Title: Daniel S. Dye Papers, 1925-1940
More Extent Information
(1) 5" legal document box; (1) 2.5" legal document box
Arrangement
The Daniel S. Dye Papers are arranged in two series:
Series 1: Published Articles
Series 2: A Grammar of Chinese Lattice
Abstract
Daniel Sheets Dye (1884-1977) was a Denison University alumnus who taught at the West China Union University from the time it opened in 1910 until 1949. During his time in China, he studied early Chinese culture with a particular interest in window lattice design. The Daniel S. Dye Papers, dated 1925-1940, contain illustrations of window lattice designs and a typed manuscript for Dye’s book, A Grammar of Chinese Lattice. This collection also contains several of Dye’s published articles on Chinese lattice and culture or on geological topics.
Administrative/Biographical History
Daniel Sheets Dye was born on February 7, 1884, in New Matamoras, Ohio. He attended Denison University and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1907. In 1908, Dye traveled to Chengdu (Chengtu), Szechuan Province in China in response to a call for teachers for the newly formed West China Union University. He spent the time between arriving and the University opening in 1910 to learn Chinese. In 1915, Jane Balderston (born in 1886; a 1908 graduate of Wellesley College) traveled to China with the Friends Foreign Mission Association of Great Britain and Ireland where she met Daniel. The two married in 1919. During furloughs that same year, Daniel and Jane earned master’s degrees, from Cornell University and Columbia University respectively.
During his more than 40 years in China, Dye became interested in early Chinese culture. In particular, he researched Chinese lattice windows. In 1937, Dye published a two-volume study on the topic titled A Grammar of Chinese Lattice. In 1940, Denison University awarded him an honorary doctorate. Dye and his wife returned to the United States permanently in 1949 due to the Communist takeover in China. They found employment as co-directors of the John Woolman Memorial in Mt. Holly, New Jersey before retiring to Colora, Maryland in 1960. Jane died in November 1976, and Daniel Died in September 1977.
Throughout their lives, Daniel and Jane Dye donated their collection of Chinese textiles, porcelains, rubbings, paintings, bronzes, and other artifacts to the Denison Museum at Denison University. As of 2024, these items are still a part of the Museum’s Asian collection.
