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Arthur M. Guttery (1885-1981) was both an organizer and missionary for the Y.M.C.A in China and the U.S. Guttery attended Washington and Jefferson College in Pennsylvania, graduating in 1907. He then went to work for the Y.M.C.A. and became an important figure in their fund-raising drives. His energy and expertise made him an important figure with the "Y."
Guttery, accompanied by his wife Myrtle, left the U.S. for Hankon, China in September of 1913. Here he was both preacher and teacher in the language school. From 1913 to 1928 the Rev. Guttery served as general secretary for the Y.M.C.A. and helped to organize and establish the program when Wuhan was in the center of a rising tide of Communism. He then returned to the U.S where he continued to serve with the Y.M.C.A. until 1948.
Guttery died in 1981.
The Arthur M. Guttery Papers contain sermons, religious addresses, essays on China, correspondence, and memoirs of Y.M.C.A. workers in China.
The sermons and related notes are arranged alphabetically within each folder, with only the first and last titles listed in the finding aid. These are followed by one folder of addresses on religious topics and miscellaneous notes. Several essays by Guttery and one by his wife, Myrtle, concerning China are filed in the next folder Many are untitled, but subjects include Chinese jewelry, Chinese women painters and misconceptions of China. The small amount of correspondence has been arranged chronologically, 1919-1981, with the early letters being from Arthur Guttery to his family in the United States.
The remainder of the collection, except for one folder of miscellaneous printed matter, concerns the Y.M.C.A. in China. In addition to "Excerpts from Reports and Letters" compiled by Guttery, there are his memoirs, "The Influence and leadership of God in the Life of One Y.M.C.A. Secretary," as well as memoirs from several of his Y.M.C.A. co-workers in china
One photograph album and several loose photographs relating to China have been removed to the Special Collections' Photograph Collection.
The collection also includes negatives, prints and an album, primarily related to Guttery's work in Asia, 1913-1938.