Keywords
Archives, China, History, Engineering
Disciplines
Library and Information Science
Abstract
Presented at the 2023 Archival Kismet Conference "Thinking About Stuff," this presentation explores historical documents found in the Robert H. Merrill papers in the Grand Valley State University Special Collections and University Archives.
In 1920, Robert Hall Merrill, a young civil engineer from Grand Rapids, Michigan, traveled to China to serve as Assistant Principle Engineer on a reconstruction project of a portion of the Grand Canal. The Grand Canal is the longest and oldest canal system in the world. Merrill's work produced a comprehensive survey report of the Grand Canal construction area near the Yellow River. The report contains numerous maps and charts detailing the area, it's topography, soil quality, water levels, rainfall totals, and a variety of other aspects impacting the reconstruction. Accompanying this extensive report is a file of correspondence between Merrill and other project engineers regarding the work taking place.
ScholarWorks Citation
Benefiel, Annie, "Robert Hall Merrill: An American Engineer in China" (2023). Presentations. 112.
https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/library_presentations/112
