Skip to main content

Herbert Nicholson papers

 Collection
Identifier: HC.MC-950-138

Scope and Contents

This collection is comprised of the papers of Herbert Nicholson. It includes sections of a manuscript, possibly "Valiant Odyssey: Herbert Nicholson in and out of America's concentration camps"; letters to Herbert Nicholson from individuals he met in Japan, some thanking him for his efforts to aid Japanese-Americans in the United States after World War II began; photographs of Herbert Nicholson and others; and Nicholson's research notes related to Japanese internment.

Dates

  • 1949-1982

Creator

Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research use.

Use Restrictions

Standard Federal Copyright Laws Apply (U.S. Title 17).

Biographical Note

Herbert Nicholson (1892-1983) was born in 1892 in Rochester, New York, to Quaker parents. Nicholson was educated at Quaker schools, including Haverford College. On his 23rd birthday, he announced that he wanted to become a missionary in Japan. In 1915, he began working as secretary to Gilbert Bowles, a Quaker missionary in Tokyo, where he met Congregational missionary Madeline Waterhouse, whom he married in 1920. In 1922, feeling the call of rural duty, the couple relocated to Mito in Ibaraki Prefecture, where farmers were less responsive to proselytizing than to practical aid. Nicholson started a savings account program for them, launched a goat farm, involved himself in the temperance movement, built a home for the aged, and ministered to people affected by leprosy. In the late 1930s, Japan's aggressive military incursions in China and the resulting political tensions between Japan and the United States hampered the Nicholsons' ability to work and live in Japan. They returned to the United States in 1940, and settled in Pasadena, California. During World War II, in addition to offering spiritual succor and ferrying belongings and people between concentration camps, detention centers, and medical facilities, Nicholson defended prisoners in speeches at churches and community organizations, traveled to military bases to comfort Nisei soldiers, and to the halls of power in Washington, D.C. to advocate for the release of their families from prison camps. When Nicholson was approached to fill in for an ailing Methodist minister at the all-Japanese American West Los Angeles Methodist Church in 1940 for $40 a month, he agreed, preaching in both English and Japanese while Madeline served as Sunday School superintendent.

Extent

.2 Linear Feet (4 folders)

Language

English

Overview

This collection is comprised of the papers of Herbert Nicholson. It includes sections of a manuscript, letters to Herbert Nicholson from individuals he met in Japan, photographs of Herbert Nicholson and others, and Nicholson's research notes related to Japanese internment.

Acquisition

Unknown.

Related Materials

  • HC.MC.1192 William Warder Cadbury and Catherine J. Cadbury papers
  • HC.MC.1020 William Bacon Evans papers

Processing Information

Processed by Kara Flynn; completed March, 2016.

Title
Herbert Nicholson papers, 1949-1982
Author
Kara Flynn
Date
March, 2016
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
English

Find It at the Library

Most of the materials in this catalog are not digitized and can only be accessed in person. Please see our website for more information about visiting or requesting reproductions from Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections Library

Contact:
370 Lancaster Ave
Haverford PA 19041 USA US