Chester Fritz Papers, 1899-1985
Collection Overview
Title: Chester Fritz Papers, 1899-1985
ID: OGLMC410
Extent: 20.0 Linear Feet
Arrangement:
Series 1: Correspondence of Chester Fritz, 1899-1977 and Kathrine B. Tiffany, 1923-1977
Series 2: Personal material of Chester Fritz and Kathrine B. Tiffany
Series 3: Newspaper clippings and miscellaneous materials
Series 4: Scrapbooks and Photograph Albums
Series 5: Photographs
Series 6: Clothing
Series 7: Oversize Materials
Series 8: Biography
Series 9: Oral History Interviews
Series 10: Memorabilia and Artifacts
Series 11: Separated Materials
Date Acquired: 05/25/1977. More info below under Accruals.
Subjects: Business and Industry, University of North Dakota - Benefactors
Abstract
Scope and Contents of the Materials
Collection Historical Note
Chester Fritz was born March 25, 1892, in Buxton, North Dakota. He was the first and only surviving child of Charles and Anne (Belanger) Fritz. The family moved to Fargo, North Dakota, in 1898, where Charles worked intermittently. A farming accident in 1902 that left Charles permanently disabled forced Anne to take on work as a clerk and bookkeeper, and circumstances for the family were meager. In January 1903, when the Fargo Carnegie Public Library opened, Chester Fritz began visiting daily, reading history and war novels, but also the novels of Horatio Alger. These tales of success attained through self-discipline and virtue instilled a belief that he could be prosperous through his own determination, despite undesirable living conditions or circumstances.
Anne Fritz left the family in February 1905 and was never seen nor heard from again. This prompted Chester Fritz to move to Lidgerwood, North Dakota, to live with his mother's sister, Kathrine (Belanger) Macdonald, who was Principal of Lidgerwood High School, and her husband Neil C. Macdonald, who was Superintendent of Schools in Lidgerwood. They provided an active and scholastic environment for Chester. While in Lidgerwood, he paid $8 a month for board and worked odd jobs as well as attending school. During summers he went to Chaffee, North Dakota to visit his father. Chester Fritz worked on the Pagel farm west of town, earning $1 a day. In his biography, he states, "I have been self-supporting since I was 12 years old."
Fritz credited his intellectual and competitive spirit to the influence of the Macdonalds. In May 1908, Fritz won the fifth annual Lidgerwood High School Declamatory Contest, which qualified him to represent the town in the statewide contest, held at the University of North Dakota. He won this contest as well, which carried a prize of $12. Fritz graduated as valedictorian of his class at Lidgerwood High School in June 1908 and enrolled at UND that fall.
While at the University, Fritz practiced declamation and debate with the Ad Altoria Literary Society and pledged the Varsity Bachelor's Club. Following his freshman year, he jumped a freight train to Billings, Montana and worked at the Grand Hotel in exchange for his board. He made extra income selling tourist-tickets to Wyoming for commission. He was successful in Billings, and this experience gave him confidence and a desire to travel more. He returned for his sophomore year at UND in 1909, and played an integral role in the Sock and Buskin Club's production of Twelfth Night. On July 2, 1910, he traveled to St. Paul and boarded a train to Seattle. He would not return to North Dakota for more than 40 years.
Fritz was unable to gain steady employment and did not enroll at the University of Washington in fall 1910, as he had hoped, because of financial restrictions. Most of this year was spent working in the order department of a wholesale plumbing, heating and hardware firm in Vancouver, British Columbia. Returning to Seattle in the summer of 1911, he was hired at the cigar counter at the Owl Drug Company, where he worked throughout his enrollment at Washington. He found little time for social activities as he worked six days a week, but was initiated into Delta Tau Delta and was a member of the drama club. He graduated with a B.A. in Economics in June 1914.
Immediately upon his graduation, Fritz was employed by the Fisher Flouring Mills Company in Seattle. After work in the testing laboratory and then the main office, the company sent him to work in Hong Kong as an exporter in the spring of 1915. He worked under the guidance of Charles E. Richardson, a very successful foreign trader. Fritz found acceptance in the Hong Kong Club, an association of British and a few American émigrés. Business assignments took him across Southeast Asia, and accounts of his success appeared stateside in the The Washington Alumnus and two flour trade magazines. Business was seriously undermined by the outbreak of World War I, however, when the United States prohibited flour sales to China because of demands elsewhere. Determined not to retrace his steps back to the United States, his confidence bolstered by his success in China thus far, and with no immediate work in which to engage, Fritz embarked on a six-month tour of China in February 1917.
The tour ended in August 1917, after which Fritz rejoined Charles Richardson in Hong Kong. Fritz served as his junior partner and assistant in several failed operations, including large-scale strip mining and tungsten exportation to the United States. Results of World War I made the international economy-and especially the metal trade-unstable. Fritz traveled to the United States in 1919 to settle details of his and Richardson's recent tungsten shipments. He went to New York to visit with Harold Hochschild of the American Metal Company Ltd., and to Washington D.C. to speak with Congressman Charles Timberlake in regards to a proposed bill to raise tungsten prices to $7 a pound. All efforts were immediately fruitless, however, and Fritz's relationship with Richardson became increasingly strained. In 1921, he ended this affiliation by letter, thanking Richardson for the opportunities and the kindness. Fritz then accepted a position with the New York-based American Metal Company and moved to Shanghai.
Fritz worked in the American-Chinese silver trade for American Metal, brokering trades and overseeing trans-Pacific shipments. During this time he earned a healthy income and lived in comfortable circumstances. With experience in the metal trade and international finance, Fritz was successful in overseeing American Metal's China operations. In 1928, he approached the brokerage firm of Swan, Culbertson & Company, which traded New York stocks and bonds and Chinese government bonds, and proposed inclusion for equal partnership. His proposal was accepted. Fritz transferred the business of American Metals to his new firm, effectively closing the company's Shanghai office.
