John G. Hangin papers, 1956-1989, bulk
1965-1989
A Guide to his Papers at the Indiana University Archives
Finding aid prepared by Sara Stefani
Summary Information
Repository
Indiana University Archives
1320 East Tenth Street
Herman B Wells Library E460
Bloomington, IN 47405-7000
Phone: 812-855-1127
Email: archives@indiana.edu
http://www.libraries.iub.edu/archives
Creator
Hangin, John G.
TitleJohn G. Hangin papers, 1956-1989, bulk
1965-1989
Collection No.
C599
Extent
1.6 cubic feet (4 boxes)
Language
Materials are in English,
Mongolian,
Russian, and
Japanese.
Abstract
John Gombojab Hangin taught at Indiana
University in the Department of Uralic and Altaic Studies from 1964 to 1989 and was
one of the top scholars in Mongolian Studies. His papers include notebooks,
correspondence, drafts of writings, slides, photographs, and other materials related
to his work and activities.
Access Restrictions
Collection is open for research. Advance notice required for access.
Biographical Note
John Gombojab Hangin was born in Chakhar, Inner Mongolia, in 1921. He studied at
Hokkaido Imperial University in Sapporo, Japan, where he earned a degree in
forestry. After he returned to Inner Mongolia, he was appointed as a staff member of
the Inner Mongolian Government. He also served as a representative in the Chinese
National Assembly from 1947 to 1948. In 1948, Hangin and his family immigrated to
the United States. Hangin secured his first position at Johns Hopkins University
working on the Mongolia Project of Owen Lattimore. Hangin later held academic
positions at Georgetown University, the University of California at Berkeley, and
Columbia University, where he earned his master's degree in 1963. In 1964, he came
to Indiana University to teach in the Department of Uralic and Altaic Studies and to
pursue his doctorate, which he earned in 1970. Hangin spent the remainder of his
academic career at IU. He died in 1989 while on sabbatical leave as part of an
exchange program he helped establish between the United States and the Mongolian
People's Republic (MPR). A respected scholar throughout the world, Hangin was
interred in the capital of MPR in the cemetery reserved for distinguished
governmental and state figures.
Hangin is perhaps best known for his work compiling the first comprehensive modern
English-Mongolian dictionary, but he was a prolific writer and also wrote several
Mongolian language textbooks, a Mongolian reader, and numerous articles. He founded
the Mongolia Society at Indiana University in 1961, and he was active in other
organizations and societies related to Mongolia, Tibet, and other nations and
nationalities, such as the Tibet Society at Indiana University, on whose Board of
Directors he served.
Arrangement
Collection is organized into four series: Research and writings, Photographs,
Organizations and societies, and Teaching. Each series is arranged alphabetically by
folder title.
Scope and Content Note
The collection holds the working papers of John Gombojab Hangin as well as papers
collected by him relating to his activities. Items span the period 1956 to 1989,
with the bulk dating from 1965 to 1989, and include correspondence both to and from
Hangin, Hangin's notebooks and research notes, and drafts and offprints of Hangin's
essays. The collection also contains draft and unpublished essays sent to Hangin by
other scholars, including several folders of essays in Mongolian and Russian. Most
of the materials in the collection relate to Hangin's research and writings as well
as the writings of other scholars, but also included are documents issued by
organizations that Hangin was involved with or interested in, such as the Mongolia
Society, the Tibet Society, and committees concerned about the situation of the
Kalmuk people. Two boxes of slides depict Hangin's travels to Mongolia, Japan, and
the Soviet Union, and show festivals and scholarly events that he attended, as well
as the people he met on his travels.
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Indexing Terms
-
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
IUCAT, the IU Libraries'
online catalog. Materials about related topics, persons or places can be found by
searching the catalog using these terms.
Separated Material
Two clippings from Russian and Mongolian newspapers featuring an interview with
Hangin were transferred to the John Hangin biographical reference file at the
University Archives. Contact Archives staff for more information.
Two files containing 59 photographs are housed with the Archives Photograph
Collection. Two of the photographs from one folder are group portraits, while the
other folder contains numerous photographs that seem to have been sent from Japan.
These photographs vary in terms of their time period and content, as some are
historic studio portraits while others are contemporary candid photographs.
Photocopies of all photographic prints can be found in the collection folders along
with their associated papers. There are also two slide boxes that are described
below but are housed with the Archives Photograph Collection. Consult Archives staff
for further information.
Related Material
Additional publications and research materials may be accessed in
IUScholarworks.
Related photographs may be available in the
University Archives
Photographs Database
.
Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
Accessions: 2006/049, 2015/066
Usage RestrictionsThe donor of this collection has not transferred his copyrights for the materials
to the Trustees of Indiana University. For more information, please contact the
Indiana University Archives staff.
The Indiana University Archives respects the intellectual property rights of
others and does not claim any copyrights for non-university records, materials
in the public domain, or materials for which we do not hold a Deed of Gift.
Responsibility for the determination of the copyright status of these materials
rests with those persons wishing to reuse the materials. Researchers are
responsible for securing permission from copyright owners and any other rights
holders for any reuse of these materials that extends beyond fair use or other
statutory limitations.
