The T. V. Soong Papers
Selections of the vast papers of T. V. Soong, finance minister of China and foreign minister in World War II, and premier of China after the war, have been deposited at Hoover since the 1970s. Much of the Soong collection was restricted during the lifetime of Madame Chiang Kai-shek (Soong’s sister) out of respect for her privacy.
The collection was significantly enhanced in 2004, when the family of T. V. Soong not only opened up the restricted materials in the Hoover Archives but added substantial documentation from the family files. Those records document Soong’s close relationship with President Roosevelt, Soong’s role in marshaling U.S. support for China in World War II, and his family’s role in gaining U.S. support for Taiwan during the Cold War.
The Stilwell Papers
The Joseph W. Stilwell papers in the Hoover Institution Archives span the entire length of Stilwell’s military career, from his service as an intelligence officer with the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe at the end of World War I through his time in China during World War II. The Stilwell papers include his original diaries, correspondence, and numerous official documents. The papers also contain an extensive number of photographs depicting Stilwell, his family, and various personalities with whom he was associated.
Stilwell’s World War II diaries have been transcribed and may be consulted online at www.hoover.org/hila/stilwell.htm. An overview of the diaries has been provided by John Easterbrook, General Stilwell’s grandson.