The knowledge in foreign exchange, precious metals and commodities which Fritz possessed was one of several reasons that he was asked to join the firm. Eventually Swan, Culbertson & Fritz became one of the most successful investment firms in the Far East. Based in Shanghai, it held branch offices in Singapore, Hong Kong, Manila and, eventually, South America. The firm halted its operations at the outset of World War II in 1941. It never fully recovered.
During these years, Fritz became a notable Shanghai sportsman in the expatriate circle. He owned and maintained a stable of ponies with which he competed in paper chases and polo matches. Though he rode horse only a few times in his youth in North Dakota, he proved a natural when he began in earnest in 1925, at the age of thirty-two. Within two years, he won his first paper hunt, which is a form of horse race in which the course is marked by various colored papers which the riders must follow. In his riding career, which lasted until the beginning of World War II, Fritz won or placed in 22 events. With his horse Tempest, which he acquired in 1936, he became a respected and feared competitor in the paper hunts, making headlines even when he failed to win. He also took to polo, in which he was among the best American players in Shanghai. During these years between the World Wars he also traveled to Japan each summer, the most memorable journey being in 1936 when he climbed Mt. Fuji.
On June 18, 1929, Chester Fritz married Bernadine Szold, whom he had met during her two week stay in Shanghai earlier that year while traveling around the world. When she returned to Paris following the end of her trip, Fritz cabled a proposal of marriage, which she accepted via the same means. The two were married at the American Consulate in Darien, Manchuria. It was her fourth marriage, and his first.
Due to advancing Japanese military presence in China, Bernadine fled to the U.S. in August 1936. Fritz purchased for her a home in Hollywood, but was unable to visit until early 1940, when he stayed at their home and traveled through Mexico and Guatemala for two months. In October, however, business engagements required him to return to Shanghai although World War II was increasing in its scope and danger. Japan began seizing parts of China, but Shanghai-and especially the international enclave in which Fritz worked and lived-continued operations with few restrictions. Shortly after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and brought the U.S. into the war, they also seized the International Settlement in Shanghai. Foreigners, including Fritz, were required to wear armbands identifying their nationalities, yet business and daily life continued mostly unchanged. In August 1942 Fritz was placed in an internment camp in Chaipei, where 1,500 Westerners were held until an exchange was brokered by the International Red Cross for Japanese civilians and government officials being held in the U.S. After 14 months in the internment camps and an additional 72 days in transit, Fritz docked in New York.
He returned to Hollywood to find he had little in common with Bernadine, who was being hailed in newspapers as a "socialite." He stayed at their home for three months; they separated in March 1944 and divorced in September 1946. Following their divorce, Fritz paid for a home for Bernadine in Beverly Hills, assumed her medical expenses, and voluntarily increased his alimony payments. Bernadine Fritz never remarried, and died on February 15, 1982.
Following the end of World War II, Chester Fritz returned to Shanghai. In 1947, he relocated to Hong Kong. During these years silver trading no longer proved to be profitable, as China had since converted to a gold-based economy and developed a fully-managed currency. Fritz shifted his focus to the trading of gold, using as a base of operations Hong Kong, since the mainland of China was no longer viable for international business after the Communist revolution of 1949. He dealt with gold going into India, which was lucrative as he was the first to engineer these imports. With the changing economic and political landscape of China making international trade difficult, Fritz left permanently in 1950. Also during the post-World War II years, a former junior partner of Swan, Culbertson & Fritz had set up insurance, underwriting and construction operations in Argentina and Uruguay. This extension of resources was profitable for Fritz, though he did not directly broker any of the business in South America.
After attending a UND alumni dinner in New York City in November 1950, Fritz sent a check for $10,000 to the University of North Dakota Development Fund. This was the first action in which Fritz would, in his own words, "repay the state of North Dakota" for what it had given him. He returned to the University in June 1951 to accept an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. It was the first time he had returned to North Dakota since he left in 1910. Fritz found even greater financial success during these years operating as an independent trader. He invested in precious metals to protect against inflation, and he also invested in IBM and certain Japanese government bonds, which paid large dividends.
Between 1950 and 1953, Fritz traveled restlessly, searching for a new place of residence. He lived in New York for a short time, but settled in Rome. There he met Vera Kachalina, a Moscow-born world traveler, through a mutual friend. Finding that she too had lived in China and they had much in common through their travels, they were married on March 21, 1954, in Zurich, Switzerland. They remained in Italy until 1957, when they moved to Switzerland. In 1959, the Fritzes built a twelve-room chalet, Chalet Vera, in Gstaad, Switzerland. In 1972, they moved to Monte Carlo. Fritz spent the remainder of his life in Monte Carlo and Lausanne, Switzerland.
Between and 1950 and 1969, he donated more than $2.25 million to UND. These donations helped to finance the Chester Fritz Scholarship Fund (1956), the Chester Fritz Library (1958), the Chester Fritz Auditorium (1965) and the Kathrine B. Tiffany Scholarship Fund (1969). The scholarship funds are still active today, and the library and auditorium are still in use. Fritz considered his return to UND in 1961 for the dedication of the library his "finest hour." In his remarks at the dedication (October 13, 1961), he stated he preferred to donate while he was still alive, or "with a warm hand."
In 1957, Fritz also donated $25,000 to the Chester Fritz Scholarship Fund at the University of Washington, then an additional $1 million in 1973; these donations were given with the intention of fostering a Chinese studies program. In 1971, he donated $40,000 to the Lidgerwood School District for scholarships for graduating seniors. He also memorialized Harold Hochschild of the American Metal Company with a $50,000 donation to the Adirondack Museum in upstate New York (1977).
