Archives On The Air 80: An American In China—Murray Coggeshall Diary

Published November 5, 2018 at 8:43 AM MST

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Page from the Murray H. Coggeshall Diary of Travels in Japan and China, 1902.

American Heritage Center

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Page from the Murray H. Coggeshall Diary of Travels in Japan and China, 1902.

American Heritage Center

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Colorized photos of Japan inside the diary, circa 1902. Murray H. Coggeshall Diary of Travels in Japan and China.

American Heritage Center

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Colorized photos of Japan inside the diary, circa 1902. Murray H. Coggeshall Diary of Travels in Japan and China.

American Heritage Center

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Chinese illustrations inside the diary, circa 1902. Murray H. Coggeshall Diary of Travels in Japan and China.

American Heritage Center

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Chinese illustrations inside the diary, circa 1902. Murray H. Coggeshall Diary of Travels in Japan and China.

American Heritage Center

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Black and white photographs in the diary, circa 1902. Murray H. Coggeshall Diary of Travels in Japan and China.

American Heritage Center

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Black and white photographs in the diary, circa 1902. Murray H. Coggeshall Diary of Travels in Japan and China.

American Heritage Center

Around 1900 trade policies made it common for Americans to travel to China for business.

Murray Coggeshall was an exporter of textiles from New York City. In 1902 he traveled to China and Japan for business. He was 29 years old.

Coggeshall kept a detailed journal of the trip. His journal gives us a westerner’s view of China at the turn of the 20^th century.

Coggeshall writes about Shanghai, [quote] “It would be difficult to properly describe a Chinese city with the narrow streets often only 5 to 7 feet wide and never over ten, a continuous hive of small shops and old proprietors as busy as can be.”

Coggeshall’s journal also acts as a scrapbook, containing colorized photos, Japanese calligraphy and other artifacts from his 1902 trip.

You can see Murray Coggeshall’s journal at UW’s American Heritage Center.