Guide to the Van Dyck Family Papers

Descriptive Summary

Title

Van Dyck Family Papers

Inclusive Dates

1926-1960

Call Number

RG 358

Creator(s)

Van Dyck family.

Quantity

0.25 cubic feet (5 folders)

Language

A few items are in Chinese

Restrictions on Access

Collection open for research

Repository

Presbyterian Historical Society, 425 Lombard Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147-1516 USA

Biographical Note / Administrative History

Biographical Note

David Bevier Van Dyck, Sr., (1892-1963), son of a Presbyterian minister, was born in Johnsonville, New York. He graduated from Rutgers University, BA, 1914, from Princeton University, MA, 1917, and from Princeton Theological Seminary, 1918. He and Anna Foster Richardson (1895- ) of New Brunswick, New Jersey, were married and were appointed by the BFM to Kiangan Mission in China in 1918. They served at Hwei Yuan, 1920-1933, and Showchow, 1933-1940, doing evangelistic, educational and administrative work. In 1927, because of war conditions, they went to Korea for a brief period. The Van Dycks returned to the US at the beginning of World War II and after an extended furlough Van Dyck returned to Hunan in unoccupied China from 1943-1946, returning to the US in 1946-1947. The Van Dycks again returned to China but were forced to leave because of the civil war. They resigned in 1953.

The Van Dyks had three sons who were born in China. David Van Dyck, Jr., (1923- ), served as a missionary and a commissioned fraternal worker in Japan, 1955-1966.

Collection Overview

This collection consists of outgoing and incoming correspondence of the Van Dyks, much of it from other missionaries and from a Chinese leader, Mr. Liu. There are also reports, official releases and publications of the BFM. The turmoil and disturbances of the Japanese invasion before World War II and the civil war following it and the impact on the church are depicted.

Related Material

Administrative Information

Processing Information

Collection processed and finding aid prepared: February 1993
Glenn Colliver, Assistant Archivist

Catalog Headings

The following headings have been used to index the description of this collection in the society’s electronic catalog.

Personal Name Subject

Van Dyck, David Bevier, 1892-1963.

Van Dyck, Anna Foster Richardson, 1895-

Topical Subject

Missionaries--China--20th century.

Women missionaries--China--20th century.

Presbyterian Church--Missions--China--Educational work.

Geographic Subject

China--History--Civil War, 1945-1949.

China--Church history--20th century.

China--Missions--20th century.

Genre-form

Correspondence. aat

Reports. aat

Personal Added Name

Van Dyck, David Bevier, 1892-1963.

Van Dyck, Anna Foster Richardson, 1895-

Van Dyck, David Bevier, 1923-

Liu, Henry H.

Corporate Added Name

Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Board of Foreign Missions.

Collection Inventory

Box	Folder	Description

1	1	Finding Aid for Record Group 358
1	2	Van Dyck Correspondence and Reports, 1926-1951, n.d.
1	3	Correspondence (Henry H. Liu), 1950
1	4	Photographs, n.d.
1	5	Reports, BFM Letters, Orders of Service, Hymn, 1950-1959, n.d.

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Guide to the Van Dyck Family Papers

Creator(s)