Roger S. Greene Papers, 1906-1946


Summary Information
Title: Roger S. Greene Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1906-1946

Creator:
  • Greene, Roger Sherman, 1881-1947
Call Number: Micro 431

Quantity: 2 reels of microfilm (35mm)

Repository:
Archival Locations:
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

Abstract:
Papers of Roger S. Greene, a specialist in Far Eastern affairs. Included is correspondence relating particularly to his work for the Department of State, the China Medical Board of the Rockefeller Foundation, the World Citizens Association, and the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies; correspondence, financial papers, and minutes of the American Committee for Non-Participation in Japanese Aggression, 1938-1940; articles and speeches by Greene; his 1917 report on the flood at Tientsin, China for the Flood Relief Committee of the American Red Cross; and miscellaneous clippings and printed materials, 1937-1945.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-micr0431
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Biography/History

Roger Sherman Greene, the son of David C. and Mary Jane Forbes Greene, was born in Westborough, Massachusetts, on May 29, 1881. He received an A.B. degree from Harvard in 1901 and an A.M. degree from the same university in 1902.

Immediately upon graduation, Mr. Greene entered the service of the Department of State, where from 1903 to 1914 he served as consul to various foreign countries. These posts included: vice consul and deputy consul general at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1903-1904; vice consul at Nagasaki, Japan, 1904-1905; vice consul and deputy consul at Kobe, Japan, 1905; commercial agent and later consul at Vladivostok, Russia, 1905-1907; consul at Dalny, Manchuria, 1907-1909; consul at Harbin, China, 1909-1911; and consul general at Hankow, China, 1911-1914.

In 1914, Mr. Greene left the Department of State and became director, and later general director, in China of the China Medical Board of the Rockefeller Foundation. He served in this capacity until 1927, when he was appointed vice president in the Far East for the Rockefeller Foundation, a position he held until 1929. He then served as a director of the China Medical Board Inc., from 1929 to 1935. From 1927 to 1935, he was also the acting director of the Peiping Union Medical College.

Mr. Greene returned to the United States and from 1938 to 1941 served as chairman of the American Committee for Non-Participation in Japanese Aggression. During 1939, he moved to Chicago and became director of the World Citizens Association and then from 1940 through 1941 he served as the director of the Washington office of the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies. From 1942 to 1944, he was employed as a consultant to the Division of Cultural Relations of the Department of State. After leaving this position, he retired to Worcester, Massachusetts where he died on March 29, 1947.

Roger S. Greene married Miss Kate Brown of Worcester, Massachusetts on May 8, 1920. They had two children.

Scope and Content Note

The Roger S. Greene Papers are composed mainly of Mr. Greene's incoming and outgoing correspondence, 1906, 1916-1946, relating particularly to his work for the Department of State, the China Medical Board of the Rockefeller Foundation, the American Committee for Non-Participation in Japanese Aggression, and the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies. Most of the correspondence covers the years 1938-1941, when Mr. Greene was associated with the American Committee for Non-Participation in Japanese Aggression, the World Citizens Association, and the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies. Important correspondents include:

  • Bruce Barton: 1938-1940
  • Anita McCormick Blaine: 1938
  • Pearl S. Buck: 1940
  • Joseph C. Grew: 1939-1941
  • Hans V. Kaltenborn: 1939
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt: 1933, 1938-1939
  • Arnold J. Toynbee: 1938
  • Harry S. Truman: 1940
  • Quincy Wright: 1938-1939

The correspondence and financial papers, 1938-1940, minutes of the national board, 1938-1939, and printed material, 1938-1940, all relating to the American Committee for Non-Participation in Japanese Aggression, are filed separately after the general correspondence.

The collection also includes Mr. Greene's articles and speeches, 1919-1942, miscellaneous clippings and printed material, and his 1917 report for the Flood Relief Committee of the American Red Cross on the flood at Tientsin, China, in 1917.

Administrative/Restriction Information
Acquisition Information

Originals loaned for copying by Edward F. Greene, Providence, Rhode Island, 1962.


Contents List
Correspondence
Reel   1
1906, 1916-1940
Reel   2
1941-1946
American Committee for Non-Participation in Japanese Aggression
Reel   2
Correspondence and Financial Papers, 1938-1940
Reel   2
Minutes of the National Board, 1938-1939
Reel   2
Printed Material, 1938-1940
Reel   2
American Red Cross - Flood Relief Committee - Report on Tientsin, China, flood, 1917
Reel   2
Articles and Speeches, 1919-1942
Reel   2
Ephemera
Reel   2
Miscellaneous mimeographed and printed materials, 1937-1945
Reel   2
Miscellaneous clippings, 1937-1945
Reel   2
Photographs of Shanghai Refugees, 1938