| Scope and content |
Correspondence concerns Bernard's activities as head of flood relief for the Shanghai district, his internment in the Chapei Civil Assembly Center, and Emma Bernard's voyage from China to the U.S. as a repatriate in 1943. A memoir written by Bernard offers his observations about China and the Chinese. Topics include battles around the Shanghai area among competing area warlords, the wrecking of the S.S. CHINA by the Japanese in Nagasaki Harbor, Chinese social customs, travel within China, activities of Chinese revolutionaries, a visit to Hong Kong and French Indochina, flood relief in the Shanghai area, International Red Cross work with Sino-Japanese War refugees, escorting Kay Fukuhara to the United States, and internment at Chapei Center. Financial and legal papers, clippings, and miscellaneous materials pertain mainly to Bernard's work in flood and famine relief, Emma Bernard's repatriation during World War II, and the Bernards' incarceration at Chapei Center. Other materials include a report describing the work of the American Red Cross and accounts describing aspects of Bernard's life as an internee in the Chapei Center, including his health, diet, and attitudes about his incarceration. |
| Access restriction | No access restrictions. |
| Cite as |
Harry V. Bernard Papers (#467), Special Collections Department, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA. |
| Terms of use | Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law. |
| Acquisitions source |
Joyner- Gift of Mrs. Barbara B. McGee. |
| Biographical note | Harry Virden Bernard was a sales representative in China for the Singer Sewing Machine Company and the Homestead Sewing Machine Company. He later served as head of the Shanghai district of the National Flood Relief Commission and the International Red Cross program. The Japanese placed Bernard and his wife under house arrest in 1941, and they became internees at the Chapei Civil Assembly prison camp near Shanghai in 1943. His wife was repatriated in September 1943, and Bernard remained in the camp until 1945. He served as acting head of the U.S. Consulate in Shanghai until April 1946, after which he moved to Washington, D.C., and formed the Central China Development Company. |
