Pomona College Oriental Study Expedition
Requested and underwritten by the Durfee Foundation. In 1929, ten Pomona College students traveled on a one-year expedition to China. Five of the original ten students were alive at the time this project was initiated in 1988. These interviews record the recollections of these men as to: planning the expedition; the year of travel in China; and their reflections on the impact the trip had on their lives. The interviews are part of an Oriental Study Expedition Archive housed in Special Collections of the Honnold Library.
Avery, R. Stanton (b. 1907)
Businessman
1989
Mr. Avery discusses his involvement in planning the expedition, impressions of Japan and China, student movements and conditions in China. He also talks about his work in famine relief and the continuing influence of the expedition on his personal life.
Interviewers: Enid H. Douglass, Oral History Program; Arthur Rosenbaum, Associate Professor East Asian History, Claremont McKenna College and Claremont Graduate School.
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Gambell, George (b. 1908)
Travel Agent
1989
Mr. Gambell discusses raising money for the expedition and his impressions of Sik Leong Tsui, the original expedition leader. He goes on to relate his adventures in Shanghai and Peking where he observed student unrest, counterfeiting and opium dens. Mr. Gambell also discusses his participation in famine relief work, a return trip he made in 1983 and his reflections on the 1989 protests in China.
Interviewer: Enid H. Douglass, Oral History Program.
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Haskell, Oliver (b. 1908)
Activist
1989
Mr. Haskell discusses his family background and early life, his initial career objectives and political views, his relationship with Avery and Tsui, his involvement in the Expedition despite his own initial rejection of the idea. He discusses his prior knowledge of China and Japan, his first impressions, and he relates the social activities of the group, the attitudes of the Chinese students and famine relief work. Later, Mr. Haskell served as director of the China Aid Council of the American League for Peace and Democracy and traveled through the Soviet Union. He reflects on relations between China and Russia and the impact of the 1930 expedition on his adult life.
Interviewers: Enid H. Douglass, and Arthur L.Rosenbaum.
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Lorbeer, Carroll (b. 1907)
Citrus Grower
1989
Mr. Lorbeer discusses his activities at Pomona, the development of the expedition idea, his personal intellectual interests in China, contact with Chinese students and the cohesiveness of the expedition as well as the occupying influence of the Japanese in Manchuria.
Interviewer: Enid H. Douglass, Oral History Program.
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Armacost, Robert
The fifth student is Robert Armacost, who did not make himself available for an interview. However, he did supply the project with a detailed diary he kept during the expedition. This diary is deposited with the four interviews in Special Collections, Honnold Library.
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