Chester Fritz died July 28, 1983. He is buried in Memorial Park Cemetery in Grand Forks. Vera Fritz died November 2, 2005 in Monte Carlo.
Source: Ever Westward to the Far East: The Story of Chester Fritz by Chester Fritz and Dan Rylance.
Subject/Index Terms
Administrative Information
Repository: Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections
Accruals: Additional and subsequent materials were donated by Chester Frit and by Leonard Beal, Hillsboro, North Dakota, on May 26, 1990 (79-612).
Access Restrictions: Available for inspection under the rules and regulations of the Department of Special Collections.
Acquisition Source: Kathrine B. Tiffany
Acquisition Method: Donation; 77-420
Related Materials: Kathrine Tiffany Papers: OGLMC 266
Related Publications:
China Journey: A Diary of Six Months in Western Inland China, 1917. University of Washington, 1981. Call number: DS 710.F758 1981
Fritz, Chester and Dan Rylance. Ever Westward to the Far East: The Story of Chester Fritz. Grand Forks: University of North Dakota, 1982. Call number: HG1552.F74 A34 1982
The Journal of Chester Fritz: Travels Through Western China in 1917. Edited by James Vivian. Grand Forks: University of North Dakota, 1981. Call number: DS 710.F76 1981
Preferred Citation: (Description of Item). Chester Fritz Papers. OGLMC 410, Box #, Folder #. Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections, Chester Fritz Library, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks.
Processing Information: Finding aid added to Archon by Daniel Sauerwein, Special Collections student worker, in November 2015.
Box and Folder Listing
Browse by Series:
[Series 1: Correspondence of Chester Fritz and Kathrine B. Tiffany],
[Series 2: Personal material of Chester Fritz and Kathrine B. Tiffany],
[Series 3: Newspaper clippings and miscellaneous materials],
[Series 4: Scrapbooks and Photograph Albums],
[Series 5: Photographs],
[Series 6: Clothing],
[Series 7: Oversize Materials],
[Series 8: Biography],
[Series 9: Oral History Interviews],
[Series 10: Memorabilia and Artifacts],
[Series 11: Separated Materials],
[All]
- Series 1: Correspondence of Chester Fritz and Kathrine B. Tiffany
- Box 1
- Folder 1: Correspondence - Chester Fritz, 1977
- Folder 2: Correspondence - Chester Fritz, 1976
- Folder 3: Correspondence - Chester Fritz, 1975
- Folder 4: Correspondence - Chester Fritz, 1974
- Folder 5: Correspondence - Chester Fritz, 1973
- Folder 6: Correspondence - Chester Fritz, 1972
- Folder 7: Correspondence - Chester Fritz, 1971
- Folder 8: Correspondence - Chester Fritz, 1970
- Folder 9: Correspondence - Chester Fritz, 1969
- Folder 10: Correspondence - Chester Fritz, 1968
- Folder 11: Correspondence - Chester Fritz, 1967
- Folder 12: Correspondence - Chester Fritz, 1966
- Folder 13: Correspondence - Chester Fritz, 1965
- Folder 14: Correspondence - Chester Fritz, 1964
- Folder 15: Correspondence - Chester Fritz, 1963
- Folder 16: Correspondence - Chester Fritz, 1962
- Folder 17: Correspondence - Chester Fritz, 1961
- Folder 18: Correspondence - Chester Fritz, 1960
- Folder 19: Correspondence - Chester Fritz, 1959
- Folder 20: Correspondence - Chester Fritz, 1958
- Folder 21: Correspondence - Chester Fritz, 1957
- Folder 22: Correspondence - Chester Fritz, 1950-1956
- Folder 23: Correspondence - Chester Fritz, 1899-1950
- Folder 24: Correspondence - Chester Fritz, Fragments and undated
- Folder 25: Correspondence - Chester Fritz, Cards and postcards
- Folder 26: Correspondence - Chester Fritz, Chester Fritz Auditorium, 1965
- Folder 27: Correspondence - Chester Fritz, Oriental room, 1958-1963
- Folder 28: Correspondence - Chester Fritz, Letters of appreciation
- Folder 29: Correspondence - Chester Fritz, Letters of appreciation
- Folder 30: Correspondence - Chester Fritz, Letters of appreciation
- Folder 31: Correspondence - Kathrine B. Tiffany, 1977
- Folder 32: Correspondence - Kathrine B. Tiffany, 1976
- Folder 33: Correspondence - Kathrine B. Tiffany, 1975
- Folder 34: Correspondence - Kathrine B. Tiffany, 1974
- Folder 35: Correspondence - Kathrine B. Tiffany, 1973
- Folder 36: Correspondence - Kathrine B. Tiffany, 1972
- Folder 37: Correspondence - Kathrine B. Tiffany, 1971
- Folder 38: Correspondence - Kathrine B. Tiffany, 1970
- Folder 39: Correspondence - Kathrine B. Tiffany, 1969
- Folder 40: Correspondence - Kathrine B. Tiffany, 1968
- Folder 41: Correspondence - Kathrine B. Tiffany, 1967
- Folder 42: Correspondence - Kathrine B. Tiffany, 1966
- Folder 1: Correspondence - Chester Fritz, 1977
- Box 2
- Folder 1: Correspondence - Kathrine B. Tiffany, 1965
- Folder 2: Correspondence - Kathrine B. Tiffany, 1964
- Folder 3: Correspondence - Kathrine B. Tiffany, 1963
- Folder 4: Correspondence - Kathrine B. Tiffany, 1962
- Folder 5: Correspondence - Kathrine B. Tiffany, 1961
- Folder 6: Correspondence - Kathrine B. Tiffany, 1960
- Folder 7: Correspondence - Kathrine B. Tiffany, 1950-1959
