D. Willard Lyon papers
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
- 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)
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.
Processing Information
Catalog Record ID number: 9976369485801701
- China Subject Source: Lcnaf
- Church work -- China. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Education -- China. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Lyon, David Willard, 1870-1949
- Young Men's Christian Associations of North America. International Committee
- Young Men's Christian associations -- China Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Title
- D. WILLARD LYON
- Subtitle
- An Inventory of his Papers
- Status
- In Progress
- Author
- Lara Friedman-Shedlov
- Date
- August 20119
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
Collecting Area Details
Contact The Kautz Family YMCA Archives Collecting Area