Title: Willard Livingstone Beard Papers, 1904-1925

ID: RG 30/076

Extent: 0.2 Linear Feet

Willard Livingstone Beard was born in Huntington, Connecticut on February 5, 1865, the son of Oliver Gould and Nancy Maria (Nichols) Beard. Beard attended Birmingham High School in Connecticut. He enrolled at Oberlin College in 1887, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1891. After Oberlin, he returned to Connecticut, where he attended the Hartford Theological Seminary and graduated in 1894. Twelve years later in 1916, the Oberlin Theological Seminary awarded him an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree.

In 1894, Beard began missionary work to China which was to occupy him for the next forty years of his life. He began as a missionary for the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) from 1894 to 1904. In 1904, he was released in order to start a YMCA in Fukien Province, for which he served as general secretary until 1909. In 1910, he returned to the United States, and served as a secretary of the ABCFM in New York City for two years

Upon his return to China in 1912, Beard became president of Foochow College, a position he held until 1927. From 1927 to 1936 he returned to general missionary work in China. After a brief time home in the Unites States, Beard served two more years for the ABCFM in Foochow. At the outbreak of World War II he returned to the United States. He settled at Century Farm in Shelton, Connecticut, where he remained for the rest of his life. Beard was a member the Shelton Congregational Church, and he served on the Executive Board and Board of Deacons of the church.

Willard L. Beard married Ellen Lucy Kinney, a former Oberlin student (enrolled 1893-94), soon after his graduation from the Hartford Theological Seminary. They were married on September 5, 1894 in her hometown of Putnam, Connecticut. They had six children, all of whom spent at least two years at Oberlin: Myron Gould (1916-18, d.1974), Phebe (OC 1919, d. 1925), Geraldine (OC 1921), Dorothy (OC 1923), Marjorie (OC 1928), and Kathleen (OC 1930). Beard died of a heart attack at the home of his daughter Mrs. Kathleen Elmer in Jacksonville, Florida on April 15, 1947.

Author: Joshua Adler

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Scope and Contents:

The Willard Livingstone Beard Papers consists primarily of letters (1910-1925) between the Willard and Ellen Beard and their children. Of special interest are the twenty letters written by Willard L. Beard and his daughter, Phebe, from Foochow, China (1921-23), some of which tell of the struggle between factions of the Chinese to gain control of the area. A letter from Myron Gould Beard to “Dearest Sister Dot” (Dorothy), dated June 29, 1920, is an account of his visit to Bahia Blanca, Argentina while on board the ship Mt. Baker. In addition to correspondence, there are photographs of the family, Japan and China, as well as some printed and homemade materials regarding the Beard children’s high school days and church activities in Oberlin.

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

Series I. Correspondence, 1910-1925, n.d. (5f)

Consists of family correspondence concerning daily life and the children's travel in American and abroad. A group of postcards from 1910 contain photographs of the children at a young age and descriptions of them. Later correspondence is mostly between the Willard and Ellen Beard and their children, but includes letters written from one sibling to another.

Series II. Printed Matter, 1904, 1919, 1921, 1923, n.d. (1f)

Includes a printed sheet about a Peace Celebration parade in Oberlin, Jubilee Notes from a celebration in Foochow, China, and programs for a 1919 Elyria High School Play and the Commission Service for Phebe Beard. Additionally, there are two pages of sheet music.

Series III. Miscellany, 1904-10, 1923-24, n.d. (4f)

This series consists of handmade booklets of gospel verses and drawings, one of which is signed “Kathleen C. Beard, age 11 years.” A separate folder contains invitations and miscellaneous notes. Two checking account books, 1900-10, contain records of checking activity and printed jokes pasted onto the pages. The Oberlin High School material, which relates to Dorothy, Marjorie, and Kathleen's school days consists of graduation and event programs, a homework assignment, and a handmade memory book given to Marjorie and Kathleen by the Junior Class.

Series IV. Photographs, n.d. (2f)

The photographs of China include snapshots with handwritten detailed descriptions on the reverse, a landscape view of a river, and a school portrait. Family photographs include snapshots taken in America, formal portraits of individuals and of High School Classes, and a picture of a school play.

INVENTORY

Series I. Correspondence, 1910-25, n.d.

Box 1

Correspondence, 1910-25, n.d. (5f)

Series II. Printed Matter, 1904, 1919,1921, 1923, n.d.

Box 1 (cont.)

Event programs, Jubilee Notes, and sheet music, 1904, 1919, 1921, 1923, n.d.

Series III. Miscellany, 1904-10, 1923-24, n.d.

Box 1 (cont.)

Check books and printed jokes (attached to pages), 1904-1910

Gospel Verses and Drawings, n.d.

Invitations and Notes, n.d.

Oberlin High School Material, 1923-24, n.d. (one restricted item)

Series IV. Photographs, n.d.

Box 1 (cont.)

China and Japan, n.d.

Family, etc., n.d.