- Folder 8: Correspondence - Kathrine B. Tiffany, 1923-1948
- Folder 9: Correspondence - Kathrine B. Tiffany, Cards and postcards
- Folder 10: Correspondence - Kathrine B. Tiffany, fragments
- Folder 11: Kathrine B. Tiffany - Notes, 1960-1975
- Folder 12: Kathrine B. Tiffany - Telephone conversation transcriptions, 1962-1967
- Folder 13: Correspondence - Miscellaneous
- Folder 14: Correspondence - Tibet (author unknown), 1923-1925
- Folder 1: Correspondence - Kathrine B. Tiffany, 1965
- Box 13
- Box 20
- Box 1
- Series 2: Personal material of Chester Fritz and Kathrine B. Tiffany
- Box 2
- Folder 15: Chester Fritz - Biographical and personal
- Folder 16: Chester Fritz - Biographical and personal
- Folder 17: Chester Fritz - Business related material
- Folder 18: Chester Fritz - Diaries, 1934, 1947, 1951
- Folder 19: Chester Fritz - Diaries, 1917
- Folder 20: Chester Fritz - Materials relating to transcription of 1917 diaries
- Folder 21: Chester Fritz - Miscellaneous material
- Folder 22: Chester Fritz - Oriental Room material
- Folder 23: Chester Fritz - Resolutions and commendations
- Folder 24: Chester Fritz - Scholarships material
- Folder 25: Chester Fritz - University of North Dakota related material
- Folder 26: Kathrine B. Tiffany - Personal material
- Folder 27: Kathrine B. Tiffany - Edna Twamley
- Folder 28: Neil C. Macdonald - Correspondence and related material, 1909-1920
- Folder 29: Neil C. Macdonald - Biographical and related materials
- Folder 30: University of North Dakota - Brochures, pamphlets and related materials
- Folder 31: University of North Dakota - Correspondence (George Starcher), 1957-1973
- Folder 32: University of North Dakota - Speeches, remarks and miscellaneous
- Folder 15: Chester Fritz - Biographical and personal
- Box 3
- Box 2
- Series 3: Newspaper clippings and miscellaneous materials
- Box 3
- Folder 3: Miscellaneous material
- Folder 4: Maps - Chester Fritz's eight world tours
- Folder 5: Newspaper Clippings - Chester Fritz - Chester Fritz Auditorium
- Folder 6: Newspaper Clippings - Chester Fritz - Biographical
- Folder 7: Newspaper Clippings - Chester Fritz - Chester Fritz Library
- Folder 8: Newspaper Clippings - Chester Fritz - Chester Fritz Scholarships
- Folder 9: Newspaper Clippings - Lidgerwood, North Dakota
- Folder 10: Newspaper Clippings - Dr. Elwyn B. Robinson
- Folder 11: Newspaper Clippings - Kathrine B. Tiffany
- Folder 12: Newspaper Clippings - University of North Dakota
- Folder 3: Miscellaneous material
- Box 10
- Folder 1: News clippings and press releases; 1949, 1956, 1958
- Folder 2: News clippings and press releases; 1961 - 1969
- Folder 3: News clippings and press releases; 1970 - 1979
- Folder 4: News clippings and press releases; 1980 - 1993
- Folder 5: News release relating to Chester Fritz's donation to UND
- Folder 6: Obituaries for Chester Fritz, July 28, 1983
- Folder 1: News clippings and press releases; 1949, 1956, 1958
- Box 14
- Folder 6: Documents: U.S. Passport, 1920
- Folder 7: Documents: U.S. Passport, 1921
- Folder 8: Documents: U.S. Passport, 1945
- Folder 9: Documents: U.S. Passport, 1949
- Folder 10: Documents: U.S. Passport, 1953
- Folder 11: Documents: U.S. Passport, 1957
- Folder 12: Documents: U.S. Passport, 1966
- Folder 13: Documents: Alien Registration card, Hong Kong, undated
- Folder 14: Documents: U.S. Passport, Driver's License, Shanghai, 1959-1964
- Folder 15: Documents: U.S. Passport, Driver's License, Barbados, 1953
- Folder 16: Program: Coronation Year Derby Day, Epsom, 1953
- Folder 17: Program: Rome Polo Club, 1958
- Folder 18: Program: Passes, Rome Racecourse, 1958
- Folder 19: Publication: "A History of the Shanghai Paper Hunt Club," A Supplement, 1931-1935
- Folder 20: Publication: Shanghai Paper Hunt Club, 1929/1930
- Folder 21: Publication: Shanghai Paper Hunter's Hymn Book
- Folder 22: Publication: Shanghai Sporting Annuals, vol. II, 1936/1937
- Folder 23: Publication: Shanghai Sporting Annuals, vol. III, 1937/1938
- Folder 24: Publication: The Chronicle, May 23, 1958
- Folder 25: Publication: American Automobile Association, Foreign Route Charts, 1957
- Folder 26: Publication: Hotel Hassler, Rome
- Folder 27: Publication: "Eating the Italian Way"
- Folder 28: Publication: travel brochure, Avila, Spain
- Folder 29: Publication: travel brochure, Carcassone, Spain
- Folder 30: Publication: travel brochure, Portugal
- Folder 31: Publication: Annual Report, Hang Seng Bank, Hong Kong, 1961
- Folder 32: Publication: 30th Anniversary Bulletin, Hang Seng Bank, Hong Kong, 1962
- Folder 33: Article on the building of the Chester Fritz Library, Dakota Student, June 1960
- Folder 34: Caricature of Chester Fritz by Miguel Covarrubias
- Folder 35: Drawing of the "Tokaido," the Great East Road from Tokyo to Kyoto
- Folder 36: Oriental-style holiday cards
- Folder 37: Color slides (71), Guatemala and Bryce Canyon
