Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
Edgar Wickberg fonds
General material designation
- Textual record
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Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
- Source of title proper: The title is based on the contents of the fonds.
Level of description
Fonds
Repository
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Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
Physical description area
Physical description
3.62 m of textual records
8 boxes of file cards
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
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Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Edgar Wickberg was a professor of history at UBC from 1969 to 1992. Born in Oklahoma, he served in the US Army before earning a BA and an MA in history from the University of Oklahoma. In the 1950's he studied Chinese and Japanese language and Asian history at the University of California (Berkeley) and completed his Ph.D. in 1961 with a thesis on modern Chinese history. Wickberg taught at the University of Kansas from 1960 to 1969, with extended research periods in Taiwan. After joining the faculty of UBC, he taught courses on modern China and modern Chinese economic and social history. He made several research trips to mainland China, mainly Guangzhou (Canton), Nanjing (Nanking), and Hong Kong. In 1992 he was named Professor Emeritus at UBC. His main research interests are the history and current relationships of Chinese people outside China; land tenure systems in southern China since the 16th century; voluntary associations and ethnicity in Chinese society and overseas Chinese communities; and comparative histories of Chinese communities in Southeast Asia and North America. Wickberg also helped establish an exchange relationship between UBC and Guangzhou's Zhongshan University and the Vancouver Chinatown Historic Area Planning Committee. He has published several articles and two books: From China to Canada: A History of the Chinese Communities in Canada, which he wrote in collaboration with four other researchers and edited (1982), and The Chinese in Philippine Life (1965).
Custodial history
Scope and content
The fonds consists of records which document Edgar Wickberg's research on Chinese land tenure systems and rural society, and the history of Chinese communities overseas. Materials include research notes, correspondence, computer printouts, newspaper and magazine clippings, photocopies of both archival documents and scholarly articles, and file cards and notes stored in file card boxes. The series are Land Tenure (divided into sub-series by region), Rural Localities in China, Chinese in Canada, Chinese in the United States, and File Cards.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Acquired from Dr. Edgar Wickberg in several accruals. The bulk of the materials were transferred in February 1998 and June 2001. Records of the Chinatown Historic Area Planning Committee were added in June 2005.
Arrangement
The original series in whichWickberg organized the materials have been retained, as has most of the physical arrangement of the files within those series.
Language of material
- Chinese
- Japanese
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Finding aids
Online Finding Aid
A brief description of the records written by Dr. Wickberg, discussing his various research projects and the records associated with them, is available in hard copy at the University Archives.
Uploaded finding aid
Associated materials
Some books, microfilm, and maps which were originally included with the records have been transferred to UBC's Asian Library and Map Library.
Accruals
General note
Many of the research notes, clippings, and photocopied documents and articles are written in Chinese. Some other photocopied documents and articles are written in Japanese. Old file folders on which titles have been written in Chinese characters have been retained.