COLLECTIONS

T. V. Soong Papers

Images from the collection Click on the image to start the slideshow. Once the slideshow has begun, mouse over the right/left side of image to see the next/previous buttons

T. V. Soong, Chinese Minister of Finance

Chinese Minister of Finance and Madame T. V. Soong arrive in Shanghai, 1933

Left to right: Henry L. Stimson, U.S. Secretary of War; James V. Forrestal, U.S. Secretary of the Navy; President Truman; T. V. Soong, Chinese Premier; Edward R. Stettinius, U.S. Secretary of State

T. V. Soong (2nd from left), Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs, with Maj. Gen. Albert C. Wedemeyer (2nd from right), Commanding General of U.S. forces in China and Chief of Staff to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek

T. V. Soong, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Maj. Gen. Albert C. Wedemeyer, Commanding General of U.S. forces in China and Chief of Staff to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, are together here following a conference at General Wedemeyer's headquarters after the latter arrived to assume his command in the China Theater, November 16, 1944. U.S. Army Photograph

Autograph of T. V. Soong at the time of the United Nations Conference on International Organization held in San Francisco, California, 1945. From an album of autographs, mainly of delegates to the UN Conference, in the Bruce T. Mitchell collection, Hoover Institution Archives

The Soong family at the Hoover Institution, March 12, 2004. Left to right: Tai-chun Kuo, Hoover Institution Research Fellow; Ramon H. Myers, Hoover Institution Senior Fellow and Consultant to the Hoover Institution Archives; Emil Chen, friend of the Soong family; Elliot Feng, great-grandson of T. V. Soong; Michael Feng, grandson of T. V. Soong

Michael Feng (left), grandson of T. V. Soong, Elliot Feng (center), great-grandson of T. V. Soong, and Leo Soong (right), nephew of T. V. Soong, visit the Hoover Institution on March 12, 2004

Michael Feng (center), grandson of T. V. Soong, with Hoover Institution Senior Fellow Ramon H. Myers (right) and Research Fellow Tai-chun Kuo (left) on March 12, 2004. Ramon Myers is also Consultant to the Hoover Institution Archives

Dr. Elena S. Danielson, Director of the Hoover Institution Library and Archives, introducing the T. V. Soong Archives. Courtesy of the World Journal

Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's letter to Premier T. V. Soong on China's post-war economic reconstruction, 1945 (left) Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's letter to Premier T. V. Soong on the situation in India (right)

Additional Links:

• Fact sheet and box number conversion chart
• A register of T. V. Soong papers

Description

The family of T. V. Soong, foreign minister of China during World War II, has decided to fully open, on April 26, 2004, all of the historical papers they have donated to the Hoover Institution Archives. While thirty-nine boxes of papers have been available to researchers at the archives since the 1970s, another nineteen boxes were closed out of respect for the privacy of T. V. Soong’s sister, Madame Chiang Kai-shek. When Madame passed away in 2003, the heirs decided, in the interest of fostering a more accurate understanding of their homeland, to open the closed boxes. In addition, the family recently added more than two thousand documents to the collection, all of which are to be opened along with the previously closed papers.

While the arrangement of folders and papers remains unchanged, the boxes in the original acquisition have been renumbered from 1 to 58. The box numbers for what was known as Schedule A have not changed. They are still numbered from 1 to 40. The boxes formerly known as Schedule B have changed. They are now boxes 41 to 58. To assist researchers, a box conversion chart for Schedule B is available.

Access Information

While the family wishes that all papers of T. V. Soong be opened to the public, they cannot authorize the release of security-classified government documents. In accordance with applicable laws, the archives has withdrawn security-classified documents from the collection. Once government officials are able to declassify them they will be returned to their proper locations in the boxes of open material. Several U.S. government agencies will be involved in the declassification process, and it is not known when declassification will be completed.

As a standard archival preservation procedure, use copies have been substituted for original documents in many cases. All information contained in the original documents is open and available in the use copies. Upon request, the original documents may be viewed under direct supervision by archives staff.

Press Release

Hoover Institution Opens a Window on Chinese History April 26