| Scope and content |
The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence (1917-43) from Miss Cox to her mother, Mrs. B. T. Cox. In her letters Miss Cox vividly describes the trials and pleasures of her years spent among the Chinese people, along with descriptions of the people, their land, religions, economy, and politics. Letters graphically describe the Chinese practice of foot-binding, relate the efforts of the National Christian Council to unify Christianity in China under a National Christian Church, and describe the flooding of Hankou. The four diaries in the collection describe: Miss Cox's time at The North Carolina Normal and Industrial School, her activities while a junior at Salem Academy and College, her visit to the Presidential Palace in the Forbidden City and a meeting with President Shichang Xu, and her travels from North Carolina to China. Other materials include: photographs, yearbooks, bulletin, manuscript (1958), a cyclical chart of the animal signs for each Chinese new year, a list of Yen proverbs translated from Chinese into English, a Chinese music book written by Miss Cox, clippings, and a memorial of Miss Cox's grandmother, Mrs. Mary Smith, one of Winterville's leading citizens. |
| Access restriction | No access restrictions. |
| Cite as |
Venetia Cox Papers (#263), Special Collections Department, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA. |
| Terms of use | Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law. |
| Acquisitions source |
Joyner- Gift of Mrs. A. T. St. Amand. |
| Acquisitions source |
Joyner- Gift of Mrs. Olivera Rouse. |
| Acquisitions source |
Joyner- Gift of Kelly L. Adams. |
| Biographical note | Venetia Cox, of Winterville, N.C., was born in 1892. Miss Cox was a missionary music teacher in mainland China between 1917 and 1950. Supported by the Episcopal Church, Miss Cox taught for her first twenty years in China at the American Mission School located in the city of Hankow in Hupei Province. However, in 1937 the Japanese invasion of the country forced the personnel (including Miss Cox) and students of the mission to become wanderers for the next thirteen years. Continually uprooted, she moved from province to province; yet, her zest for teaching proved to be inexhaustible. Finally, in 1950 she left China at the request of the newly installed communist regime. |
