Chaplain A.C. Oliver Jr. Lantern Slide Collection

Lantern slides and stereopticons, black and white and hand-colored, assembled by Chaplain Oliver (he appears in several), depicting monuments and scenes, especially in Beijing, such as Ming tombs, temples, the Summer Palace, landscapes, place views, military soldiers, Chinese people, Western visitors, and daily life. Also includes images of the Great Wall and the Forbidden City. Four boxes of the slides are housed in original wooden slide cases with Chaplain Oliver's name and the subject of the slide within painted on the cover. Many slides are numbered on the mount ; some credit the Hui Wen Photo Department, Tiensin Hui Wen Academy.

Colonel Alfred C. Oliver Jr. graduated from Princeton University in 1917, and subsequently became an U.S. Army Chaplain, serving in both the First and Second World Wars. Oliver spent two years in China from 1930-1932. In 1942, he was taken prisoner of war by the Japanese in the Phillipines. Upon surviving the Bataan death march, he was kept imprisoned until his release in 1945. Over the course of his life, he was stationed at Walter Reed Army Hospital (Washington, D.C.) , in Hawaii, and in Fort Harrison, Indiana, where he became involved in the Civilian Conservation Corps. He co-authored with Harold M. Dudley a book entitled "This new America: the spirit of the Civilian Conservation Corps" (1937) regarding his experience in this work. He retired from the U.S. Army in 1946.

Oliver, Alfred Cookman, 1885-1952

Beijing (China)

China -- Beijing -- Beijing

China -- Description and Travel

Originally assembled by Chaplain A.C. Oliver, Jr. and given upon his death to his friend Reverend Dr. Ching Chong Hung (1902-1984), founder (1935) and first pastor of the Chinese Community Church (Washington, D.C.), over which he presided for over 40 years. C.C. Hung was also an originator and leader of the National Conference of Chinese Churches in North America. Rev. Hung started the first Chinese language school at his church in 1936. He was an influential humanitarian throughout his life, fighting for rights on behalf of the Chinese-American community of Washington, D.C. Upon Rev. Hung's death the slides came into the possession of his son, Dr. Wellington Hung, M.D. of Potomac, Maryland, who donated them to the Gallery on October 17, 1997.

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Lantern slides

Chaplain A.C. Oliver Jr. Lantern Slide Collection, FSA.A1997.06. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

Slides organized in 10 boxes; arranged by scene

Lantern slides -- 1900-1950

Collection is open for research.