Items

• Woodblock Print - The Colossal Conceit of Missionaries
  The image shows a massive figure drawn in the style of Chinese temple statues. He is wielding a sword and presiding over what appears to be a court. In a much smaller scale, a man with a doctor's bag holds the page of a book open on the desk of the court. The symbolic meaning is up for interpretation.
• Woodblock Print - Off to School
  A family consisting of a mother, two sons and a daughter walk alongside a stone wall. The oldest boy is wearing a scout uniform, an indication of his membership in the Guomindang youth club, while his younger brother wears the zhongshan suit first popularized by Sun Yatsen. The mother and daughter wear scholars' gowns, showing their status as "New Women," an image promoted by the GMD.
• Woodblock Print - New Dawn though the Moon Gate
  This print shows an extended family consisting of grandmother, son, daughter-in-law and three children sitting in front of a circular "moon gate." The grandmother and the baby are looking away from the gate, while the rest of the family are looking through it. The scene that appears before them is a countryside with a small cottage in the mid-ground and a rising sun in the distance. The grandmother wears the women's traditional jacket with trousers, while the son, daughter-in-law and child wear scholars' gowns.
• Woodblock Print - Threshing Rice
  Four men working in a rice field - two of them are tying the rice into sheaves, while the other two are threshing the sheaves in a conical wooden device for that purpose. They wear only cotton trousers.
• Myrtle Madge and Another Student Practicing Dentistry
  Two dental nurses pose with two child patients in the dental laboratory at the School of Dentistry at the University of Toronto where Alfred Johns and Myrtle Madge met. Myrtle (right) uses a set of pliers to pull a child's tooth. The other nurse wraps a bandage around a child's head, simulating a procedure after surgery. Bottles with labels sit in rows on shelves in the background. A large book lays open on the table.
• Unidentified WCUU Building
  Two or three story building on the WCUU campus with the "Oriental-Western" style of architecture.
• Laying the Cornerstone of the Canadian School in West China, 1918
  A large group of missionaries pose on a platform that appears to be the beginning of scaffolding. British, Canadian and American flags are hung behind them. Another unidentified flag hangs at the front of the platform. The caption explains that this was a ceremony for laying the cornerstone of the Canadian School in West China.
• Vandeman Memorial Hall, WCUU, 1920
  The Vandeman Memorial Hall is a large three-story building in the "Oriental-Western" style of architecture typical of the WCUU campus. There is a small pagoda-like tower projecting from the roof above the front door. The building is enclosed by fences of both brick and bamboo.
• Ackerman Memorial Dormitory, WCUU, c.1914
  This photograph shows the Ackerman Memorial Dormitory under construction very close to completion. There is scaffolding on the pagoda tower element of the building, which makes it so distinctive. To the left of the Ackerman Building is the Joyce Memorial Dormitory. Both buildings are designed in the "Oriental-Western" style of architecture.
• A Man Canoeing on the Algoma River
  A man in a suit, tie and hat canoes on a winding river in the Algoma District of Ontario.
• Wheelbarrow Chair Ready for Hire
  A man facing and looking at the camera stands behind a chair on wheels ready to take on a passenger. Many bystanders look on, some carrying guns. A small building with the a thatched roof is in the background.
• Scene at a Busy Yangtze River Port
  Houseboats and sampans swarm around a busy port house or barge with ramps to the shoreline. Small sailboats can be seen on the water to the right before a slanting hillside.
• Trackers at Work with WMS Party on Shore
  The scene shows a group of trackers on the Upper Yangtze River pulling a boat that it out of the frame to the left. Supervisors look in that direction to oversee its progress. The trackers are bent over at right angles under the weight of the boat. In the background can be seen three or four members of Alice Estabrook's WMS party, with what look like baggage, on the shore.
• Foreigner in a Sedan Chair
  Three or four carriers transport a foreigner, most likely Rev E Kyle Simpson, in a sedan chair. Simpson wears a high white collar and dark suit. The carriers wear turbans and cotton trousers and jackets.
• Foreign Gunboats on the Lower Yangtze
  Two gunboats in the foreground and another in the background, probably at the mouth of the Yangtze River, near Shanghai. A third gunboat of the same or similar design can be seen in the background. Two Chinese boats are in the water between the two large boats. The two gunboats in the foreground have two masts and a single stack, along with pairs of "torpedo tubes."
• Trackers Pulling Houseboat through Rocky Narrows
  In this scene we see a houseboat apparently passing through a very narrow channel between the rocky shore and a short promontory. Two trackers can be seen pulling the ropes in the foreground. At least two figures stand on the bow of the boat. A low mountain range can be seen on the opposite shore.
• Crew Members Eating Lunch on a Houseboat
  Looking toward the bow of a houseboat, we see a large group of crew members eating lunch in rice bowls. The men wear turbans. One of them has his clothing strapped to his back with his belt.
• WMS Missionaries Treat a Houseboat Crew Member
  Two Women's Missionary Society (WMS, associated with the Canadian Methodist Mission) treat a crew member for lice on board their houseboat while traveling up the Yangtze River to West China for the first time. Another crew member can be seen on top of the cabin. In the foreground are ropes used by the trackers to pull the boat upstream through the rapids.
• Boat with Large Rectangular Sail
  A sailboat floats peacefully on placid water, probably on the Lower Yangtze River. The sun shines through mist close to the horizon.
• Two Men Working in a Salt Evaporating Plant
  Two men work alongside a row of large steaming vats inside a salt processing plant. They are scantily dressed, as it must be very hot inside the building. The nearest man has a surprised expression as if he were not expecting to be photographed.
• Mountain Peeks Above Cloud Cover
  The photographer is looking across a sea of clouds towards mountain peeks far in the distance. Sunlight can be seen in a crack in the clouds behind the peeks. In the sky there appears to be one or two round objects lit by the sun. However, these could also be imperfections in the photographic print. The photo could be taken from an airplane window or from another mountaintop.
• Rooftops of Small Compound in Mountain Valley
  Taken from a hilltop, the camera looks down upon the rooftops of a relatively small compound nestled within a valley. Tile roofs cover buildings and passageways that surround two courtyards. This could be a small temple or an aristocrat's household. Either way, it could possibly be serving as a missionary summer resort, or simply a compound passed on a trek.
• Buddhist Abbot with Six Priests
  The abbot sits in a formal pose on a wooden bench flanked by two large vases with flowers. He is wearing a Ming Dynasty style robe with extra-long sleeves of the type worn by all Buddhist monks. His hat designates his high rank. He is holding a pair of prayer beads. Behind him six monks stand in a row, all with shaved heads and wearing robes with slightly less billowy sleeves (except the man on the far right on whose head one can see the incense burn marks from his initiation ceremony). Behind them is a wooden wall on which are written three very large Chinese characters.
• Graham House in Walla Walla, WA
  Small wood sideboard house where David Crockett Graham grew up. In his autobiography, he mentions that his father built this house himself, as he was skilled in all kinds of manual labor including farmwork and carpentry.
• Formal Portrait of David Crockett Graham's Natal Family, 1889
  The Graham family sit for a formal portrait in what appears to be a photography studio. Although the photo was labelled 1890, it must be 1889 when the family moved to Walla Walla, and before the tragic deaths in the family. From left to right front row: William Edward Graham, Joseph Clarke Graham, David Crockett Graham, Elizabeth Atchley Graham. Back row: Mary Louisa Graham, Louis Israel Graham. It is not clear why David's closest sister, Elmira, is not in the photo. Within 1888 and 1889, David's mother Elizabeth and his brothers Louis, Mulford and baby Isaac would be dead and the family savings totally depleted.