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Cage 617
William Band
Papers, 1857 - 1989
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| Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections Pullman, WA 99164-5610 USA (509) 335-6691 Inquiries |
Cage 617
William Band
Papers, 1857 - 1989
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). The papers were processed in November 1994 by Jose Vargas.
BIOGRAPHY
William Band was born in Liscard, Cheshire, England, in August 27, 1906, one of two sons 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 William 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. Based on their personal diaries, they described their experiences in wartime China in Dragon Fangs, 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 then 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.
ARRANGEMENT AND DESCRIPTION
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.
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, including 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, consists of reprints of publications 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.
SERIES LIST
CONTAINERS
Series 1. Diaries 1
Series 2. Manuscripts 2 - 4
Series 3. Family and Personal Documentation 5
Series 4. Correspondence 6
Series 5. Yenching Files 7
Series 6. Photographs 8
Series 7. Ephemera 9
CONTAINER LIST
BOX FOLDER DESCRIPTION
Series 1. Diaries
1 1 Aug. 27, 1939 - March 2, 1944
2 Jan. 1 - Dec. 31, 1944
3 Jan. 1 - Dec. 31, 1945
4 Jan. 1, 1946 - Dec. 31, 1950
5 Jan. 1, 1951 - Dec. 31, 1955
6 Jan. 1, 1956 - Dec. 31, 1960
7 Jan. 1, 1961 - Dec. 31, 1965
8 Jan. 1, 1966 - Dec. 31, 1970
9 Jan. 1, 1971 - Dec. 31, 1975
10 Jan. 1, 1976 - Dec. 31, 1980
11 Jan. 1, 1981 - Dec. 31, 1985
Series 2. Manuscripts
Sub-series a) Autobiography
2 12 Autobiography
13 Autobiography (Appendix)
14 Autobiography (expanded to Chapter XXVIII, 1989)
15 Autobiography (duplicate Chapters XXII, XXIV)
Sub-series b) Drawings
16 Drawings, 1914 - 1988
17 Drawings, n.d.
Sub-series c) Published works
3 18 Dragon Fangs, Ms by William and Claire M. Band,
1945, Parts I-III
19 Dragon Fangs, Ms, Parts IV-VI
20 Dragon Fangs, sketches for book
21 Dragon Fangs, author's copy
22 The Philosophy of Modern Physics, 1931
4 23 Statistical Mechanics, n.d.
24 "Dialectical realism: a synthesis between dialectical
materialism and modern physics," 1944
25 "The China Colleges and Instruction in the Natural
Science," Ms 1956
26 "Basic Theory of Shock Propagation in Solids," 1958
27 "Shocks in Physics and in Society," Ms of lecture
notes and illustrations, 1968
BOX FOLDER DESCRIPTION
Sub-series d) Reprints
4 28 "Dissociation Treatment of Condensing Systems III...,"
Reprinted from The Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 8,
No. 1, pp 20-23, January, 1940
29 "Dissociation Treatment of Condensing Systems IV...,"
Reprinted from the Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 9,
pp 123-128, February, 1941
30 "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
31 "Religion and Morality Among the Chinese Communists,"
The Congregational Quarterly, Vol. XXIII, No. 4, October,
1945
Series 3. Family and personal documentation
5 32 Passports, identification papers, and vaccination
certificates
33 Gore's Directory of Liverpool and Environs, 1847 (removed for separate cataloging, August 2004)
34 Letter. W.D. Band, March 1946: W. Band and Son, 100
Years of Tailoring, 1846 - 1946
35 Deposition by William Band, 1862
36 Letter. S. de J. Collins to William Band (?), June 19,
1857
37 Account Ledger, 1867 - 1893
Series 4. Correspondence
6 38 Two Years with the Chinese Communists Dragon
Fangs, book review clippings
39 Two Years with the Chinese Communists, reviews
40 Two Years with the Chinese Communists. George
Allen and Unwin, Ltd., 1945, contract
41 British Council, 1944-1945
42 Yenching University, Retirement, 1936-1971
43 Furlough, 1944, 1946
44 Letter of recognition upon retirement, 1972
45 Correspondence, 1958 - 1988, miscellaneous
46 Correspondence, Blanche Chaytnor to William and Claire
Band, 1988 - 1989
47 William Band Papers, notes on material received at
MASC, W.S.U., 1992 - 1993
BOX FOLDER DESCRIPTION
Series 5. Yenching University Files
7 48 "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]
49 "Our University in Peking." Pamphlet published by the
Yenching University, n.d.
50 Yenching alumni and former faculty in the United States
and Canada
51 "The Place of Science in China," by Yap Pow-meng
Pamphlet published by The China Campaign Committee, n.d.
52 "The Beginnings of Chemical Research in China," by William
H. Adolph. Reprinted from Peking Natural History Bulletin
18 (3): 145-150, 1950
53 "List of Publications from the College of Natural Science
of Yenching University - July 1, 1930 to June 30, 1931
54 Associated Boards for Christian Colleges in China - Annual
Report June 30, 1945
55 Yenching Revue, May 10th, 1935
56 United Board for Christian Colleges in China - Annual
Report for the Year Ending June 30, 1953
57 The Geographical Magazine. Volume XVIII, No. 5, September,
1945
58 New Horizons. Volume XXI, No. 1, 1953
59 Miscellaneous Items on Science in the China Colleges,
compiled by Charles H. Corbett
60 The Asiatic Review, Vol. XVII, No. 152
61 Yenching Physics News. No. 4, November 1938
62 Yenching Physics News. No. 6, November 1939
63 Yenching Physics News. No. 8, November 1939
64 "The Place of Physics in the Rural Reconstruction of China,"
by William Band, Dept. of Physics, Yenching University,
February, 1935
65 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
Series 6. Photographs
8 66 Photographs, 1939-1943
67 Photo of William Band, ca 1920
68 Photographs, n.d.
69-82 Slides
BOX FOLDER DESCRIPTION
Series 7. Ephemera
9 83 Journeymen Tailor's List of Prices (Liverpool), n.d.
84 The Liverpool University Physical Society Meeting, March,
1928. Cartoon
85 Currency
86 R.M.S. "Media" List of Passengers
87 W.S.U. invitation for reception for W. Band, 1989
88 Liscard High School. Distribution of Prizes, Program,
March 22, 1923
89 The Chairman, Vol. 1, No. 2, December 1922
90 The Liscard High School Magazine, April 1924
91 Notebook with miscellaneous notes
92 Bookmarks
93 Handmade wooden chess set