- Folder 38: Transcription of remarks made by Chester Fritz on October 31, 1961 in the Oriental Room, Chester Fritz Library, University of North Dakota
- Folder 6: Documents: U.S. Passport, 1920
- Box 3
- Series 4: Scrapbooks and Photograph Albums
- Box 4
- Folder 1: "Chester Fritz's Six Month Diary: Through Inland China to Tibet" (Album 4)
- Folder 2: "Chester Fritz's Six Month Diary: Through Inland China to Tibet" (Album 4)
- Folder 3: The Chester Fritz Scholarships, 1956-1959 (Album 23)
- Folder 4: Letters of Appreciation for the Chester Fritz Library (Album 24)
- Folder 5: Chester Fritz Scholarships (Continued), 1961-1964 (Album 31)
- Folder 1: "Chester Fritz's Six Month Diary: Through Inland China to Tibet" (Album 4)
- Box 5
- Folder 1: "Emergence of Chester Fritz Library at University of North Dakota, 1958-1962"
- Folder 2: "The Auditorium Story Assembled by the Chester Fritz Scholars"
- Folder 3: Chester Fritz Biographical album #1
- Folder 4: Chester Fritz Biographical album #2
- Folder 5: Chester Fritz Biographical album #3
- Folder 6: Chester Fritz Biographical album #4
- Folder 1: "Emergence of Chester Fritz Library at University of North Dakota, 1958-1962"
- Box 12
- Box 18
- Scrapbook 1: Southeast Asia (Mainly), 1915-1916
- Scrapbook 2: Southeast Asia, 1915-1916
- Scrapbook 3: "Six Month Journey into Far-Inland China in 1917 and a Later Caravan Journey through Kwangtung and Kawnsi"
- Scrapbook 5: Burma, Tibet, Bhutan, India, and Egypt
- Scrapbook 6: South and East China, Manchuria, and Korea, 1915-1927
- Scrapbook 1: Southeast Asia (Mainly), 1915-1916
- Box 19
- Scrapbook 7: Palestine, Syria, Turkey and Greece
- Scrapbook 8: Southeast Asia: Singapore, Malaya, Burma, Siam, Mekong River, Kokos Island, and Battleships in World War I period
- Scrapbook 10: North Central Eurasia, 1928
- Scrapbook 11: Shanghai (mainly), Manchuria, and Hong Kong
- Scrapbook 13: Japanese People: Mainly Activities of the common people, 1930
- Scrapbook 16: Riding Contests: Paper Hunts
- Scrapbook 17: Riding Contests: Red Coats
- Scrapbook 18: Riding Contests: Paper Hunts; Polo Games
- Scrapbook 7: Palestine, Syria, Turkey and Greece
- Box 20
- Scrapbook 1: Mainly Philippines Islands and South China and Peking
- Scrapbook 2: Chester Fritz Library, 1964
- Scrapbook 3: Mainly India but some miscellaneous including Korea, Turkey, Sikkim, and England and a few scraps of Chester Fritz
- Scrapbook 4: Stamps for East Asia Room (Starting with Singapore in the year 1915, continued in 1969)
- Scrapbook 20: "Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Fuji"
- Scrapbook 21: "Fifty-Three Stations Along the Tokaido"
- Scrapbook 1: Mainly Philippines Islands and South China and Peking
- Box 4
- Series 5: Photographs
This series contains almost two thousand photographs separated and placed in the Orin G. Libby Photographic Collection.
Subjects include: artifacts, Asia, Chester Fritz, Kathrine B. Tiffany, Macdonald family, residences, The Chester Fritz Library, Tibet (1920s), University of North Dakota
Eight hundred eighty-eight of these photographs, featuring travel or recreation taken by, or of, Chester Fritz, have been divided by country of origin or subject:
OGL# 410-1076 to 1246 Cambodia, 1930s
OGL# 410-1247 to 1349 Siam (Thailand), 1930s
OGL# 410-1350 to 1384 Hue, Annam (Vietnam), 1930s
OGL# 410-1385 to 1398 Tonkin (Vietnam), 1930s
OGL# 410-1399 to 1429 Hanoi, Tonkin (Vietnam), 1930s
OGL# 410-1430 to 1637 Japan, 1930s
OGL# 410-1638 to 1652 Malaya, 1930s
OGL# 410-1653 to 1858 China, 1916-1948
OGL# 410-1859 to 1870 Italy, undated
OGL# 410-1871 to 1876 Chester and Vera Fritz, Italy, 1950s
OGL# 410-1877 to 1890 Oriental Room, 1958-1963
OGL# 410-1891 to 1943 Miscellaneous photos
OGL# 410-1944 to 1950 Chester Fritz, Chester Fritz Library, Chester Fritz Scholars
OGL# 410-1952 to 1964 Polo and Paper Hunts
Two folders containing negatives have been placed at the end of these folders.
One folder of miscellaneous photographs and documents was placed in the Oversize Photograph File Cabinet. Six of the twelve photographs are portraits of Fritz. Also included is the original drawing of a Stuart McDonald editorial cartoon from the Grand Forks Herald regarding the announcement of the donation to build the Chester Fritz Auditorium.
- Series 6: Clothing
- Item 1: Red Riding Coat
- On display in the East Asian Room of the Chester Fritz Library.
- Item 2: Off-white linen suit (Lacey and Sons, Argentina)
- Item 3: Brown Herring-bone suit (3-piece, West-End Tailors, Switzerland)
- Item 4: Gray pin-stripe suit (Circo Giuliana, Italy)
- Item 5: Brown tweed suit (West-End Tailors, Switzerland)
- Item 6: Brown hound's tooth sports jacket (West-End Tailors, Switzerland)
- Item 7: Brown silk suit (West-End Tailors, Switzerland)
- Item 8: Yellow Vest (Worn with Red Riding Coat)
- Item 1: Red Riding Coat
- Series 7: Oversize Materials
- The following items are placed together in an oversize folder.
