This collection includes correspondence, writings, photographs, films, and other documentation of the life and work of John Gillespie Magee, his son John Gillespie Magee, Jr. and other family members. The Rev. John G. Magee (1884-1953), a graduate of Yale University, served as a missionary to China under the Episcopal Church for twenty-eight years. John G. Magee witnessed the Japanese invasion of Nanking (Nanjing) in December of 1937 and the subsequent Nanking Massacre. At great risk to his own well-being and safety, Magee filmed and photographed atrocities perpetrated by the Japanese soldiers against the citizens of Nanking, He was later able to smuggle these films out of Nanking, providing evidence and witness to the war crimes that had taken place. This collection also includes the papers of John G. Magee, Jr. (1922-1941), eldest son of John G. and Faith Magee. John G. Magee, Jr. wrote the well-known poem "High Flight" prior to his death at the age of nineteen while on active service in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. The papers regarding John G. Magee, Jr. document his life through his writings, photographs, and correspondence.
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