lyon entered YMCA work in 1895 as the first field secreatry in China, establishing and directing the work in that country for the next forty years. A fluent speaker of Mandarin Chinese, he became an authority on the language and on Chinese literature for English speakers. He helped establish the literary department for the Chinese YMCA, did extensive translation work, and heading the secretarial training department of the Chinese Y. Lyon resided and worked in China until 1934, when he retired to Claremont, California. For the next decade he lectured on Chinese history, philosophy, and religion at a number of California colleges and universities, and was instrumental in founding the Society of Oriental Studies in Claremont. Lyon married Grace E. McGaw in 1895 and the couple had five children. Lyon died March 16, 1949.

[Biographical information is compiled from and largely quoted from Lyon's obituary in the Pomona Progress Bulletin (March 17, 1949) and other materials from the YMCA Biographical Files (Y.USA.12)]

Extent

.4 Cubic Feet (1 box)

Additional Description

Abstract

Reports, letters, and related papers of YMCA foreign secretary D. Willard Lyon, concerning his work in China from the late 1890s to the early 1930s.

Related Materials

Additional records related to Lyon and his work for the YMCA can be found in the YMCA Biographical Files (Y.USA.12). Many reports of his work in China can be found in the Records of YMCA International Work in China (Y.USA.9-2-4) and in the Annual and Quarterly Reports of YMCA International Work in China (Y.USA.9-1-1).