MRL 7: Kagawa Toyohiko Papers, 1929 - 1968 2
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The Burke Library Archives, Columbia University Libraries, Union Theological Seminary, New York Missionary Research Library Archives: Section 7 Finding Aid for Kagawa Toyohiko Papers, 1929 – 1968 Credit to MRL 7: Kagawa Toyohiko Papers, Series 3, Box 1, Folder 1, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York. Finding Aid prepared by: Original Arrangement and Edits by Timothy Kinrey, 1979; Patricia E. LaRosa, 2006; Aram Bae, 2008; Gregory Adam Scott, 2009 Revised with additions by Elizabeth Beller and Brigette C. Kamsler, July 2013 With financial support from the Henry Luce Foundation Summary Information Creator: Emerson O. Bradshaw, 1888-1960 Title: Kagawa Toyohiko Papers Inclusive dates: 1927 – 1968 Bulk dates: 1936 – 1954 Abstract: Kagawa Toyohiko 賀川豊彦 (1888-1960) Japanese Evangelist, labor union organizer, poet, and pacifist; workers’ unions; American support group for Kagawa’s tours; letters, articles, speeches, photographs, administrative records, brochures, sound recordings, film and biography by E. O. Bradshaw. Size: 15 boxes + 3 Film Canisters; 7.75 linear feet Storage: Onsite storage Repository: The Burke Library Union Theological Seminary 3041 Broadway New York, NY 10027 Email: [email protected] MRL 7: Kagawa Toyohiko Papers, 1929 - 1968 2 Administrative Information Provenance: Originally part of the independent Missionary Research Library, these records were moved with the MRL to the Brown Memorial Tower of Union Theological Seminary in 1929. In 1976 the records were accessioned to the Burke Library archives with the closure of the MRL. Additional material was added in 2013. Access: Archival papers are available to registered readers for consultation by appointment only. Please contact archives staff by email to [email protected], or by postal mail to The Burke Library address on page 1, as far in advance as possible Burke Library staff is available for inquiries or to request a consultation on archival or special collections research. Access Restrictions: Original reel to reel tapes of speeches and interviews from the 1954 American tour and three films from 1937 are fragile and not accessible. Sound recordings of the original tapes are available for consultation only in service copies of preservation digital CD format, which can be listened to in the Special Collections reading room. A Poster advertising a Kagawa book is restricted for preservation reasons and a digital copy is available for consultation within the collection. Material is indicated as [RESTRICTED]. The rest of the collection is unrestricted. Preferred Citation: Item description, MRL 7: Kagawa Toyohiko Papers, series #, box #, and folder #, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York. Biography Kagawa Toyohiko was born on July 10, 1888 the son of an aristocratic father and one of his many lovers. Orphaned at age 4, Kagawa moved to rural Awa on the island of Shikoku to live with his father’s wife and her mother until he was ten years old. Around the time Kagawa turned ten he left the family’s country estate and moved to Tokushima. It was during his time at the Boys’ Middle School of Tokushima he met Dr. Harry W. Myers and Charles A. Logan and was introduced to Christianity. In 1905, Kagawa began his studies at the Presbyterian College in Tokyo (Meiji Gakuin) supported by Presbyterian and Reformed missions. He completed his theological studies in Japan at the Kobe Theological Seminary. While studying at Kobe, Kagawa moved to the Shinkawa slum neighborhood and began his work as a proponent of the poor and advocate for social reform in rapidly modernizing Japan. From the beginning of his studies Kagawa expressed compassion for the plight of the poor. Kagawa also suffered from multiple ailments including tuberculosis which would affect his health adversely over the course of his life. During his time at Kobe Theological Seminary Kagawa met his wife Haru, who joined him on his Evangelical journey through life. Kagawa came to the United States in 1914 and entered Princeton Theological Seminary, where he earned a Bachelor of Divinity in 1916. His time at Princeton began a long-term association with Evangelical and other Christian leaders in the United States. These relationships extended through the Second World War and into the mid-20th century. Kagawa returned to the Shinkawa Elizabeth Beller and Brigette C. Kamsler 11/10/15 MRL 7: Kagawa Toyohiko Papers, 1929 - 1968 3 neighborhood of Kobe, and took up his Christian preaching and works upon completion of his degree at Princeton. Kagawa also began organizing laborers into unions and advocating for the Japan Federation of Labor. He was arrested several times during labor strikes in the 1920’s. A proponent of non-violence, Kagawa was beginning to gain fame not only in Japan for his social work at this time but overseas as well. The year 1928 marked a turning point for Kagawa and, after extended time in prayer, he began evangelism tours of