- Item 1: South China Morning Post, January 22, 1978
- Located in Oversize File Cabinet Drawer 6.
- Item 2: International Herald Tribune, March 27, 1978
- Located in Oversize File Cabinet Drawer 6.
- Item 3: Times Union, June 11, 1978
- Located in Oversize File Cabinet Drawer 6.
- Item 4: The Alumnus, Winter 1978
- Located in Oversize File Cabinet Drawer 6.
- Item 5: A "Paper Chase" route illustrated map.
- Located in Oversize File Cabinet Drawer 6.
- Item 1: South China Morning Post, January 22, 1978
- Series 8: Biography
- Sub-Series 1: Biography Correspondence
- This sub-series consists of correspondence between Dan Rylance, Chester Fritz, and many of Fritz's associates relating to the initial book proposal, set up of interviews, questions and answers, and the follow-up work on the biography. The correspondence is listed in chronological order and by incoming and outgoing. Fritz's family history is also included in this series.
- Box 6
- Folder 1: Correspondence, Chester Fritz, 1899 - 1975
- Folder 2: Correspondence, incoming, Chester Fritz, 1899 - 1972
- Folder 3: Correspondence, from Chester Fritz to Dan Rylance, 1978 - 1979
- Folder 4: Correspondence, from Chester Fritz to Dan Rylance, 1980
- Folder 5: Correspondence, from Chester Fritz to Dan Rylance, 1981 - 1983
- Folder 6: Correspondence, from Dan Rylance to Chester Fritz, 1978-1980
- Folder 7: Correspondence, from Dan Rylance to Chester Fritz, 1991-1983
- Folder 8: Correspondence, outgoing, Dan Rylance, 1978-1982
- Folder 9: Correspondence, incoming, Dan Rylance, 1979-1982
- Folder 10: Correspondence, incoming, Chester Fritz, 1977-1979
- Folder 11: Correspondence, incoming, Chester Fritz, 1980-1981
- Folder 12: Correspondence, incoming, Chester Fritz, 1982-1983
- Folder 13: Correspondence, outgoing, Chester Fritz, 1977-1993
- Folder 14: Correspondence on the Chester Fritz Library, 1959-1961
- Folder 15: Correspondence, outgoing, Kathrine B. Tiffany, 1965-1977
- Folder 16: Correspondence, incoming, Kathrine B. Tiffany, 1957-1976
- Folder 17: Chester Fritz family history, census, birth, death, and marriage documents
- Folder 1: Correspondence, Chester Fritz, 1899 - 1975
- Box 6
- Sub-Series 2: Biography Production Material
- Box 7
- Folder 1: Manuscript of Ever Westward to the Far East: The Story of Chester Fritz by Dan Rylance and Chester Fritz
- Folder 2: Manuscript copy of chapter I
- Folder 3: Manuscript copy of chapter II
- Folder 4: Manuscript copy of chapter III
- Folder 5: Manuscript copy of chapter IV
- Folder 6: Manuscript copy of chapter VI
- Folder 7: Production notes on Chester Fritz's early years in North Dakota
- Folder 8: Production notes on Chester Fritz's years at the University of Washington and his early years in China
- Folder 9: Production notes from Chester Fritz's Six Month Journey Through Inland China
- Folder 10: Production notes on interviews with Chester Fritz about metals trading in China
- Folder 11: Production notes: Biographical essay, Acknowledgments, Preface, and Chapter V
- Folder 12: Production notes: Preliminaries, Introduction
- Folder 13: Production notes for chapter VII
- Folder 14: Production notes for chapter IX
- Folder 15: Production notes for chapter XI
- Folder 16: Production notes on Chester Fritz's life in China
- Folder 17: Production notes on Swan, Culbertson and Fritz employees prior to World War II
- Folder 18: Production material for "Sale of Chalet Vera" and "Library Dedication" in Appendix
- Folder 19: Publicity and publication materials for Ever Westward to the Far East
- Folder 20: Publicity and publication materials for Ever Westward to the Far East
- Folder 21: Production notes: Bernadine, social life in China, and concluding section of book
- Folder 22: Rough draft of "The Journal of Chester Fritz", North Dakota Quarterly, Spring 1981
- Folder 23: Background information on China in the first two decades of the 20th century
- Folder 24: Background material on China for chapter IV
- Folder 25: Background material on Mysberg Case, chapter VIII
- Folder 26: Background material on chapter XI
- Folder 27: Background material on Polo and "Paper Hunts" in Shanghai in the 1920s and 1930s
- Folder 28: Background information on Chester Fritz's school years in North Dakota and Washington
- Folder 29: Background information on Joseph Swan
- Folder 1: Manuscript of Ever Westward to the Far East: The Story of Chester Fritz by Dan Rylance and Chester Fritz
- Box 7
- Sub-Series 1: Biography Correspondence
- Series 9: Oral History Interviews
- Sub-Series 1: Interview Transcripts
- Box 8
- Folder 1: Oral interview transcripts, Dan Rylance and Chester Fritz, November 30 - December 11, 1979, Monte Carlo
- Folder 2: Oral interview between Chester Fritz and Dan Rylance, 1991
- Folder 3: Oral interview between Charles Culbertson and Dan Rylance, June 12, 1990
