The Lingnan University Archives at Yale Divinity School
The primary Lingnan University collection at YDS is the “Trustees of Lingnan University Records” (RG 14), which provides the official archives of each department of Lingnan University, annual and semi-annual meetings of the Board of Trustees, financial records, academic institutions supported by Trustees of Lingnan University (later renamed as Lingnan Foundation), and photographs. Much documentation in this record group includes the earlier records of the Trustees of Lingnan University, which was sent to Harvard University in the late 1950s and eventually integrated into the Yale Divinity Library Special Collections. The collection provides substantial early documentation on Canton Christian College, a predecessor of Lingnan University, Trustees’ actions and policies during the period of transition following the communist takeover of Lingnan University in 1949, and the new development of Lingnan spirit in Hong Kong afterwards.
The “Lingnan Foundation Records” (RG 14A) are a continuation of documentation found in RG 14, but with more focus on activities of the Lingnan Foundation in three academic institutions as Lingnan (University) College within Sun Yat-sen University and Lingnan University in Hong Kong. All had been founded on the principle of the Lingnan spirit of the former Lingnan University since the change of the Chinese government in 1949. The bulk of the archival material in this record group dates from 1980 to 2006.
The archives of “United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia Records” (RG 11), especially “Series IV: China College Files” of the collection, provide partial documentation of Lingnan University under the larger picture of the cooperation between the United Board and Protestant colleges and university in China from 1882 to 1974. The collection contains a pictorial history of Canton Christian College, minutes of the Board of Trustees, correspondence on bequests and gifts, and Lingnan periodicals and publications.
In addition to those of RG 14 and RG 14A, numerous photos from “RG 14A: Series VI – Addendum 2019,” which has recently been acquired through the generous donation of Lingnan Foundation, are included in this online Lingnan exhibit, while still being processed to be included in the official Yale Divinity Library archive.