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Snow, Helen Foster, 1907-1997

 Person

Dates

  • Existence: 1907 - 1997

Biography

Helen Foster Snow (1907-1997) was an American journalist, photographer, and activist in China.

Helen Foster Snow was born on September 21, 1907 in Cedar City, Utah. She attended West High School. After graduating, she attended the University of Utah. She took the civil service exam, gained a position in China, and moved to Shanghai in August 1931. After arriving in China Helen met Edgar Snow, a reporter also from the U.S. The two were married on December 25, 1933 in Tokyo, Japan. The couple moved to Peking where Helen Foster Snow attended and Edgar taught at Yanjing University. From there they published information regarding the Manchurian incident. Helen Foster and Edgar Snow sympathized with the students who protested the government and its complacency toward Japanese invasion. They helped plan the December movements, and covered events censored in Chinese papers.

Helen published an interview with Zhang Xueliang, a general, who expressed support for communists, contradicting Chiang Kai-shek. In 1937 Edgar and Helen published the magazine Democracy. She worked on the editorial board to editor, and then the editor while Edgar wrote Red Star over China.

Snow entered the communist camp in April 1937, where she interviewed leaders, women, and children of the camp. She would publish her findings in her book Inside Red China in 1938. Helen later toured the Chinese Industrial Cooperatives and wrote to raise support of the initiatives. Helen returned to the United States, living in Madison, Connecticut and travelling the world. Helen died on January 11, 1997.

Citation:
OCLC 17967705: Stanley, M. Foreigners in areas of China ... 1987 (hdg.: Snow, Helen Foster, 1907- ; usage: Helen Foster Snow)

LC data base, 11/19/90 (hdg.: Wales, Nym, 1907- ; usage: Helen Foster Snow; Helen Foster Snow (Nym Wales); Hai-lun Fu-ssu-tʻe Ssu-no; Nym Wales; Nym Wales (Helen Foster Snow))

Pseuds. and nicknames dict., c1987 (Snow, Helen Foster, 1907- ; American author and poet; pseud.: Wales, Nym)

Bridging, 1997: t.p. (Helen Foster Snow) p. xxxvii (died 1/11/97)

Women in modern China, 2004: t.p. (Helen Foster Snow) colophon (海伦斯诺 = Hailun Sinuo = Snow, H.)

Familysearch.org, Dec. 6, 2011 (Helen Foster; b. Sept. 21, 1907 in Cedar City, Utah; d. Jan. 11, 1997 in Guilford, Conn.; m. Dec. 25, 1932 in Tokyo, Japan to Edgar Parks Snow)

Wikipedia, Dec. 6, 2011 (taught at Yenching University)

Helen Foster Snow, 2006: p. 13 (b. Cedar City, Utah; b. September 21, 1907); p. 15 (Hannah and John Foster); p. 16 (parents civically engaged); p. 18 (frequent moves in childhood); p. 19 (move to Salt Lake City, UT, West High School, yearbook, student gov't); p. 20 (graduated West High, University of Utah); p. 23 (secretary w/ A.G Mackenzie of American Silver Mining Commission in Utah; wanted Europe; decided on China); p. 24 (to China in August 1931); p. 25 (secretary to an American company in China); p. 31 (secretary for bankers); p. 34 (wrote on Manchurian incident); p. 36 (Shanghai refuge for leftist intellectuals and reformists); p. 38 (developed left leaning political opinions; social secretary at U.S. consulate; p. 39 (m. 1933 Edgar Snow); p. 42 (m. Dec. 25, Tokyo); p. 41 (honeymoon in Formosa, the Philippines, Borneo, the Dutch Indies, and Bali); p. 45 (move to Peking); p. 47 (modelling in Peking); p.50 (student of philosophy, religion, and esthetics at Yanjing University); p. 52 (student movement December 1935); p. 55 (rose awareness of fascist threat in China; helped plan December 1935 movement); p. 58 (home as anti-Japanese salon); p. 61 (poem calling students to action; planned Dec. 9 movement in home); p. 62 (press coverage of events censored by Chinese papers; pen names Nym Wales and Hsueh Hai-lun); p. 64 (December 16th movement); p. 69 (foreign correspondence); p. 70 (worked with artists); p. 71 (Chinese short stories published for West); p. 73 (published Living China); p.74 (poetry); p. 76 (Korea trip alone); p. 77 (Communist territory invitation, returned to Peking; interviewed Zhang Xueliang, support for communists against Japan); p. 80 (editorial board, Democracy); p. 81 (editor, democracy); p. 86 (Xian April 23, 1937); p. 87 (journals in the camp, women and children, leaders); p. 94 (observed visitors, GMD reps); p. 97 (Ding Ling); p. 99 (Kang Keqing; wife of Zhu De); p. 100 (divorce and marriage among communists); p. 107 ("The Passing of the Chinese Soviets."); p. 109 (Inside Red China, 1939); p. 117 (Shanghai); p. 125 (children in labor organizations); p. 126 (women in cooperatives); p. 132 (U.S. policy towards China); p. 135 (photographs); p. 136 (Song of Ariran, Korea and Japan interactions); p. 137 (Indusco inspection tour, Chinese Industrial cooperatives campaign); p. 140 (China Builds for Democracy); p. 144 (Dec. 1940 United States); p. 144 (vc American Committee in Aid of Chinese Industrial Cooperatives; China, Indusco II, 1979, founder of I)

UPB files, July 25, 2018 (1931, American consulate; Living China, short stories, 1935; photojournalism; Song of Ariran)

Found in 3 Collections and/or Records:

Helen Foster Snow negatives, approximately 1875-1991

 Sub-Series — Multiple Containers
Identifier: MSS 2219 Series 5 Sub-Series 4
Scope and Contents Contains negatives and copy negatives of various sizes for the photographs found throughout the Helen Foster Snow photographs series. Box 177 contains negatives #1-3610, Box 197 contains negatives #3627-9621, box 200 contains negatives #9267-9705, box 201 contains negatives in larger sleeves from #448-9355, and box 163 contains various other negatives, mostly from the higher range of photograph numbers. Box 195 and 196 contain glass slide negatives for #11,143-11, 248. Materials date from...
Dates: approximately 1875-1991

Helen Foster Snow photographs, approximately 1853-2000

 Series
Identifier: MSS 2219 Series 5
Scope and Contents Contains photographs, including slides and negatives, taken by or collected by Helen Foster Snow throughout her life. Photographs of Helen’s personal life include family members, friends, vacations in the United States, Europe, and other destinations, and trips she took throughout Asia with her husband, Edgar Snow. The bulk of the photographs come from her professional life, documenting her time as a photojournalist in China beginning in 1931 and later returns to China in 1972 and 1978. Also...
Dates: approximately 1853-2000

Helen Foster Snow photographs distributed by Magnum Photos, Inc., approximately 1933-1937

 Sub-Series
Identifier: MSS 2219 Series 5 Sub-Series 3
Scope and Contents

Contains photographs taken during Helen's time as a photojournalist in China and distributed by Magnum Photos, Inc. Duplicates of these photographs are also found throughout the subseries "Helen Foster Snow photographs of Asia." Also included are photocopies of the original typed captions for the photographs. Materials dated 1933 to 1940.

Dates: approximately 1933-1937

Filtered By

  • Subject: China -- Photographs X

Additional filters:

Subject
Communism -- China -- History 2
Negatives 2
Photographs 2
Photojournalism 2
Acetate negatives 1