- Folder 4: Transcript of interview with Chester Fritz, October 25, 1980, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Folder 5: Transcript of audio tapes sent to Dan Rylance by Chester Fritz, 1990
- Folder 6: Transcript of interview of Charles Culbertson by Dan Rylance, June 12, 1980
- Folder 7: Transcript of interview with Harold Hochschild, April 16, 1990
- Folder 8: Oral interview sheets with personal notes by Dan Rylance
- Folder 9: Interview with Anker Henningson about Chester Fritz
- Folder 10: Interview with Harold Hochschild, including information about American Metals
- Folder 11: Interview with Helen Swart regarding her association with Swan, Culbertson and Fritz, March 12, 1990
- Folder 12: Interview with Kent Lutey about Chester Fritz and their years in China
- Folder 13: Interview with Bernadine Szold Fritz, Chester Fritz's first wife
- Folder 14: Telephone interview with Chester Fritz, April 29 and May 6, 1980
- Folder 15: Journal notes for book
- Folder 16: Draft article on Chester Fritz, March 13, 1979
- Folder 1: Oral interview transcripts, Dan Rylance and Chester Fritz, November 30 - December 11, 1979, Monte Carlo
- Box 8
- Sub-Series 2: Audio Tapes
- Box 9
- Folder 1: Dan Rylance interviews Harold Hochschild, 4/19/80
- Folder 2: Dan Rylance interviews Harold Hochschild, 4/19/80
- Folder 3: Harold K. Hochschild's "History of AMCO, Climax, and AMAX, 1887-1962"
- Folder 4: Dan Rylance interviews Ralph Stillman, 2/24/81
- Folder 5: Dan Rylance interviews Ralph Stillman, 2/24/81
- Folder 6: Dan Rylance interviews Charles Culbertson, 6/12/80
- Folder 7: Dan Rylance interviews Charles Culbertson, 6/13/80
- Folder 8: Dan Rylance interviews Charles Culbertson, 6/13/80
- Folder 9: Dan Rylance interviews Dr. George Starcher, 6/19/80
- Folder 10: Dan Rylance interviews Dr. George Starcher, 5/20/80
- Folder 11: Dan Rylance interviews Dr. George Starcher, 5/20/80
- Folder 12: Dan Rylance interviews Chester Fritz, 1979
- Folder 13: Dan Rylance interviews Chester Fritz, 1979
- Folder 14: Dan Rylance interviews Chester Fritz, 1979
- Folder 15: Dan Rylance interviews Chester Fritz, 1979
- Folder 16: Dan Rylance interviews Chester Fritz, 1979
- Folder 17: Dan Rylance interviews Chester Fritz, 1979
- Folder 18: Dan Rylance interviews Chester Fritz, 1979
- Folder 19: Dan Rylance interviews Chester Fritz, 1979
- Folder 20: Dan Rylance interviews Chester Fritz, 1979
- Folder 21: Dan Rylance interviews Chester Fritz, 1979
- Folder 22: Dan Rylance interviews Chester Fritz, 1979
- Folder 23: Chester Fritz, 1/13/80
- Folder 24: Chester Fritz, 1/19/80
- Folder 25: Chester Fritz, 1/19/80
- Folder 26: Chester Fritz, 1/21/80
- Folder 27: Chester Fritz, 1/22/80
- Folder 28: Chester Fritz, 1/31/80
- Folder 29: Chester Fritz, 2/19/80
- Folder 30: Chester Fritz, 2/22/80
- Folder 31: Chester Fritz, 2/25/80
- Folder 32: Chester Fritz, 3/12/80
- Folder 33: Chester Fritz, 4/6/80
- Folder 34: Chester Fritz, 4/9/80
- Folder 35: Chester Fritz, 4/11/80
- Folder 36: Chester Fritz, 4/23/80
- Folder 37: Chester Fritz, 5/7/80
- Folder 38: Chester Fritz, 5/13/80
- Folder 39: Chester Fritz, 5/24/80
- Folder 40: Chester Fritz, 5/25/80
- Folder 41: Chester Fritz, 6/5/80
- Folder 42: Chester Fritz, 6/14/80
- Folder 43: Chester Fritz, 6/21/80
- Folder 44: Chester Fritz, 10/25/80
- Folder 45: Chester Fritz, 10/28/80
- Folder 46: Chester Fritz, 10/29/80
- Folder 47: Chester Fritz, 12/10/80
- Folder 48: Chester Fritz, 12/13/80
- Folder 49: Chester Fritz, 12/14/80
- Folder 50: Chester Fritz, 1/30/81
- Folder 51: Chester Fritz, 1/31/81
- Folder 52: Chester Fritz, 9/10/81
- Folder 53: Chester Fritz, 12/81
- Folder 54: Chester Fritz, 2/11/82
- Folder 55: Dan Rylance interviews Chester Fritz, undated
- Folder 56: Dan Rylance interviews Chester Fritz, undated
- Folder 57: Dan Rylance interviews Chester Fritz, undated
- Folder 58: Dan Rylance interviews Chester Fritz, undated
- Folder 59: Dan Rylance interviews Chester Fritz, undated
- Folder 60: Dan Rylance interviews Chester Fritz, undated
- Folder 61: Dan Rylance interviews Chester Fritz, undated
- Folder 62: Dan Rylance interviews Chester Fritz, undated
- Folder 63: Chester Fritz, undated
- Folder 64: Chester Fritz, undated
- Folder 65: Description of Chester Fritz's China Scrapbook, undated
- Folder 66: Dedication of Chester Fritz Library, 1961
- Folder 1: Dan Rylance interviews Harold Hochschild, 4/19/80
- Box 9
- Sub-Series 1: Interview Transcripts
- Series 10: Memorabilia and Artifacts
- Box 10
- Folder 7: Chester Fritz Library dedication, October 13, 1961
- Folder 8: Chester Fritz Auditorium dedication, October 12, 1972
- Folder 9: Funeral Memorial Book, Chester William Fritz, July 29, 1983
- Folder 10: Memorabilia: Kathrine B. Tiffany Memorial, August 8, 1978
