Washington State University Libraries: Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC)

Summary Information

Repository

Washington State University Libraries, Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections

Creator

Band, William

Title

William Band Papers,

ID

Cage 617

Date [inclusive]

1857 - 1989

Extent

9 boxes., 4 linear feet of shelf space., 350 items.

Language

Collection materials are in English.

Abstract

The papers of William Band consist chiefly of diaries, manuscripts of publications, and scattered correspondence. Also included are documents concerning Band's ancestors and family.

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Biography/History

William Band was born in Liscard, Cheshire, England, on August 27, 1906, one of two sons born to William D. Band and Amy L. Cooke. He attended Liscard High School, where he excelled in Mathematics, and graduated in 1922 after satisfying the exams for the Higher School Certificate. At the University of Liverpool, which he entered in the fall of 1923, he concentrated in the study of physics and graduated with honors in 1926, winning the Oliver J. Lodge Prize. He became a candidate for the MsSc degree and graduated in 1927.

Upon graduation, Band served in China at Yenching University, a position he favored over study for a PhD at Cambridge. While on a short trip back to England in 1931, he married Claire May Edwards, whom he had met while teaching Sunday School at Liverpool. They arrived at Yenching on August 31, 1931, shortly before the Japanese invaded Manchuria on September 18. He was Chairman of the Physics department at Yenching until 1944, where, besides teaching quantum mechanics and relativity, he developed a research program for the MS degree.

Yenching University was founded in 1916 by John Leighton Stuart as a missionary institution in the continued effort to spread Christianity through education in China, under auspices of the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United States and the Division of Foreign Missions of the Board of Missions of the Methodist Church of the United States and the United Kingdom.

Band's service at Yenching was interrupted as a result of the outbreak of war between the United States and Japan. Band and his wife were evacuated by the Chinese Communists with whom they spent over two years on a thousand mile journey to freedom until they reached Chunking in 1944. A book, Dragon Fangs, based on their diaries of wartime experiences in China, was published in 1947. It was published later in the United States under the title  Two Years with the Chinese Communists.

Back in England on furlough, William Band was awarded his PhD by the University of Liverpool as a result of his research in physics. In 1946 he was granted a fellowship at the Institute for the Study of Metals of the University of Chicago where he stayed until 1949. In 1949 he moved to Washington State College as Professor of Physics. During each summer between 1955 and 1966 he worked as Senior Physicist at the Poulter Laboratories of the Stanford Research Institute, on the theory of shock propagation in solids. He was appointed Chairman of the Department of Physics at Washington State in 1960, and served in this position in 1968, continuing his research activities until well after his retirement in 1971, and publishing extensively in all the major professional journals. In 1972 he was honored by colleagues from all over the world for his Physical Cluster Theory. He also published an introduction to mathematical physics and an introduction to quantum statistics. He was a Fellow of the Institute of Physics and Physical Society, London, and Fellow of the American Physical Society. William Band died in 1993.

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Scope and Content

The papers of William Band consist chiefly of diaries, manuscripts of publications, and scattered correspondence. Also included are documents concerning Band's ancestors and family.

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Arrangement

The papers have been arranged into seven series. Series 1, Diaries, consists of those diaries which Band and his wife kept and cover the years 1936-1986. Series 2, Manuscripts, is divided into three Subseries, a) Autobiography, b) Drawings, and c) Published works, which incorporates the manuscripts for Dragon Fangs and well as scientific manuscripts and reprints. Series 3, Family and Personal Documentation, includes the story of the Band business in Liverpool, and passports, special permits, etc. Series 4, General Correspondence, covers a variety of matters' it also includes letters of recognition received upon the occasion of Dr. Band's retirement, and review clippings regarding his book Dragon Fangs. Series 5, Yenching University files, consist of reprints of publications that were of professional interest, and others concerned with developments in China. Series 6, Photographs, includes photograph albums, some with photographs from China, and sets of slides taken during his visits to England and various localities in the U.S.A. Series 7 is Ephemera.

