Collection is open to the public. Collection must be used in Special Collections and University Archives Reading Room. Collection or parts of collection may be stored offsite. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives in advance of your visit to allow for transportation time.
Frederic James Masters was a Methodist reverend and superintendent of the Chinese mission in San Francisco 1884-1900. He served as a Methodist missionary in China in the 1860s. He was fluent in Chinese with both writing and speaking. Upon returning from his overseas missionary work, he continued to conduct mission-related activities on the streets of San Francisco, particularly with the local Chinese ocmmunity. Over the course of his career, he compiled several writings on Chinese society and history particularly Chinese women, though he does not appear to have published any. He worked alongside his wife Mary whom he married while in Canton, China. He died in 1900.
This collection contains materials created and gathered by the Reverend Frederic J. Masters in connection with his missionary work in China in the mid-late nineteenth century. Included is biographical information, original writings, and published works, sometimes notated, kept by Masters in his library. Also included are a handful of photographs, including some documenting life in Canton, China in the 1860s, and a handdrawn map by Daniel Vrooman, annotated by Masters.