Summary Information
John Earl Baker Papers
1916-1952
- Baker, John Earl, 1880-1957
Wis Mss QH; Micro 134
0.2 c.f. (1 archives box) and 1 reel of microfilm (35mm)
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Papers of John Earl Baker, a railway and road building expert who was a director of famine relief in China for several decades. Included is extensive correspondence from Baker, chiefly to his family discussing daily life, his work, and political events. Also included are newspaper clippings concerning Baker, an unpublished biography written by his sister Alice, and two pocket diaries containing brief entries. The microfilmed and manuscript portions of the collection overlap but are not duplicates.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-wis000qh ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
John Earl Baker was born on August 23, 1880, near Whitewater, Wisconsin. He received a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin, was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and later earned an M.A. in railroad engineering at George Washington University. After finishing his education, he pursued his interest in railroads, first accepting a job with the Interstate Railway Commission, and subsequently working for the Southern Pacific Railroad in California. While working for the Southern Pacific, however, he accepted a job on the faculty of the University of Michigan.
In 1916 Baker left his position at the University of Michigan and began working for the Ministry of Communications in China. This first post led to many other appointments in China. In 1920 he transferred to Famine Relief, an agency of the Red Cross, and then in 1929 he became advisor to the United States Famine Relief Commission. Between 1922 and 1929 Baker worked on a book about China. Titled Explaining China, it was published in 1927, and received both public and critical acclaim. Baker took over the National Food Relief in 1931, and he held this post until 1937 when he was called on by the Chinese government to help them with the Yunnan-Burma highway. As director of the Yunnan-Burma highway from 1937 to 1942, Baker helped the Chinese improve transportation lines which were vital to China's existence.
Baker returned to the United States in 1942 and assisted in the orientation of American soldiers who were being sent to Japan and China. In 1945 he was again called into service for China, this time with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Agency. His final post in China was an appointment by President Truman in 1948 to the Joint Committee on Relief and Rehabilitation. Baker retired in 1951, and he died in 1957 at his home in Mill Valley, California.
Scope and Content Note
The John Earl Baker Papers consist of paper and microfilm materials. In paper form is correspondence, 1917-1951, written while Mr. Baker was in China. There are also two diaries, 1920-1924, 1940-1941, and miscellaneous printed material. The reel of microfilm also contains correspondence, 1916-1952, along with assorted biographical material. The microfilmed and manuscript portions of the collection overlap but are not duplicates.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Portions presented by John Earl Baker, Mill Valley, California, June 1956; and portions loaned for microfilming by Alice Baker, Eagle, Wisconsin, 1964.
Contents List
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Wis Mss QH
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Paper Documents
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Box
1
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Correspondence, 1917 July-1951 March
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Box
1
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Miscellaneous printed material
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Diaries
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Box
1
Volume
1
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1920-1924
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Box
1
Volume
2
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1940-1941
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Micro 134
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Microfilmed Materials
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Reel
1
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Article, “John Earl Baker Turned an Old World into a New Frontier”, from The American Magazine, February, 1933, pp. 58-59, 104-107
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Reel
1
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“The Measure of a Man: the Biography of John Earl Baker,” unpublished manuscript by his sister Alice
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Reel
1
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Excerpts from a scrapbook containing clippings relating to Baker
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Reel
1
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Correspondence, 1916-1952
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