Japan, initiating the One Million Souls for Christ movement. He had support from John R. Mott, who encouraged the churches in Japan to cooperate with Kagawa’s mission, and they named the mission the Kingdom of God movement. Associated with this was a Christian newspaper, Kingdom of God Weekly 神の国新聞. Kagawa’s objectives were evangelism, education, and social organization. Kagawa’s first of four speaking tours to the United States occurred in 1936. He arrived in San Francisco in December 1935, but was detained because of his trachoma (an eye infection), and it required a letter from President Roosevelt to allow him entrance to the country. He spoke in many cities across the United States and Canada over the next six months, including stops at Princeton and Cornell Universities. He sailed from New York on June 30, 1936. In the summer of 1941 he visited America again on a peace mission with the Japanese Christian Fellowship Deputation, stopping for conferences in Riverside, CA, Chicago, IL and Atlantic City, NJ. In 1950 he returned for a speaking tour, arriving in New York in July ahead of 146 planned engagements over six months in the United States and Canada. His last tour of the United States began in June 1954 and centered on his attendance at the World Council of Churches meeting in Evanston, Illinois that August. He left Los Angeles to return to Japan in October of that year. Kagawa’s tours were supported by the Kagawa National Committee, located in Brooklyn, New York. Emerson O. Bradshaw was the field representative; Galen M. Fisher the Honorary Chairman, and J. Henry Carpenter, secretary. Among the many participants on the sponsoring committee was Rev. Harry Emerson Fosdick. Kagawa wrote over 150 books throughout his career as an evangelist for peace and community. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace prize in 1955. Kagawa died on April 23, 1960, and received the Order of the Sacred Treasure (Zuihōshō 瑞宝章) posthumously. Collection Scope and Content Note This collection consists of material related to Kagawa’s American tours and Kagawa’s correspondence with his American peers. It includes correspondence and publicity material surrounding Kagawa’s visits and administrative documents of the organization that made these visits possible, the Kagawa National Committee. Also included are audio files of his sermons and speeches while on tour, various ephemera produced by Kagawa and his American supporters to raise funds for his work in Japan as well as manuscripts by those who knew Kagawa closely and translated manuscripts of works Kagawa would publish. Elizabeth Beller and Brigette C. Kamsler 11/10/15 MRL 7: Kagawa Toyohiko Papers, 1929 - 1968 4 A portion of the records were donated by Emerson O. Bradshaw, a Chicago resident and traveling companion of Kagawa’s during his tours of the United States. Active in the American Evangelical movement, Bradshaw wrote extensively about Kagawa and was extremely active in promoting Kagawa’s message of love, pacifism and social welfare prior to, during and after World War Two. The collection is organized in four series: Series 1: Kagawa’s American Tours, 1927 - 1968 (8 boxes, 4.00 lin. ft.) The first series covers the correspondence, organizational and publicity papers of the Kagawa Cooperators, the group of Americans who helped to organize and promote Kagawa’s lecture tours in the USA. Significant among these Cooperators were Helen Topping and Henry Topping and E. O. Bradshaw. The series covers Kagawa’s American Tour 1936, the American Peace Mission 1941, American Tour 1950 and American Tour 1954. Included are photographs, radio interview transcripts, press releases, translated manuscripts. Series 2: Kagawa National Committee Records, 1936 - 1960 (4 boxes, 2.00 lin. ft.) Within this series are included administrative correspondence, paperwork, financial records and detailed information regarding the day to day, month to month and year to year functioning of the New York based Kagawa National Committee, a group responsible for a significant amount of fundraising for Kagawa’s mission in Japan as well as the organization and implementation of his later tours of the United States of America. Of particular note are the Traveling Sheets. Within those, there is a number of correspondence regarding the organization and logistics of Kagawa and Bradshaw’s 1954 tour of America. Series 3: Hunter Family Materials, 1931 – [195?] (2 boxes, 0.75 lin. ft.) This series contains personal materials Kagawa gave to Stanley Hunter and his family. Notable are books he gifted with photographs and inscriptions pasted inside. Series 4: Audio-Visual Materials, 1937 - 1960 (1 box, 3 canisters, 1.75 lin. ft.) Additional materials relating to Kagawa in non-paper format were discovered within library storage and added to this archival collection in 2008. Series 4A: Audio recordings, 1948 - 1960 (1 box, 0.5 lin. ft.) This series consists of one box of thirty-one audio recordings [CD listening copies] of addresses and press conferences in 1948, 1950, 1954.