- Folder 11: Memorabilia: Kathrine B. Tiffany Graduate Study Center dedication, April 22, 1971
- Folder 12: Memorabilia: Lidgerwood, North Dakota
- Folder 13: Memorabilia: Traill County Historical Society and Museum
- Folder 14: Memorabilia: Christmas and Thank You cards to Chester Fritz
- Folder 15: Memorabilia: news letters, alumni reviews from the University of Washington
- Folder 16: Excerpts from Across China on Foot; Life in the Interior and the Reform Movement, Edwin J. Dingle
- Folder 17: Bibliography of Horatio Alger books, Fritz's favorite books in his youth
- Folder 18: The O. W. Fisher Heritage, Herman Steen, 1961
- Folder 19: Sotheby's Belgravia catalog, October 19, 1977
- Folder 20: Pamphlet: A Symposium on Chinese Culture, China Institute in America, 1964
- Folder 21: Pamphlet: Stock Market Analysis, Facts and Principle, 1968
- Folder 22: Memorabilia: Investment information and brochures
- Folder 23: Memorabilia: Restaurant menus, hotel bills, hotel brochures; France, Austria, Switzerland, and Japan
- Folder 24: Memorabilia: Travel brochures; Europe, North Africa, South America, Asia
- Folder 25: The Vision on the Knoll, 1961 - 1961, The First Hundred Years of the University of Washington, UW Press, 1961
- Folder 26: Memorabilia: Postcards
- Folder 7: Chester Fritz Library dedication, October 13, 1961
- Box 11
- Folder 1: Memorabilia: The 1926 United States Polo Association Year Book
- Folder 2: Book on Shanghai, 1940
- Folder 3: Mei Lan-Fang: Foremost Actor in China, 1929
- Folder 4: Memorabilia: A History of the Shanghai Paper Hunt Club, 1863 - 1930, C. Noel Davis, copy 1
- Folder 5: Memorabilia: A History of the Shanghai Paper Hunt Club, 1863 - 1930, C. Noel Davis, copy 2
- Folder 6: The First Century at the University of Washington, Charles M. Gates, UW Press, 1961, copies of pages 116 - 146 (ca. 1902 - 1914)
- Folder 7: The First Century at the University of Washington, Charles M. Gates, UW Press, 1961, autographed copy presented to Chester Fritz
- Folder 1: Memorabilia: The 1926 United States Polo Association Year Book
- Box 15
- Box 16
- Box 17
- Box 10
- Series 11: Separated Materials
- Film 1: Separated Film Holdings
FILM INVENTORY
Film Number Description Minutes
1 Chester Fritz 30-45
2 China Scenes, ca. 1935. Many architectural views, horse show, theater group, zoo scenes, puppet show 30
114 Hawaii Surfing 7-10
115 Siam 7-10
116 Vienna 7-10
138 Bali, ca.1930s. Tug of war, Kriss dance 7-10
139 Bali, ca.1930s. Cremation 7-10
140 Bali, ca.1930s. Cockfights, dances 7-10
141 Bali, ca.1930s. Street procession, Sir Victor Sassoon 7-10
142 Ceylon and Cairo, ca. 1930s. Scenes on highways and in bars 7-10
143 China, ca. 1930s. People, river scenes 7-10
144 Shanghai, ca. 1930s. Polo game, garden party 7-10
145 Java, Medan, Sumatra, ca. 1930s 7-10
146 Guatemala, ca. 1940 (color) 7-10
147 China, ca. 1930s. Scenes of people, boats, threshing, Taoist Temple 7-10
148 Bagnits in Orient, ca. 1930s 7-10
149 China, ca. 1930s. River scenes, people, religion, architecture 7-10
150 Japan, ca. 1930s. Sacred deer, climbing Mt. Fuji, oyster & pearl sea farms, islands at Matsushima (badly warped) 7-10
151 Japan, ca. 1930s 7-10
152 Bull fight (Madrid, Spain), ca. 1930s 7-10
153 Mexico, ca. 1940. Deep sea fishing off Acapulco 7-10
154 Mexico, ca. 1940. 7-10
155 Mexico and Guatemala, ca. 1940 7-10
156 Paper hunt near Shanghai, 1936-1937 7-10
157 The Rising Sun Sets in China, ca. 1930s. Shanghai bombing and destruction by Japanese 7-10
158 Shanghai, ca. 1930s. River scenes, houseboat trip 15
159 Shanghai. Countryside mountain scenes, river, temple, Taoist priests 7-10
160 Shanghai, ca. 1930s. Farmers making rope along canals near Shanghai 7-10
161 Fiesta Charra (Mexico), ca. 1940 7-10
169 "Chester Fritz Historical Film" (marked "Do Not Play") 7-10
- Videotape 1: Separated Videotape Holdings
VIDEOTAPE INVENTORY
Videotape Number Description
7 Dedication of the Addition to the Chester Fritz Library, October 9, 1982
10 Announcement of the Death of Chester Fritz, WDAZ, July 28, 1983
275 China scenes, circa 1935. Many architectural views, a horse show, a theater group, zoo scenes, and a puppet show. Approximately 30 minutes
310 Chester Fritz Biographical Film, Part One. October 24, 1985. 30 minutes
311 Chester Fritz Biographical Film, Part Two. October 24, 1985. 30 minutes
- Film 1: Separated Film Holdings
Browse by Series:
[Series 1: Correspondence of Chester Fritz and Kathrine B. Tiffany],
[Series 2: Personal material of Chester Fritz and Kathrine B. Tiffany],
[Series 3: Newspaper clippings and miscellaneous materials],
[Series 4: Scrapbooks and Photograph Albums],
[Series 5: Photographs],
[Series 6: Clothing],
[Series 7: Oversize Materials],
[Series 8: Biography],
[Series 9: Oral History Interviews],
[Series 10: Memorabilia and Artifacts],
[Series 11: Separated Materials],
[All]