The papers of Everett Day Hawkins mainly document the two years Hawkins spent in Taigu, China, as a Shansi Representative of Oberlin College (1927-29).  Later materials pertain to Hawkins' service in Chungking with the U.S. Office of War Information (1944-46).  Virtually no record exists in these papers of Hawkins' teaching career at Mt. Holyoke College and the University of Wisconsin; his government service; or his scholarship in Southeast Asian development economics.

Hawkins' outgoing correspondence (1927-29) offers a spirited account of his experiences as an English teacher at the Oberlin Memorial Academy in Taigu, China.  The letters (1927-29) from Hawkins to his family in New Orleans and to his brother, Roger (A.B. Oberlin 1931), at Oberlin College, discuss his impressions of the Chinese students, his teaching duties, school sports and parties, books recently read, Chinese language study, and fellow Shansi representatives at Taigu, including Wynn C. Fairfield (1886-1961; A.B. Oberlin 1907), Gladys Williams (1893-1981;A.B. Oberlin 1917), Raymond Moyer (b. 1899; A.B. Oberlin 1921), Adelaide Hemingway (1906-74; A.B. Oberlin 1928) and Harold Ingalls (1902-77; A.B. Oberlin 1926).  In eight "information letters" (1928-29) to Oberlin Shansi Memorial Association trustee, W. F. Bohn (1878-1947; A.B. Oberlin 1900) and Executive Secretary, Lydia Lord Davis (1867-1952), Hawkins writes of administrative matters such as housing and salary for Shansi representatives, the resignation of Principal H. H. Kung (1880-1967) from Ming Hsien, and the inadvisability of recruiting more Oberlin women to serve as Shansi representatives.  Included among Hawkins' incoming correspondence are nineteen letters (1929-31) from Adelaide Hemingway in Taigu relaying local news and describing her social life, teaching duties, and the political situation in China.  Also present are two letters from H. H. Kung, several letters from Hawkins' Chinese students, and official communications to former Shansi "reps" from the Oberlin Shansi Memorial Association.  Hawkins' photographs of China, scrapbooks, and collected memorabilia provide a rich visual counterpart to the correspondence from Shansi.  Much of this memorabilia is written in Chinese. 

Although there is no official documentation in this collection of Hawkins' tour in Chungking as Director of Information for the China Division of the U.S. Office of War Information (1944-46), the period is vividly recorded in Hawkins' correspondence  to his mother and family in New York and Baltimore.  Letters describe the destruction of Japanese ordnance by American bombs in the area of Hankow and the Japanese surrender to Chinese generals in September 1945.  Also present are numerous photographs of war damage and atrocities and printed ephemera, including identity cards issued by the Republic of China and the U.S. government, Chinese and American business cards, and a vaccination certificate.

The balance of the collection includes a small amount of Hawkins' high-school and college memorabilia; incomplete runs of newsletters collected by Hawkins summarizing political and economic issues in China; select drafts of and notes for speeches concerning China, Japan, and Korea; and a limited sample of Hawkins' writings, which includes a draft of the pamphlet, "The Soviet Role in Manchuria," [1946] and a book-length manuscript entitled "Oriental Honeymoon," which recounts his adventures in China in 1937.

Series I.  Correspondence, 1927-72, n.d.  .4 l.f.

Correspondence of Everett Hawkins, organized into incoming and outgoing correspondence.  Subseries 1, Outgoing Correspondence, is chronologically arranged.  Subseries 2, Incoming Correspondence, is alphabetically arranged by correspondent.

Series II.  Diary, 1927-29, 1937  1 vol.

Diary in the five-year format, with entries for 1927-29 and 1937, the years of Hawkins' Shansi service and of a return trip to China.

Series III.  Writings, 1937, 1946, 1948, n.d.  .2 l.f.

Unpublished ms. draft of a book-length essay, entitled "Oriental Honeymoon"; ms. draft of an unpublished pamphlet; and ms. notes for speeches.  Arranged alphabetically by title and type of material.

Series IV.  Newsletters Relating to China and the Far East, 1946-60  .8 l.f.

English-language newsletters containing summaries of economic and political news from China.  Arranged alphabetically by title. 

Series V.  Photographs, 1923-46, n.d.  .2 l.f.

Negatives and loose photographs, organized into two subseries.  Subseries 1, Negatives, includes an album of negatives and loose negatives.   In Subseries 2, Loose Photographs, images are arranged alphabetically by subject, with photographs of China separated from those of other subjects.

Series VI.  Miscellany, 1900, 1919-46, n.d.  1.8 l.f.

Organized into three subseries by topic and type of material, with the earliest items placed first.

Subseries 1.  Student Memorabilia, 1900, 1919-35, n.d.  .2 l.f.

Contains the order of service (1900) used at Hawkins' baptism; high-school grade cards, transcripts, and membership cards; Oberlin College prom programs, dance cards, and B.A. diploma; Oberlin and Princeton commencement programs; Princeton fellowship award letters; and an address book containing names of school friends.  Materials are chronologically arranged.

Subseries 2.  China Memorabilia, 1927-46, n.d.  1.4 l.f.

Items created and collected during Hawkins' stays in China  and during his 1929 journey to the United States via Europe.Includes watercolor sketches and collages by Hawkins, a book of souvenir photographs of China, official identity cards issued to Hawkins by the Republic of China and the China Ministry of Communications, Chinese business cards, greeting cards, and invitations, tourist maps, and ocean liner passenger lists and brochures.  Two scrapbooks for the Shansi period contain photographs, intricate paper cut-outs, art postcards, train tickets, steamer tags, and restaurant receipts.  Arranged alphabetically by topic and type of material.

Subseries 3.  Artifacts, n.d.  .4 l.f.

Container of dried seal paste with wood and marble seals, various honorary pins and medals with inscriptions in Chinese, and patches from official uniforms.  Arranged alphabetically by type of material.

The papers of Everett D. Hawkins were transferred to the Oberlin College Archives under deed of gift in two lots, in 1979 and in 1980.

Further information relating to the Oberlin Shansi Memorial Association (O.S.M.A.) and its Shansi representatives is available in Record Group 15, the Records of the Oberlin Shansi Memorial Association, and Record Group 3/1, the Papers of William Frederick Bohn.  College General, 00/2, contains class letters from various missionaries and Shansi representatives; letters are arranged by class year. For additional materials relating to O.S.M.A. Executive Secretary Lydia Lord Davis, consult Davis' personal papers (30/80).  The personal papers of Alice Moon Williams (30/85) contain hundreds of photographs of China, the Shansi Mission, and its missionaries.  Consult the booklet prepared by Ellsworth C. Carlson, Oberlin in Asia: the First Hundred Years, 1882-1982 (Oberlin: Oberlin Shansi Memorial Association, 1982) for a history of Oberlin in Shansi and a complete listing of Oberlinians who have served there.