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

Washington State University Libraries: Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC) © 1994

http://www.libraries.wsu.edu/masc/

Terrell Library

P.O. Box 645610

Pullman, WA, 99164-5610 USA

509-335-6691

mascref@wsu.edu

Restrictions on Access

This collection is open for research use.

Acquisition Information

The papers of William Band were donated by Mr Band to the Washington State University Libraries in several installments received from 1989 through 1993 (MS89-08, MS89-25; MS89-30; MS89-38; MS89-47; MS89-48; MS89-64; and MS93-08).

Processing Information

The papers were processed in November 1994 by Jose Vargas.

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Related Materials

Separated Material

Gore's Directory of Liverpool and Environs. Removed for separate cataloging (formerly in box 5, folder 33). Call number: DA690 L8 G67 1849.

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Names and Subjects

Corporate Name(s)

Subject(s) :

• Yenching University
• Washington State University--Faculty -- Archives

Family Name(s)

• Band family--Diaries

Genre(s)

• China--20th century -- Photographs

Personal Name(s)

Creator(s) :

• Band, William, 1906- --Archives

Subject(s) :

• Band, William, 1906---Correspondence

Subject(s)

• Yanjing da xue --History
• Universities and colleges--China--20th century
• Physics -- China--20th century
• Physics -- Research--20th century
• Missionaries
• Photographs
• International Relations
• Science

