'Images of history': how American missionaries' photography and film tells Chinese history


Historian and professor, Joseph Ho, talks about his book to CMU students, faculty.


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Courtesy of Dr. Joseph W. Ho. 

Rare photographs and film taken by American missionaries in China and their unique stories were featured in Joseph Ho’s book that he presented to Central Michigan University students and faculty on WebEx, Feb. 27.

Ho, a historian of modern East Asia and professor at Albion College and University of Michigan, described the images and film taken in China during the 20th century as “incredibly complex.” 

 “(These images) are incredibly rich," Ho said over WebEx. "They have moved through space and time. They have gone through the lenses and the hands and the minds of so many communities around the world … They are in so many deep and rich ways, images of history, and ways of seeing the world that in many cases are now not too far from home.”

Ho referred to American missionaries as people who promote Christianity in foreign countries, and Chinese people as “mediations of transnational maternities in the 20th century.” Missionaries were bringing their cameras to China to document work and life of local people, Ho said. 

 Courtesy of the Lewis family and Dr. Joseph W. Ho.

Even the Chinese Recorder magazine for missionaries in the 1920s was filled with the ads for portable small cameras, he said. Some of the missionaries that Ho researched in his book were Harold and Jessie Henke, Ralph and Roberta Lewis, John Magee and others.

Ho said during his graduate research he met Henke’s son, Richard. Through meeting people and traveling, Ho was inspired to write a book. 

Ho worked on his book “Developing Mission: Photography, Filmmaking and American Missionaries in Modern China” for around ten years. He said he visited China and interviewed people there.

“I realized … that people have studied modern China, they have studied missionaries, they have studied photography, (but) they had never put those three things together,” Ho said.

History is hidden in those old photographs, he said. For example, Ho shared a story of the Henke family in China. They went as missionaries and photographed local people. Sometimes after the picture was taken, Henkes hand painted them because they were “lacking color”. 

On one of the pictures, Ho noted a small black box that Harold was holding. Then the box appeared on the next photograph as well. Ho said it was a Cine-Kodak Model B movie camera. 

Ho showed the Henkes couples black and white film during the presentation. He said they had filmed almost a mile of movie film. They were portraying local Chinese people, for example, working and going to see a doctor. 

“The camera then will allow audiences to traverse space,” Ho said. “It literally takes you into the hospital. It tells you how much it costs to get a ticket for essentially an examination by a doctor.”


 Courtesy of the Lewis family and Dr. Joseph W. Ho.

Another interesting piece of history Ho talked about was the “first selfie” taken by Basil Bauer, an American missionary in China. In the picture, Bauer wore a traditional Chinese robe and sat with a type machine, alarm clock and film spools. Ho said one of the film spools was missing, which pointed out that Bauer was using it at the moment of the picture — meaning he took the photo himself. 

Fourth-year student Carmen Marshall said she was excited to attend the event because she wanted to learn more about East Asia through photography. Marshall said she practiced photography in high school and will be using what she learned at the event in the future. 

She said her favorite part of the presentation was the story of Liu Ju and Li Qinghai‘s wedding where the Henkes appeared as well.

“Being able to talk with (Ho) today in class and also attend this was really fun,” Marshall said. “The artifacts are super cool … and just seeing his passion behind it as well. He was really informative and I learned a lot.”

Ho said he received a lot of positive feedback after the talk and good questions in the end of the event. He said he enjoyed talking to students even though the event was held online due to weather conditions. 

“CMU students are just awesome,” Ho said. “In the ways that they’ve been thinking through the questions … I really enjoy the interactions … It was a great experience.”

Courtesy of Dr. Joseph W. Ho. Ho presented his book "Developing Mission. Photography, Filmmaking, and American Missionaries in Modern China" to Central Michigan Unviersity students and faculty, Feb. 27.

Jennifer Liu Demas, a faculty member at the department of History, World Languages and Cultures, said Ho visited CMU in 2017 and had an engaging and successful experience with students. 

Demas is the one that invited Ho to present his book, "Developing Mission. Photography, Filmmaking, and American Missionaries in Modern China". She also asked that he speak to graduate students in her Modern East Asia class

Demas said that Ho will be invited to come back to CMU again in the near future. To learn more about the upcoming events on camous, visit CMU's website

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