Digital reproductions of archival materials from the Indiana University Archives
are made available for noncommercial educational and research purposes only. If
you are the copyright holder for any of the digitized materials and have
questions about its inclusion on our site, please contact the Indiana University
Archives staff.
Preferred Citation
[Item], John G. Hangin papers, Collection C599, Indiana University Archives,
Bloomington.
Provenance
2015 donation from Susie Drost of the Mongolia Society; 2016 donation from Mark
Day.
Appraisal
Copies of published materials by scholars other than Hangin and duplicate copies
of Hangin's published works were returned to the Mongolia Society, as were
copies of newsletters, catalogs, and other items that did not directly relate to
Hangin and his activities.
Processing InformationProcessed by Caroline Voisine, Andrea Barbour, and Sara Stefani.
Completed in June 2018
Container List
Series:
Research and Writings, 1956-1989, undated
Language Note
Materials are in
English,
Mongolian,
Russian, and
Japanese.
Scope and Content Note
The series Research and writings includes Hangin's notebooks, handwritten
notes, and drafts of Hangin's writings, as well as essays by Hangin's
students and other scholars. The correspondence folders contain letters
written both to Hangin and by him and cover personal topics, scholarly
issues, and political matters. Some notable items are letters that Hangin
wrote to political figures such as Senator Robert Dole, Senator Dan Quayle,
and President Ronald Reagan, in which he addresses topics such as the
Genocide Convention and the political situation in Tibet. Also included is a
handwritten poem entitled "Longing," with no author attributed to it.
Box 1
Correspondence,
A-L, 1956-1989
M-Z, unknown, 1956-1989
Correspondence in Japanese, 1984-1985, undated
Correspondence in Mongolian and Russian, 1974-1984, undated
General Notes about Mongolia, undated
International Research and Exchange Board, 1989
List of Hangin's Publications, 1980
Manchu Reprint Project, 1981
Notebooks,
Comparative Altaic Phonology, 1966
General, undated
Introduction to Chinese Linguistics, undated
Mongolistics, undated
The Mongols in Medieval Europe, 1965
Sinological Methods, undated
U570 Uralic Peoples, Raun, undated
Notes in Japanese, undated
Notes in Mongolian, 1961-1989
Notes taken during the Congress in Ulan Bator, September
1970
Poem, "Longing," undated
Writings by Hangin,
Basic Course in Mongolian, 1987-1989
Essays, 1965-1970
Essays, 1971-1975
Essays, 1979-1987
Essays, undated
(2 folders)
Writings by Others, Essays, 1957-1987, undated
(4 folders)
Writings by Others in Mongolian, Essays, 1984, undated
(2 folders)
Writings by Others in Russian, Essays, 1956-1970
Series:
Photographs, 1969-1970, undated
Scope and Content Note
This series contains photographic prints and slides. The prints include two
posed group school pictures, one inside a studio setting and the other
outdoors. The second set contains photographs that seem to have been sent to
Hangin from Japan, as all of them are accompanied by envelopes and, in some
cases, letters or notes written in Japanese. This set includes both studio
portraits from approximately the 1930s or 1940s, as well as contemporary
candid photographs and city scenes related to Hangin’s travels to Japan.
There are two boxes of slides that document Hangin’s travels to Mongolia,
Japan, and the Soviet Union, and depict festivals and scholarly events that
he attended and the people he met while travelling. Within this series are
notecards that seem to annotate the slide contents, although the information
on the slides and the notecards is not always an exact match.
Access Note
The originals of all photographic prints have been replaced in the collection
folders with photocopies, with the originals housed with the Archives
Photograph Collection. The slides are also housed with the Archives
Photograph Collection. Contact Archives staff for more information.
Box 1
Group Photos (photocopies), undated
Photographs from Japan (photocopies), undated
Boxes 3 & 4; Ask Staff
Slide Label Card Sheets, 1969-1970
Slides,
Second International Congress of Mongolists, 1970
Slides without label, undated
Ulan Bator, 1969
Mongolia, undated
Moscow, USSR, Japan, 1969
People We Met in Mongolia Travels, 1969
Mongolian People's Republic 48th Anniversary Celebration,
1969
Series:
Organizations and Societies, 1957-1989, undated
Scope and Content Note
The series Organizations and societies contains pamphlets, newsletters,
charters, and other documents connected to organizations and committees with
which Hangin was involved. Notable among these are Hangin's membership cards
for the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), documents
related to Hangin's founding of the Mongolia Society in 1961 as well as the
celebration of its twentieth anniversary in 1981, and items related to
business matters and events hosted by the Tibet Society, an organization
housed at Indiana University and for which Hangin served as a member of the
Board of Directors. The collection also contains documents collected by
Hangin that relate to the situation of the Kalmuk people in the Soviet Union
and the United States, as well as newsletters from various
organizations.
Box 2
AAUP, 1970
Indiana University, Uralic and Altaic Studies and Inner Asian
Studies, 1975, 1983, undated
Kalmuk Organizations, 1957-1970, undated
The Mongolia Society, 1961-1981
Newsletters, 1967-1989, undated
(3 folders)
The Tibet Society, 1967-1981, undated
Tibetan Cultural Center, 1970-1989
Series:
Teaching, 1966-1972,
undated
Box 2
Course Materials, 1966, 1971, undated
Ph.D. Committees, 1970-1972