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Detailed Description of Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Series 1: Diaries
				box-folder
Aug. 27, 1939 - March 2, 1944				1 / 1
Jan. 1 - Dec. 31, 1944				1 / 2
Jan. 1 - Dec. 31, 1945				1 / 3
Jan. 1, 1946 - Dec. 31, 1950				1 / 4
Jan. 1, 1951 - Dec. 31, 1955				1 / 5
Jan. 1, 1956 - Dec. 31, 1960				1 / 6
Jan. 1, 1961 - Dec. 31, 1965				1 / 7
Jan. 1, 1966 - Dec. 31, 1970				1 / 8
Jan. 1, 1971 - Dec. 31, 1975				1 / 9
Jan. 1, 1976 - Dec. 31, 1980				1 / 10
Jan. 1, 1981 - Dec. 31, 1985				1 / 11
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Series 2: Manuscripts
Autobiography
				box-folder
Autobiography				2 / 12
Autobiography (Appendix)				2 / 13
Autobiography (expanded to Chapter XXVIII, 1989)				2 / 14
Autobiography (duplicate Chapters XXII, XXIV)				2 / 15
Drawings
				box-folder
Drawings,  1914 - 1988				2 / 16
Drawings, n.d.				2 / 17
Published works
				box-folder
Dragon Fangs, Ms by William and Claire M. Band, Parts I-III,  1945				3 / 18
Dragon Fangs, Ms, Parts IV-VI				3 / 19
Dragon Fangs, sketches for book				3 / 20
Dragon Fangs, author's copy				3 / 21
The Philosophy of Modern Physics,  1931				3 / 22
Statistical Mechanics, n.d.				4 / 23
"Dialectical realism:a synthesis between dialectical materialism and modern physics,"  1944				4 / 24
"The China Colleges and Instruction in the Natural Science," Ms  1956				4 / 25
"Basic Theory of Shock Propagation in Solids,"  1958				4 / 26
"Shocks in Physics and in Society," Ms of lecture notes and illustrations,  1968				4 / 27
Reprints
				box-folder
"Dissociation Treatment of Condensing Systems III...," Reprinted from The Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp 20-23,  January, 1940				4 / 28
"Dissociation Treatment of Condensing Systems IV...," Reprinted from The Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 9, pp 123-128,  February, 1941				4 / 29
"Theory of Liquid He II," Hsien-Yu and William Band. Reprinted from The Physical Review, Vol. 59, No. 12, pp 1013-1018,  June 15, 1941				4 / 30
"Religion and Morality Among the Chinese Communists," The Congregational Quarterly, Vol. XXIII, No. 4,  October, 1945				4 / 31
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Series 3: Family and personal documentation
				box-folder
Passports, identification papers, and vaccination certificates				5 / 32
Gore's Directory of Liverpool and Environs (removed for separate cataloging, August 2004),  1847				5 / 33
Letter. W.D. Band: "W. Band and Son, 100 Years of Tailoring, 1846 - 1946,"  March, 1946				5 / 34
Deposition by William Band,  1862				5 / 35
Letter."S. de J. Collins to William Band (?),  June 19, 1857				5 / 36
Account Ledger,  1867 - 1893				5 / 37
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Series 4: Correspondence
				box-folder
Two Years with the Chinese Communists /  Dragon Fangs, book review clippings				6 / 38
Two Years with the Chinese Communists, reviews				6 / 39
Two Years with the Chinese Communists. George Allen and Unwin, Ltd., contract,  1945				6 / 40
British Council,  1944-1945				6 / 41
Yenching University, Retirement,  1936-1971				6 / 42
Furlough,  1944, 1946				6 / 43
Letter of recognition upon retirement,  1972				6 / 44
Correspondence, miscellaneous,  1958 - 1988				6 / 45
Correspondence, Blanche Chaytnor to William and Claire Band,  1988 - 1989				6 / 46
William Band Papers, notes on material received at MASC, W.S.U.,  1992 - 1993				6 / 47
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Series 5: Yenching University Files
				box-folder
"Science in the Christian Universities in Chengtu, China," by William Band. Pamphlet published by The Associated Boards for Christian Colleges in China, n.d. (2 copies) [marked 1945 in pencil]				7 / 48
"Our University in Peking." Pamphlet published by the Yenching University, n.d.				7 / 49
Yenching alumni and former faculty in the United States and Canada				7 / 50
"The Place of Science in China," by Yap Pow-meng Pamphlet published by The China Campaign Committee, n.d.				7 / 51
"The Beginnings of Chemical Research in China," by William H. Adolph. Reprinted from Peking Natural History Bulletin 18 (3): 145-150,  1950				7 / 52
List of Publications from the College of Natural Science of Yenching University -  July 1, 1930 to June 30, 1931				7 / 53
Associated Boards for Christian Colleges in China – Annual Report  June 30, 1945				7 / 54
Yenching Revue,  May 10th, 1935				7 / 55
United Board for Christian Colleges in China – Annual Report for the Year Ending  June 30, 1953				7 / 56
The Geographical Magazine. Volume XVIII, No. 5,  September, 1945				7 / 57
New Horizons. Volume XXI,  No. 1, 1953				7 / 58
Miscellaneous Items on Science in the China Colleges, compiled b Charles H. Corbett				7 / 59
The Asiatic Review, Vol. XVII, No. 152				7 / 60
Yenching Physics News. No. 4title>Yenching>,  November 1938				7 / 61
Yenching Physics News. No. 6,  November 1939				7 / 62
Yenching Physics News. No. 8,  November 1939				7 / 63
"The Place of Physics in the Rural Reconstruction of China," by William Band, Dept. of Physics, Yenching University,  February, 1935				7 / 64
"Peregrinations with Joseph Needham in China, 1943-44", by H.T. Huang. Reprinted from Explorations in the History of Science and Technology in China, pp 40-75, Shanghai,  1982				7 / 65
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Series 6: Photographs
				box-folder
Photographs,  1939-1943				8 / 66
Photo of William Band,  1920				8 / 67
Photographs, n.d.				8 / 68
Slides				8 / 69-82
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Series 7: Ephemera
				box-folder
Journeymen Tailor's List of Prices (Liverpool), n.d.				9 / 83
The Liverpool University Physical Society Meeting. Cartoon,  March, 1928.				9 / 84
Currency				9 / 85
R.M.S. "Media" List of Passengers				9 / 86
W.S.U. invitation for reception for W. Band,  1989				9 / 87
Liscard High School.Distribution of Prizes, Program,  March 22, 1923				9 / 88
The Chairman, Vol. 1, No. 2,  December 1922				9 / 89
The Liscard High School Magazine,  April 1924				9 / 90
Notebook with miscellaneous notes				9 / 91
Bookmarks				9 / 92
Handmade wooden chess set				9 / 93
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