Scope and Contents
The Sarah Pike Conger Papers consist mainly of letters from Sarah Pike Conger to her daughter and son-in-law, describing life in China with the American Legation. There are also some letters from Edwin Conger to Laura and Fred Buchan and one letter from Sir Robert Hart (Inspector General of Chinese Customs and friend of the Congers) to Sarah Pike Conger. In addition to the correspondence, the papers include the American Legation sign-in book from 1901-04, containing the autographs of many Chinese officials and court members, and a photograph of the Conger's friend Dr. Hoag's adopted Chinese daughter, Mayo Chen. As well, the papers contain the catalog to the sale of Sarah Pike Conger's collection of Chinese art and artifacts which took place in February 1908; and the labels to some of the artifacts that Sarah Pike Conger's granddaughter donated to the Peabody Museum. Finally, the papers contain the book Sarah Pike Conger published in 1909 of letters she wrote to friends and family while in China.
Dates
- Creation: 1901 - 1908
Creator
- Conger, Sarah Pike (Person)
Terms of Use
Access: Unrestricted.
Conditions Governing Use
Copying: Unrestricted.
Extent
1 collection (1 box; .5 linear foot)Biographical Sketch
Sarah Pike was born in Ohio in c. 1843 and graduated from Lombard College in Illinois in 1863. Lombard College operated within the same community as Knox College, founded twenty years later in 1837. The last class graduated from Lombard in 1931 and many of its then undergraduates finished at Knox. Sarah Pike married her childhood sweetheart, Edwin Hurd Conger in 1867. A Civil War veteran, lawyer, and Congressman, Mr. Conger was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary to Peking [Beijing], Chinaby President McKinley in 1897. There he headed the American Legation during the period of the Boxer rebellion. His wife accompanied him to China and collected Japanese, Korean and Chinese ethnographic artifacts, many of which were gifts from the Empress Dowager. Sarah Pike Conger wrote numerous letters to her family in the United States,and some of these items are contained in her papers. The Congers returned to the United States in 1905. Sarah and Edwin had one son, Lorentus, who died in childhood, and a daughter Laura, who married Fred Buchan in 1901. Fred and Laura had one daughter, Sarah Conger Buchan Jewell, to whom some of the letters in these papers are written, and who donated the papers to the Museum.
Sources:
"A Brief Biography of Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Hurd Conger". Stephen Williams. April 11, 1991 [PM accession file]
"Obituary. Hon. Edwin H. Conger" Los Angeles Sunday Times May 19, 1907
"Finding Aid to the Sarah Buchan Jewell Collection," Stephen Williams, November 1990 [PM accession file]
Conger, Sarah Pike. 1909. Letters From China,Chicago: The Lakeside Press.
Special Collections, Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois
Physical Location
Archives
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Accession number: 991-12
The papers of Sarah Pike Conger [c. 1843 - ?] were donated, along with a sizable ethnographic collection, to the Peabody Museum in 1991 by her granddaughter, Sarah Conger Buchan Jewell.
General note
Collections records may contain language, reflecting past collecting practices and methods of analysis, that is no longer acceptable. The Peabody Museum is committed to addressing the problem of offensive and discriminatory language present in its database. Our museum staff are continually updating these records, adding to and improving content. We welcome your feedback and any questions or concerns you may want to share.
Processed by:
Sarah R. Demb,December 1997.
Additional Catalog Entries
- Buchan, Sarah [Jewell]
- China--History--Boxer Rebellion
- China--History--Republic
- Conger, Sarah Pike
- Conger, Edwin H 1843-1907
- Ethnology--China
- Hart, Robert, Sir 1835-1911
- McKinley, William 1843-1901
- Material culture--China
- Peking--China
- Tz'u-hsi, Empress dowager of China 1835-1908
- United States--Foreign Relations--China
- Women--China
Creator
- Conger, Sarah Pike (Person)
- Title
- Conger, Sarah Pike Papers, 1901-08
- Author
- Peabody Museum Archives
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- pea00002
Repository Details
Part of the Peabody Museum Archives Repository
Papers in the Peabody Museum Archives consist of primary source materials that document the Museum’s archaeological and ethnographic research and fieldwork since its founding in 1866. More than 2,800 feet of archival paper collections contain documents, papers, manuscripts, correspondence, data, field notes, maps, plans, and other historical records that represent diverse peoples from around the world, and which were created or collected by the Museum, its individual affiliates, or related entities. The collections also document the history or provenience, as well as the creation of, many of the Museum’s archaeological and ethnographic collections.