Ernest H. Forster
Ernest H. Forster was born in 1895 in Philadelphia and graduated from Princeton University in 1917. After serving as assistant headmaster at St. Paul's School in Baltimore, Maryland for two years, Forster went to China as an Episcopal missionary and taught at Mahan School in Yangchow.
In 1936, he married Clarissa Townsend, daughter of a prominent lawyer in Boston, Irving U. Townsend. The Forsters returned to China and were stationed at Yangchow. They were transferred from Yangchow to Nanking to serve at St. Paul's Episcopal Church only about one month before the capture of Nanking by the Japanese.
Clarissa Forster was evacuated from Nanking to Hankow in late November of 1937 and, by the middle of January 1938, arrived at Shanghai via Hong Kong. Forster, with John Magee, another Episcopal minister, remained in Nanking throughout the critical months of the Nanking Massacre.
Correspondence and Documents
| Reference | Description |
|---|---|
| RG 8: Box 263 Folder 1: Forster, Ernest & Clarissa - from disbound scrapbook - letters, clippings, ephemera | |
| NMP0332 |
"Dear Friends" (2 double-sided pages) Newsletter from Minnie Vautrin to friends of Ginling Women's College |
| RG 8: Box 263 Folder 2: Forster, Ernest & Clarissa - from disbound scrapbook - letters, clippings, ephemera | |
| NMP0333 |
December 7, 1937 "Dear Family" (2 pages) Letter from Clarissa and Ernest Forster to family |
| NMP0334 |
December 12, 1937 "Darling" (26 pages) Letter from John Magee to his wife |
| NMP0335 |
January 6, 1938 "Letter from Dr. George Fitch" (4 pages) Letter from George Fitch to friends |
| NMP0336 |
January 14, 1938 "Dear" Letter from Ernest Forster to his family |
| NMP0337 |
January 11, 1938 "Dear Billy" (4 pages) Letter from John Magee |
| RG 8: Box 263 Folder 3: Forster, Ernest & Clarissa - from disbound scrapbook - letters, clippings, ephemera | |
| NMP0338 |
1936 "A Day-Or More" (booklet) Brief Guide Book to Nanking in English |
| NMP0339 |
December 16, 1937 "Dear Family" (2 pages) Anonymous letter |
| NMP0340 | December 16 - 27, 1937 "Notes with a copy of correspondence between the University of Nanking and the Japanese Embassy" (7 pages) |
| RG 8: Box 263 Folder 4: Forster, Ernest & Clarissa - from disbound scrapbook - letters, clippings, ephemera | |
| NMP0341 |
August 20, 1937 "Dear Ernest" Letter from John Magee to Ernest Forster |
| NMP0342 |
August 26, 1937 "Dear Ernest" Letter from John Magee to Ernest Forster |
| RG 8: Box 263 Folder 6: Forster, Ernest & Clarissa - from disbound scrapbook - letters, clippings, ephemera | |
| NMP0343 |
"Introduction" (24 pages) Introduction to a film series and descriptions of each photograph |
| RG 8: Box 263 Folder 8: Forster, Ernest & Clarissa - from disbound scrapbook - letters, clippings, ephemera | |
| NMP0344 | March 28, 1938 Chinese newspaper article |
| NMP0345 |
February 10, 1938 "Dear" (2 pages) Letter from Ernest Forster to his wife, Clarissa |
| NMP0346 |
February 10, 1938 "Dear Bishop" Letter from Ernest Forster to Bishop in Shanghai |
| NMP0347 |
February 17, 1938 "Dear" Letter from Ernest Forster to his wife, Clarissa |
| NMP0348 |
March 10, 1938 "Gentlemen" (3 pages) Letter from Ernest Forster to American Embassy staff in Nanking |
| NMP0349 |
March 16, 1938 "Dear Friends" (4 pages) Letter from Ernest and Clarissa Forster to friends in the US |
| NMP0350 |
May 6, 1938 "Dear" (2 pages) Letter from Ernest Forster to his wife, Clarissa |
| NMP0351 |
"Nanking" (10 pages) Paper on relationship between Christians and citizens of Nanking in 1938, written by John Magee and Ernest Forster |
| NMP0352 |
February 18, 1938 "Preliminary Report on Christian Work in Nanking - Winter 1937" (1 double-sided page + 1 page) Prepared by Bates and W.P. Mills |
| RG 8: Box 263 Folder 9: Forster, Ernest & Clarissa - from disbound scrapbook - letters, clippings, ephemera | |
| NMP0353 |
November 23 - December 14, 1937 "Nanking" (8 pages) Collection of diary entries from Clarissa Forster |
| NMP0354 |
December 19, 1937 - January 28, 1938 "Mr. Forster's letters to his wife" (14 pages) A collection of letters from Ernest Forster to his wife, Clarissa |
| NMP0355 |
January 24 - February 13, 1938 "Mr. Forster's Letters" (12 pages) A collection of diary entries from Ernest Forster |
Historical Photographs
The following photographs from the Forster collection document the Nanking Massacre and its aftermath.
Selected Photographs
| Reference | Description |
|---|---|
| RG 8: Box 264 Folder 1: Forster, Ernest & Clarissa - Photo album: China 1927-1939 | |
| YDS-RG008-264-0001-0001 | "Small Group of the staff and patients of the Refugees Hospital in Nanking..." Summer, 1938 |
| YDS-RG008-264-0001-0002 | Rev. A.B. Parson and Ernest Forster. Ming Tomb, Nanking. Easter Monday, 1939 (showing Japanese graffiti on tomb wall) |
| RG 8: Box 265 Folder 2: Forster, Ernest & Clarissa - Photographs: Photo album 1937-1938 | |
| YDS-RG008-265-0002-0001 | "Persons executed by the Japanese soldiers in various parts of the grounds of Ku Ling Temple, Nanking, after the fall of the city, December 12, 1937" |
| YDS-RG008-265-0002-0004 | "Persons executed by the Japanese soldiers in various parts of the grounds of Ku Ling Temple, Nanking, after the fall of the city, December 12, 1937" - second view |
| YDS-RG008-265-0002-0037 | "A pond outside Nanking filled with the corpses of people who were killed by the Japanese troops. This is a scene typical of many of the ponds inside the city after the occupation of the city by the Japanese." |
| YDS-RG008-265-0002-0009 | "At the headquarters of the Nanking Safety Zone Committee. Left to right: Mr. Zial (Russian Tartar); Mr. Hatz (Austrian); Mr. Rabe (German, Chairman of the Safety Zone Committee); Rev. John Magee (American Church Mission); Mr. Cola Podshivaloff (White Russian) December 13, 1937. |
| YDS-RG008-265-0003-0098 | Members of the Nanking International Safety Zone Committee. Left to right: Ernest Forster, W. Plumer Mills, John Rabe, Lewis Smythe, (Rohe / Sperling?), George Fitch. From Paramount News Reel. Nanking China. About December 15, 1937 |
