Correspondence, 1933 - 1936

The papers of Gertrude M. Hoffman consist of two series: Series 1. Correspondence, and Series 2. Albums. The correspondence series comprises letters written to her family while she was teaching at the Oberlin Shansi Memorial School in Taigu, Shanxi, China, from 1933 to 1936. These letters describe her daily activities, classes taught, Chinese customs observed, visits to other parts of China and to Japan and Korea, and her study of the Chinese language. The March 1936 correspondence discusses the Communist army's movements in Shanxi Province which caused Hoffman and her colleagues to leave Taigu for Beijing. Hoffman's letters frequently mention other teachers and fellow Americans in China; they include Raymond T. Moyer (AB 1921), Paul Corbin (BD 1903), Joseph Hamilton (A.B. 1933), Richard G. (Dick) Irwin (AB 1932, AM 1936), Elizabeth (Betty) James (Mrs. R.G. Irwin; AB 1932, AM 1936), Mark Wu, Josephine Hamilton (Mrs. H.E. Van Meter; SMusB 1935, AB 1939), Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Wilbur, and Mr. and Mrs. Myron S. Burton.

Series 2 comprises two dis-bound photograph albums with attached photographs and postcards dating from Hoffman’s time in China and reflect the people, places and activities with which she engaged as a representative from Oberlin. The albums significantly complement the correspondence series and provide images of persons with whom she corresponded, and of places mentioned in her letters.